Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Quebeckers are notoriously ignorant of anything that happens outside their borders. Which is 1. great in a way because it's led to a nice French-lite culture that is unique in North America but 2. not so great in that it's a bit insular and lacks an international flair to be culturally relevant.
Compare it with that mess of a city New Orleans which was Spanish/French/American but also gave the world jazz and a completely unique cuisine known the world over.
Quebeckers are notoriously ignorant of anything that happens outside their borders. Which is 1. great in a way because it's led to a nice French-lite culture that is unique in North America but 2. not so great in that it's a bit insular and lacks an international flair to be culturally relevant..
Francophone Canadians embrace modernity and the wider world every bit as much as anglophone Canadians do. It's only that they tend to embrace it through a francophone prism rather than an anglophone one.
Also, the ubiquity of English and anglophone culture seems to have deluded some people into thinking that just because they are English speakers, there is no prism in their case and they are just seeing the world as it is.
In some cases, people who mistakenly think they are seeing the world unfiltered may actually be the ones whose prism is narrowest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by autobahn1
Compare it with that mess of a city New Orleans which was Spanish/French/American but also gave the world jazz and a completely unique cuisine known the world over.
I wouldn't normally do this but since you have been trumpeting Toronto's superiority all morning, Toronto (for all its presumed non-insularity and international flair) has produced what exactly that would be globally culturally relevant and even close to being equivalent to what New Orleans has?
I once knew a French Embassy gentlemen in Ottawa who often times would hop over to Montreal for the weekend and reported that Montreal was far too North American for him and that Quebec City was more his thing. Paris he continued, simply does not have these towering sky-scrapers (IMO Montreal doesn't really have a mammoth proportion of this) all over the downtown core and didn't resemble his home town back in Paris when it came to vibrancy and culture.
To be honest, I like Montreal as a city. Excellent restaurants (far better than some of the crap here in TO) and better night life. Montreal is cleaner and the people friendlier. However there comes a time in one's life where you grow up and the idea of staying out in a club til 3am every night get s a little old. Montreal also wins over Toronto in terms of its downtown appearance and architecture (although I'll never get tired of seeing the CN Tower lit up at night).
That being said, I really don't get that big huge city feel that I seem to get when I am in Toronto. Toronto has that big city vibe much along the same confines as Chicago and New York. I've lived in both San Francisco and LA and really Montreal ranks far behind them in terms of cosmopolitan feel as well. I would even go so far as to say Montreal trials slightly behind Seattle and Vancouver IMO if we are strictly discussing big city vibe and feel.
It's probably a good thing Montreal is smaller than it competing neighbours. Toronto may be a novel with a wealthy Cover and highly personified financial district but it needs a lot of work deeper into the pages.
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
That being said, I really don't get that big huge city feel that I seem to get when I am in Toronto. Toronto has that big city vibe much along the same confines as Chicago and New York. I've lived in both San Francisco and LA and really Montreal ranks far behind them in terms of cosmopolitan feel as well. I would even go so far as to say Montreal trials slightly behind Seattle and Vancouver IMO if we are strictly discussing big city vibe and feel.
How would you define cosmopolitan feel and big city vibe and feel? I noticed that you mentioned mostly cities that have higher proportions of immigrants in their population than Montreal does. (Except maybe Seattle...)
How would you define cosmopolitan feel and big city vibe and feel? I noticed that you mentioned mostly cities that have higher proportions of immigrants in their population than Montreal does. (Except maybe Seattle...)
Okay...cosmopolitan embodies different spheres of sophistication and urbane compression that is reflected in the myriad of buildings, skyscrappers, street feel, restaurants and specialty-themed shopping venues found throughout a city.
Okay...cosmopolitan embodies different spheres of sophistication and urbane compression that is reflected in the myriad of buildings, skyscrappers, street feel, restaurants and specialty-themed shopping venues found throughout a city.
If that is the case that I cannot possibly see how Seattle and even Vancouver can top Montreal on this front.
Montreal vs. Toronto vs. San Francisco vs. Chicago on the other hand I can see as debatable with everyone having their own views.
you are certainly welcome to your opinion but I don't find Montreal cosmopolitan at all. And definitely neither Boston nor Chicago either (thanks for the laugh).
and living there you realize how completely and utterly small town it is and how provincial the people who make it home are.
One would have to be totally unaware of what high culture is to find Montreal
provincial.
One would have to be totally unaware of what high culture is to find Montreal
provincial.
Well, compared to some grand European capitals Montreal may not have much to boast about but compared to most North American cities (including many with much larger populations) it is true that it is probably one of the best when it comes to both high culture offerings and their widespread appreciation by the populace.
Well, compared to some grand European capitals Montreal may not have much to boast about but compared to most North American cities (including many with much larger populations) it is true that it is probably one of the best when it comes to both high culture offerings and their widespread appreciation by the populace.
Montreal does well in comparison to most European cities its size, and with respect to Theater at least ,perhaps outdoes any of them.
Quebeckers are notoriously ignorant of anything that happens outside their borders. Which is 1. great in a way because it's led to a nice French-lite culture that is unique in North America but 2. not so great in that it's a bit insular and lacks an international flair to be culturally relevant.
Link? You're obviously entitled to your opinion but to imply that it's conventional wisdom actually makes it look like a lie, especially when it's followed by a misguided comment on the lack of international flair of Quebec culture. Examples such as the Quebec movie industry, Cirque du Soleil, or even Arcade Fire I guess, prove otherwise.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
