Montreal/Plateau

The Plateau is a bohemian district in Montreal that has become gentrified since the 1980s. The neighbourhood is now home to many upscale restaurants and nightclubs, and several trendy clothing stores along St. Laurent Blvd. and St. Denis St. The Plateau is characterized by brightly coloured houses, cafés, book shops, and a laissez-faire attitude that embraces its bohemian nature over the commercialized hipster culture of its Mile-End counterpart.

Understand
The Plateau began as a bourgeois community with parts of its extensions as working-class developing around the beginning of the 20th century; the Eastern part being largely Québécois, and the Western part primarily European with a total visible minority estimated at 17%. The neighbourhood was the childhood home of Quebec writers Michel Tremblay and Mordecai Richler and both set many stories in the Plateau of the 1950s and 60s. The Plateau is now a creative, family-oriented, upper-middle-class neighbourhood. Although the Eastern part is still largely Québécois, the Plateau (now nicknamed "La Nouvelle-France") is emerging as an enclave for French expats in Montreal.

In the 1980s, the area's bohemian aura and proximity to McGill University attracted gentrification. As rents increased, many of its traditional residents and businesses were dispersed to other parts of the city. It's the location of some famous attractions on Saint Laurent Boulevard, including Schwartz's Deli (famous for its Montreal smoked meat), and a weekend street fair during the summer that sees extremely crowded streets.

Get in
The Plateau is adjacent to the downtown core, so there are many ways to access it. Avenue du Parc, boulevard Saint-Laurent, rue Saint-Denis, and rue Papineau run north/south through the Plateau and are paralleled by dozens of side streets in between. East/west, rue Sherbrooke, avenue des Pins, avenue Rachel, avenue du Mont-Royal, and boulevard Saint-Joseph bisect the Plateau, with Mont-Royal carrying a lot of shops, bars, and restaurants. All of these streets are accessible by car (though Staint-Laurent is one way, going north) and served by many taxi companies.

Each of these streets and a few others are served by bus routes run by the STM. In addition, the Orange line of the Montreal Metro runs underneath rue Berri, adjacent to rue Saint-Denis. Sherbrooke, Mont-Royal, and Laurier Metro stations are also on the Plateau.

Bike routes are few but still useful. There are separated bike lanes on avenue Rachel from Parc Mont-Royal to boulevard Lafontaine and rue Brébeuf from parc Lafontaine to parc Laurier, and there are painted bike lanes along rue Saint-Urbain, rue Milton, rue Prince-Arthur, and rue Saint-Joseph. These lanes are generally not respected by Montreal drivers, so watch out. In addition, several of these lanes are not plowed during the winter, making them all but impassible following heavy snow.

Buildings
The most dominant architectural feature of the Plateau is the endless rows of Montreal duplexes and triplexes that house the majority of the Plateau's population. These buildings date from the early 20th century and, with their distinctive exterior staircases and wrought-iron ornamentation, have come to define the visual landscape of the Plateau.

In addition, there are a few buildings of note scattered around the Plateau. The Warshaw building (boulevard Saint-Laurent and rue Bagg) dates from the 1920s and was the Plateau's first skyscraper. Though it has only seven floors, it is a distinctive feature of the neighbourhood. Farther north, 4020 boulevard Saint-Laurent is recognisable by its impressive refinished neo-Art Deco exterior. Also, there are many large churches from the 19th century and the early 20th century. Most notable of these would be the oriental looking St. Michael the Archangel, located at 5590 rue Saint-Urbain at rue Saint-Vincent ouest.

On the southern end of the Plateau, on the edge of the McGill University ghetto, is the Galleries du Parc, a large 1960s-era urban redevelopment project. The Galleries are comprised of four large buildings, three of them devoted to apartments and the fourth devoted to office space. In addition, a former hotel, now a residence of McGill University, and an underground shopping complex are part of the Galleries project. The underground mall, though small, contains a variety of shops and services including the Parc Cinema, showing art-house and second-run films.

Parks
The Plateau is bordered on two sides by large parks. To the west is Parc du Mont-Royal, designed by Frederic Law Olmstead in the 1880s, and a dominant feature of the Montreal landscape. The park is well used for recreation, biking, hiking, cross-country skiing in the winter, as well as the weekly Tam Tams celebration during the summer months. Parc du Mont-Royal is safe and accessible by the adjacent Parc Jeanne-Mance, listed below, and by Ave du Parc. To the east is Parc Lafontaine, also listed below.



Art
There are also examples of impressive urban tableaux and graffiti art found throughout the Plateau. The side streets to the east of boulevard Saint-Laurent are well known for this, particularly avenue Duluth.

Do
The Plateau area is a great place to walk around, shop, go to restos and clubs, or just hang out. There is always something interesting happening here, a very cool ambiance. It borders Mile End and Latin Quarter, both very cool areas themselves. Just get off the orange line at Mont-Royal or Sherbrooke and start walking up St. Denis or St. Laurent.



Buy
Though shops are dotted throughout the neighborhood, there are a few principal commercial avenues. Boulevard St-Laurent, known as "The Main" or "La Main", is the largest and most famous, with a cornucopia of restaurants, shops, bars, and other services. Below Ave des Pins, St. Laurent tends to be more upscale, particularly at the junction of Ave Prince Arthur. Further north on St. Laurent there are a variety of clothing stores, hearkening back to the street's history as the center of Montreal's garment district.

As for price, the Plateau has experienced a long stretch of gentrification, which has pushed prices upward in many locations. However, there are still bargains to be found in main places, particularly for vinyl records, books, and second-hand clothing.

Clothing
Despite on-going gentrification, St-Laurent near Rachel and Mont-Royal west of St-Denis, still have a number of vintage and second-hand frips where you can pick up 1950s prom dresses and '70s T-shirts. Local designers have claimed several spots on St-Laurent including Blank.



Drink
The Plateau is full of watering holes and the best thing to do is just wander and discover for yourself. Starting west and moving east, Bar des Pins (formerly Pines Tavern and featured in Mordechai Richler novels) is famous with the McGill set for Tuesday night beer pong. On southeast corner of Prince Arthur and St-Laurent is Vol de Nuit, a good place to start the night, especially in warmer weather when the terrace is open. Boulevard St-Laurent from Prince Arthur to Mount-Royal has a good mix of bars and clubs, from classy to downright sketchy. Korova (named after the bar in "A Clockwork Orange") is up a flight of stairs, has great music, and is popular with the hippest kids around. Nearby, also on St-Laurent below Duluth, is Frappe, a bar and pool hall, and Jupiter Room. Further north, on the corner of Clarke (one west of St-Laurent) and Laurier Ave. is Dieu de Ciel, a brasserie that brews its own spectacular beer.