http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/forums/show/21.html JForum - http://www.jforum.net City's Biggest Projects Escape Scrutiny Posted 10/Jun/2008 21:45:00 by Slavito In writing about UQAM's Îlot Voyageur debacle, Henri Aubin (The Gazette) makes a much bigger point: why is it that in Montréal, the largest projects seem to escape the careful analysis and public scrutiny that are the norm for smaller ones? Continue reading: » City's Biggest Projects Escape Scrutiny: http://www.montrealbits.com/2008/biggest_projects_escape_scrutiny.html ]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/161.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/161.html GMT http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/136.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/136.html GMT ... there’s a more controversial parcel of land south of Pine Avenue. A small part of it is a triangle that stretches west along Pine to Durocher Street; the rest is a square at the southeast corner of Pine and Park. All in all, the land in question covers about 5,000 square metres.   http://www.urbanphoto.net/blog/category/cities/montreal/ As far as I'm concerned, whatever they do, they should NOT repeat the horror of a similarly shaped triangle at Canal Street and West Broadway in New York. There, after a long consideration, they built an ugly-ass 1-story retail structure filled with strobe lights and other crap. ]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/130.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/130.html GMT All the small businesses shown above will be erased when the Spectrum is razed. Instead we'll have a featureless glass wall. Is this meant to be beneficial and to attract people to the area?  There's a photo supplied with the post to make us all feel sorry for the business. I've got to say it straight out loud: this is the most fucking disgusting block in downtown Montreal and those businesses should be razed to the ground no matter what. A ridiculous porn store, a couple of no-name restaurants, an empty parking lot and a diner on the corner that hasn't gotten around to replace windows that cracked YEARS ago (instead putting a duct tape of on top of the cracks) elicit absolutely no nostalgia in me. It's fucking ugly and I won't miss any of that. Status quo is NOT a good option. What do you guys think? P.S. The corner in question is St-Catherine & De Bleury ]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/123.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/123.html GMT all the sidewalks will bewidened by 75 centimetres. About 100 historical markers will beembedded in the 1,430 metres of widened sidewalks to line the lowerMain's east and west flanks. Nine lampposts will be added, aswell as racks to accommodate at least 50 bicycles. Everything but thenew trees should be in place early in the fall, Lazure promised. For motorists, the number of lanes for vehicle traffic won't change, he said. Theadditional sidewalk space will be taken almost entirely from drivers,however: "Each of the street's two vehicle lanes northbound will benarrowed," Lazure said, "from 4.2 metres across to 3.5 metres across." Parkingspaces won't be made any slimmer, however. And six delivery zones willbe added to the current three, he said, to help reduce double-parkingby trucks. The facelift favours walking and greater use of public transit and bicycles rather than cars, Lazure said.  ]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/108.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/108.html GMT Mis à part le transfert de gouvernance, Ottawa fournira à la Société [du Vieux-Port] 94 millions sur cinq ans pour financer ses activités (18,8 millions par an) et 35 millions sur cinq ans (7 millions par an) pour entretenir ses infrastructures, notamment les fondations de certains quais. L'an dernier, elle avait obtenu 19 millions du fédéral. Elle aura donc pour cinq ans 6,8 millions de plus chaque année. La Société a d'autres sources de revenus qui lui rapportent plusieurs millions par an (événements, stationnements, etc.).   ]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/97.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/97.html GMT http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/91.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/91.html GMT ... L'autre développement significatif porte sur un terrain de stationnement situé à l'angle des rues Peel et Saint-Antoine, au sud-ouest du centre-ville, un quartier en pleine ébullition immobilière. Selon des révélations faites cette semaine par le journal Les Affaires, Alain Gauthier, vice-président aux opérations du Centre Bell, a payé plus de 21 millions pour acquérir ce lot. Le prix excessif (240 $ le pied carré plutôt que les 140 $ attendus dans ce secteur) laisse présager un développement rapide d'un projet devant générer des revenus considérables. Les hypothèses pointent vers la construction d'une salle d'environ 5000 places, un créneau inexistant à Montréal. La ville compte plusieurs salles de moins de 3000 places, le Centre Bell sert aux spectacles comptant plus de 20 000 billets par représentation, mais rien ne se trouve dans la jauge intermédiaire.   ]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/85.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/85.html GMT http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/4.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/4.html GMT http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/83.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/83.html GMT http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/82.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/82.html GMT almost ready. A few days ago it became navigable again and I saw road crews putting markings for ... get this... a bike lane! So pretty soon, the biking-friendly streets of MTL will count Rue McGill among them...]]> http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/14.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/14.html GMT http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/8.html http://www.montrealbits.com/dmb/posts/list/8.html GMT