I Visited the Best* City in North America

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As an urban planner thank you so much for explicitly mentioning that we're (mostly) not the reason that bike or public transport infrastrucure in a city is sub par. Often were the ones fighting behind the scenes, trying to get the politicians to fund and greenlight these projects. And those of us lucky enough find a position that allows us to speak more freely without fears of antagonizing the boss/client (aka the city government) are often quite vocal.

Believe it or not, the mayor responsible for all these amazing changes is often under criticism because some dimwits thinks she destroys the city because all projects aren't car centric. Though, as soon as you leave the island, things fall apart and it's really frustrating for those living elsewhere.

For North Americans, Montreal is an european city, for Europeans, it is another North American city. I've moved from France to Montreal 8 years ago and my first impression was that the public transportation is terrible here, then I went to other North American cities and realized Montreal wasn't that bad but very far from Europeans or Asian cities standards.

As someone who goes to Montreal frequently (and has eaten at Orange Julep dozens of times), the moment you said "I took the metro to Namur station," I immediately braced myself for your reaction to the Decarie - and you did not disappoint. I couldn't help but laugh.

I've lived in Montreal for over 35 years and I'm an avid cyclist, so I just wanted to say thanks for making such a balanced video. I think we Montrealers are justifiably proud of the progress the city has made, especially in the last 10 years or so, but as someone who has cycled toured quite a bit in Europe, I am all too aware of how very far we still have to go to. That said, for the moment, there seems to be a pretty strong wave of political will at the municipal level, in both Montreal proper and many of the suburbs (Longueuil, for example), along with significant public support for making our infrastructure less car-centric. I am hopeful that this will result in some fairly rapid improvement. Thank you for this great video, and hats off! It was so interesting seeing my city through an outsider's eyes.

As a European living in Canada (Toronto), I was very curious to visit Montreal, which is described by everyone as a "European-looking city in Canada", because of the language, the old Montreal historic buildings and the cobblestone streets. When I visited, I was very disappointed. The heart of the city is infested with cars night and day! That did not look like Europe at all! But then I walked through the beautiful pedestrianized streets and I was indeed impressed, and I realized, "THIS is what makes Montreal look like a European city - pedestrian areas! Not the language, not the beautiful buildings and the cobblestone - car free streets". I am jealous now, and I wish Toronto was more like Montreal.

Thanks for mentioning that city planners and engineers do have an understanding of more desired Dutch style design. People will speak angrily to us at public meetings without understanding the context of our work within the legal and political system we work within. There is only so much funding allocated to pedestrian or bike friendly design in North America currently, and we are generally limited by the law to only make specific changes without massive public approval. And even on the physical side, raising bike lanes is loved but often requires fairly large scale construction to change drainage and various other underground utilities, which could mean a literal decade of planning and construction, frustratingly due to bureaucracy. Our fractured systems that overlap and segregate jurisdiction also cause terrible predicaments. Combine that with a general hatred of taxes and distrust in the government (pehaps for previously bad or punitive choices) and you end up with the more chaotic and sparse style of street design and an association of bike lanes with gentrification. It would be interesting to hear the systems histories of some Dutch cities and North American cities and even other continents for project implementation or overall city planning. Places like Singapore are planned so top down, it's almost like a video game, and some states in America have made speed cameras illegal, so there's a wide range what a government if capable of doing. It may speak to a topic a little different than your channel usually goes, but the law and sometimes just the culture around a government’s infringement on an individual's life choices can vary so widely from place to place and transportation and street design can highlight that. And on other sides of the dice, a culture’s tolerance for efficiency and chaos/freedom can vary greatly too, like Singapore vs Ho Chi Minh City.

City planners don’t need to watch your videos. Politicians do.

Lifelong Montréalais here, thank you for your video! Yes, our city has gotten much better in the last decade, but there is so much more work left!

I'm German and I live in a nice, walkable city where all my needs are within a 10 minute bike ride, but the number one thing I notice whenever I watch your videos is how much I miss Tokyo. It's my absolute favorite city in the world and I miss its public transport system soooo much. 😢

as a Montrealer and urban planner, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing a fair, transparent, grounded and honest review of my beloved city 💖 its extremely refreshing to watch something that gets real about both the positive and the negative - and most importantly - doesn't erase all the negative aspects of living here, especially considering that the rest of the province is widely different urbanistically wise, thus creating a strong desire and hike of the rent prices, services, etc. Thank you for the thorough research and content you provide in each video 🌎 edit : I want to add that the lack of affordable housing in other major Canadian cities for the younger generations attracts alot of 17-35 year olds in search of a vibrant culture and activities or looking to study in affordable and internationally known universities, creating alot of competition.

8:20 An important side note for non-Dutch viewers regarding Dutch bicycle shops: Dutch citizens, as a sort of citizenship test, must be able to fix a flat tire themselves. I know this because I've never fixed a flat myself and have often received an eye roll when mentioning it to a fellow Dutch person. So, you only visit a bicycle shop if you have an unfixable blowout, and commonly, you still just buy a new inner or outer tyre to take home. That's why there is a natural waiting list for such simple repair jobs. Of course, for most Dutch people, this isn't a problem because they have a spare bicycle for such situations. Moreover, the better bicycle shops outside the big cities will have a loaner bicycle available.

While I was genuinely excited to watch this video, I was equally dreading it. Sometimes, it can be difficult to see your city being criticized. However, I think your analysis was 100% fair and that you provided a well needed view on Montréal, with the good and the bad. You made me proud as much as you made me think and reflect. For the record, you also made me laugh/panic the moment you mentionned the Hauptbahnhof Test. There was no way in this universe that our poor Gare centrale was going to receive your praise, but it really doesn't deserve much anyway. Perhaps some people will think that you have too much of european standards but hey, we do need high standards in order to go somewhere meaningful when it comes to our living spaces. Montréal is indeed a north american city for what it's worth. I'm sorry that your expectations have been so hyped up, but I'm glad that you liked what you liked in this beautiful and still improving city.

As someone who has lived in Montreal his entire life, this video was very cathartic, but depressing. The average person I speak to thinks the city is wasting money on cycling paths, and now the STM is in danger of financial cuts limiting hours. While the city is getting better in the long run, in the short term it feels like what little we have is tenuous. Theres so much work to do but I don't really see the political will to make those changes. Maybe this fantastic video can help with that in some way.

I grew up in the suburbs of Montreal, and have been lived in different corners of the city my entire adult life. I also worked as a bicycle messenger in the late 1990s, when bike paths were few and far between. While there has been a vast improvement, there is indeed a lot more to do. I wanted to address the streets that are pedestrianized for the summer. As a local, who doesn't own a car, and is a big believer of public transit, I can assure you that the temporary shutdown of streets is a fucking nightmare because of how poorly it is handled.The streets are shut down at the expense of some essential bus routes. What makes this worse is that the detours they arrange during this period will change, sometimes week to week. You can get on the same bus from one day to the next only to discover that the it's going a completely different route from the day before. A couple of these buses are also commonly used by tourists, who only discover (IF they can find the temporary stop) that the bus they were going to use to go up the mountain is either re-routed to a different block, a different subway stop, or cancelled for the weekend (or day). We also have bus stops cancelled for the benefit of those temporary, outdoor sidewalk cafes. You'll have bus routes that suddenly aren't wheelchair accessible because of cancelled/relocated bus stops. Some other tidbits: We lost our streetcars in the late 1950s. Our shitty mayor at the time did this as a quid pro quo for a GM factory built north of the city. More and more bus stops are being relocated to the opposite side of the street, after the lights to avoid them getting stuck/slowed down. Public transit in the downtown core is great, as long as you are trying to go east-west (and vice-versa). North-South public transport in the downtown core is nonexistent. Namur Metro: there's an urban legend that the art in the station is a cocaine molecule. It isn't, but some schmucks still believe it. There's also an AMAZING Indian restaurant a block away from the station - Pushap. Well worth checking out. I am convinced that the public transit systems of the suburbs surrounding Montreal are deliberately designed to encourage you to buy a car. Growing up, my neighbourhood had buses every 2 hours on Sundays. During the week, it was hourly, except for morning and afternoons. Another issue with the underground city is that parts of it close at different times. You can walk down a corridor only to discover a connecting section is closed, forcing you to double-back all the way. Current biggest pet peeve with the STM (transit system) : Buses are exact change only. Metro stations do NOT accept cash, and it's payment via cards only. Incredibly confusing for tourists. The STM is run by a group of imbeciles that have never ridden on a bus or metro their entire fucking lives. As for the notion that cars do not stop for bicycles: I would say this is 100% true in certain neighbourhoods. Others areas are very accepting and accommodating. Just north of downtown, there are neighbourhoods that are VERY vocal about their hatred of bike paths, cyclists, and even bike stands.

I've been living here for most of the last 58 years and your brutally honest assessment feels spot on. Montreal HAS made tangible and rapid progress in urban planning, but it's still too patchy and lacking overall cohesion. And because urban development during the 1950s to 1990s was so abysmally bad, we have a LONG way to go. By the way, you reminded me why I've never been to Orange Julep before: it's sits near the intersection of two of the most ridiculously designed highways in Canada.

Thanks for pointing out that transit should take people between walkable areas, not to and from stroads or other frightening-for-walking car corridors. I see urbanists, transit and urban cycling channels promoting the opposite. The first provides a pleasant inviting experience from origin to destination, the latter an awful experience that people will avoid if at all possible, counting the days until they can afford a (second, or third, perhaps) car to avoid the hell. I think that pathway systems can sometimes provide the backbones of those walkable areas, to make walking even more pleasant and protected and rapid for much of the way, but simply a quiet neighborhood is fine too, or pedestrianized street, or office park. This is so opposite to the reigning transportation paradigm, but not dying is a major factor that people take into consideration. And pleasantness is not far behind utility as a factor people weigh.

As a Montrealer living and working in some of those "5 good neighborhoods in a trench coat", I truly have a fantastic quality of life, living car free and easily accessing everything I need on a day to day basis. I'm surrounded by amazing restaurants, cafes, parks and venues, and live just a few blocks away from numerous pedestrian streets, metro stations and protected bike lanes. All of that while paying fairly low rent for a decently sized apartment with a backyard. That said, it does feel like living on an island with no bridges or boats. Leaving the city, or even accessing certain neighborhoods, is prohibitively difficult. I rarely take the highways as I don't have a car, but any time I need to navigate an interchange, it feel like I'm entering hell on Earth. And yes, fuck Namur Station.

As a Dutchman living in a suburb of Montreal, you went through the same process I did, but much faster. Some parts of Montreal are great, but as a whole, the city cannot hold a candle to most European greats. Islands of good urbanism are fun to inspire and become a little more hopeful, but the fact remains they are but blips in an ocean of asphalt, concrete and nimbyism. It is getting better here, and I am in probably one of the best suburbs with fair enough trains to downtown and cycling infrastructure being planned, but if it weren’t for my Canadian partner and in-laws, I would have run home screaming years ago. I still might, if my patience runs dry one of these days. It’s hard not to yell at politicians daily for their lack of vision.