[Christopher DeWolf]

it's been over a month since i've been back from hong kong and vancouver and, needless to say, i've taken lots of photos here at home. these were all taken in september.

the facade of this 1888 church was obscured by a commercial block in the 1920s (the congregation needed the money). recently the central portion of the commercial block was torn down to make away for a small plaza. (the corner portions will be renovated and leased out to businesses.)

PHOTO BY ELAINE TAM

PHOTO BY ELAINE TAM

 

[allabootmatt]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

The second city appears to be buzzing as usual...great shots...that last one in particular is fantastic. Looks very New York-ish. What street is that? Peel?

 

[samplain]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

a solid Montreal photo thread was due.

 

[Christopher DeWolf]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

matt, that's ste. catherine, looking east from mackay (on the fourth-floor terrasse of the new concordia visual arts/computer engineering building). a few more video screens, some neon and man, it would be awesome.

 

[ganjavih]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

Fantastic photos of this urban gem.

 

[allabootmatt]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

Ahhh OK. I assumed it was a north-south street (or, east-west for the world outside Montréal) since it looked as though it was taken from the mountain.

 

[Christopher DeWolf]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

i wish downtown montreal's sidestreets looked more like that. downtown is unfortunately quite linear, with retail strung out for miles along ste-catherine (and in its malls) rather than concentrated in a more intense core of retail. i suppose there's an upside to that, though; the crowds on ste-catherine on a saturday afternoon rival those of nathan road in kowloon.

 

[Darkstar416]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

i suppose there's an upside to that, though; the crowds on ste-catherine on a saturday afternoon rival those of nathan road in kowloon.

Indeed, so why do the stores close at 17h00 on a Saturday?

 

[Christopher DeWolf]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

it's because of an absurd provincial law. many retailers (selling things like clothes, stationery, etc.) are forced to close at 9pm on weekdays and 5pm on weekends. the hours of bookstores, video stores, music stores and so forth aren't regulated, as far as i know.

but there's more: those stores that are not forced to close at 9pm/5pm must reduce the number of employees working after those hours to four. as you can guess, that makes for big lineups in the supermarket at night.

i really, really do not understand this law and what purpose it might serve.

but things are looking up: more and more stores appear to be flouting the law. i've noticed clothing stores here and there open past 5pm on weekends; american apparel, which has eight stores in montreal, is open until 11pm on thursday, friday and saturday. according to their website, that's later than any other city in canada (their stores in toronto close at 10pm). go figure.

 

[Christopher DeWolf]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

okay, so according to this radio-canada report:

www.radio-canada.ca/actua...uete.shtml

the law was passed in 1992 in order to give independent businesses a boost. the logic goes that, by forcing all stores to close at certain hours, small businesses that cannot afford to compete with chain stores' longer hours will save money.

of course, that doesn't explain why it's usually independent stores that break the law and stay open late.

what would be the harm, exactly, in allowing businesses to stay open as late as they want?

 

[tayser2]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

...unions might bitch and moan about employees having no work / life balance or some such.

students everywhere! solid thread indeed.

 

[Christopher DeWolf]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

students everywhere!

that's a side effect of having three large universities and several colleges in the downtown area.

 

[bizorky]

Re: Break from Hong Kong :: MONTREAL IN SEPTEMBER :: 92 phot

Con U, my old stomping ground as a raw youth.