photo by Manon
Our apartment is in the newly and controversially re-dubbed district called The Village (formerly: ”The Gay Village”).
It’s the LGBTQ cultural and business center of Montréal, but the recent name change—intended to be more inclusive of non-binary people—provoked a negative response from some in the community who felt the gay history of The Village was being erased.
The popularity of The Village hasn’t waned, however. Now that the sun has come out, Rue Sainte-Catherine East—the main drag (as it were) is closed off to cars, and the bars and restaurants are busy setting up their terrasses, or outdoor dining platforms, hoping for big summer crowds after two years of pandemic losses.
We’re bracing ourselves, as we’re just a few buildings away from Rue Ste-Catherine, and we’re told the weekend bar crowds often spill into the local neighborhoods to continue their revels after hours. We’re used to urban noise—we’re under the flight pattern for both LAX and SMO, plus smack-dab between two busy Westside fire stations—but this is different, it’s whooping-and-hollering-and-barfing urban noise, and it may take some getting used to.
In cities with harsh winters, people like to come out to play in the summer. Montréal has its famous jazz, comedy, and fireworks festivals in the summer, and The Village has its summer events too. Most days the streets are packed with tourists and locals looking for community and entertainment, particularly during August’s Fierté Montréal (Montreal Pride Festival).*
We probably won’t be venturing out much during Pride, as there’s still a good deal of COVID here and our care options are extremely limited if we get sick, but I have a feeling we’ll be part of the festivities whether we want to be or not.
And of course we want to be…just safely, is all.
The Village is also home to a lot of sans-abris, or homeless folk, and it seems many of them have formed their own street tribes, after a fashion. There’s a fair amount of drug use and mental illness in evidence, but it’s nothing like L.A.’s homeless (read: human rights) crisis, nor is there the same level of street violence here. Montréal is comparatively safe—due to tighter gun laws, it’s much less likely one will get shot anyway—but one still needs to watch one’s pockets when walking around in crowds.
There are many excellent restaurants and bars in this part of town—including Passé Composé, famous for having one of the best brunches in Montreal—and also abundant murals and art installations sponsored by the Montréal and Québec arts councils. These abide à côté de the smoke shops and tourist swag marts and the fetish stores with balls-out window dressing…ahem.
Because it’s now a tourist destination, you’ve also got your McBucks and McD’s in the Village along with the épiceries and dépanneurs typical of Québec.
It’s not all bars and partying here. There are some sweet little ruelles vertes in the neighborhood—little walkways between buildings planted with flowers and trees—and by design they are quiet and peaceful, at least so far.
My favorite spot in the heart of the Village is a concrete pocket park along Rue Ste-Catherine, dedicated to the memory of those who died of AIDS. There’s a constant stream of community events: movies, performances, art exhibits. During one of our visits (before the pandemic) a street piano had been installed, and we witnessed it being enthusiastically played by Village locals and tourists alike, who circled round and bellowed out old pop songs and show tunes (bien sûr)!
We have yet to experience a full Village weekend, but it’s Friday night and the group shrieking has already started. We’ll let you know how the rest of it goes. I’ve laid in enough food and earplugs for a few days, just in case.
Finally, I should mention we’re just a few doors down from the Village ice cream shop, another cultural location of sorts. There are lots of little ice cream stores here; the Montréalais are famous for consuming tons of ice cream, even in winter. I’m not that hardcore…yet…but eager to give it a shot.
*there are some beautiful educational videos on the Fierté Montréal website about sexual and gender diversity, check ’em out. Funded by the government, even.
