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Hold up Montreal's Winters are Worse than Chicago's 🤭
...how bad are they
They’re both really bad. Some winters, Montreal will be significantly worse, while other winters will be the opposite.
One thing that stands out about Montreal is how good of a job the city does at shielding one from the weather. In lots of cases, you can commute to work via public transit with barely a minute spent outside. The underground city and its network of retail, metro stations, dining, etc, makes getting around a breeze.
The point about metro differential and it being more pleasant overall in Montreal does make sense. I would also say that Montreal does shield from winter weather better, too.
Interesting point about Montreal having more students than any in NA. I hadn't really considered that. It actually does seem like a very nice place to be a college student.
On your history point, I actually do think that Chicago has more of a case here than one might think. Montreal certainly is older and has a much more historical aesthetic...
But think about some of Chicago's "influencers" (for at least parts of their lives)
On MIT's Pantheon-Mapping Historical Cultural Production site, Chicago ranks 9th in the world among cities on it's influential citizens. This covers a wide swath of global history, Chicago is in between Boston and Vienna in this regard.
Not that Montreal doesn't have influential and noteworthy citizenry too, but Chicago with it's skyscraper, famous fire, and various other industries etc. that have been developed here, certainly shapes the world.
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A lot of Montreal's iconic stuff is part of the French-speaking world (especially French-speaking Canada) and therefore not really well-known at all to people from the anglo world.
Iconic American stuff (not just from Chicago) obviously resonates more world-wide, even outside the anglosphere countries.
OTOH in the absence of cues or hints the last three names on that list don't ring any bells for me.
A lot of Montreal's iconic stuff is part of the French-speaking world (especially French-speaking Canada) and therefore not really well-known at all to people from the anglo world.
Iconic American stuff (not just from Chicago) obviously resonates more world-wide, even outside the anglosphere countries.
OTOH in the absence of cues or hints the last three names on that list don't ring any bells for me.
Chicago's roll was in the rise of the US from the late 1800s thru the 20th century. It had many first and its contribution they this era played a key roll in American developments to creations.
It was even originally the Hollywood of the film industry's early start. Silent era till most studio's hightailed it to sunny all year Southern California.
Adding to what was send as modern architecture of these eras is where key Architects names of these eras were mentioned. Skyscraper credited as born there and NYC caught on a bit later. But once it did it took off. Chicago had a period it then restricted heights. That was when NYC then could surpass it.
Chicago for a period was the fastest growing city in the world. That ended too when NYC annexed its Boroughs into one city.
Even the first Color TV broadcast station by NBC was set up there and it got a 30-rock style revived Art deco building in the 80s as its NBC building Chicago.
Contributions to music in even giving Jazz its name to the rise of electric Urban Blues. Its importance thru WW2 was very high in manufacturing for the war effort to training Air force flyers Like George W Bush from its Navy Pier there.
Over the past 50 years or so, Montreal has transitioned out of the position of "metropolis for all of Canada".
At the same time it has solidified its position as "metropolis of French-speaking Canada", which it had always occupied throughout history in tandem with its "cross-Canada metropolis" status that it eventually lost. (Toronto has never really occupied that position, or much of any position in fact, for French-speaking Canada.)
I wouldn't go as far as to say that Montreal didn't miss a beat, as there were some pretty significant bumps along the way. But Montreal still feels like a national metropolis of sorts today. Not on the level of Paris or London of course. Perhaps similar to those in nations of 5-10 million people.
Another role that Montreal is taking on is that it's increasingly seen as the "second city" of the French-speaking world after Paris. It's always claimed that status (referencing its size) but it's only in the past 20 years or so that it's really started to walk the walk on that front in a big way: on the cultural, economic, political and migratory fronts.
The point about metro differential and it being more pleasant overall in Montreal does make sense. I would also say that Montreal does shield from winter weather better, too.
Worked in Montreal last winter. The snow was brutal, in that we had almost weekly snow storms in Jan and Feb. If you drive to work and need to use street parking - good luck trying to shove your car out of 5ft of snow (very similar to winters in Boston...).
That being said, most of my colleagues in Montreal take transit to work. Montreal's metro stations are spaced very close to each other (often less than a mile between stations) - I live less than 300 ft from the nearest metro station, so going to work was a breeze regardless of weather condition. All metro stations in the entire network are deep underground, and are entirely heated. Trains run every 1-2 min during rush hours, or every 3-5 min on weekends, a very acceptable service level.
One other thing to note is Montreal's very well-developed cycling network. During the spring, summer, and fall months (april - nov), the city puts out an extensive bike sharing service called BIXI with over 600 bike stations city wide. A BIXI pass costs just $70 per year, and is really one of the fastest, most economical ways to get around the city. Montreal is currently on bike path expansion mode, in that the city is building 200 km+ of fully protected bike "highways" on top of its existing 350 km bike lanes.
Montreal really isn't a big city geographically - most of the action is self-contained on the Island of Montreal - so it makes sense that its transit and cycling infrastructure is more user-friendly.
Below is a very common sight on most residential streets in Montreal:
I recently had to decide where to live for the next few years between these two. It was really a toss-up, but I ultimately went to Montreal because of considerations that had less to do with the city and more with the particular institutions and US/Canada.
Location: Montreal. Chicago is isolated in the Midwest without any notable cities around it except perhaps Detroit and Toronto, with the former being questionable and the latter being hard to reach. Montreal has NYC, Boston, and Toronto within somewhat reasonable distance. Climate: Chicago. Albeit I haven't lived there for a whole year. Montreal's winter really screws up your productivity. Montreal may have better infrastructure for coping with winter or extreme heat (e.g., many underground locales, large central park, more walkable areas). Scenery/Architecture: Montreal, but close to a toss-up. Montreal has more diverse architecture and generally looks better. Greener, more walkable spaces, less dreary worn concrete stuff, everyone adorns their homes, etc. But Chicago has a better waterfront that is closer to the centre, and the skyscrapers have a certain gritty appeal if you like cyberpunk. It has some of the prettier skyscrapers, too. The lake is very neat and it gets a lot of love, more than the river. The mountain compensates because it is so uniquely centrally located - in most cities with hills, they are just an inaccessible backdrop. Quality of life: Montreal, but depends on your preferences. Safety: Montreal. Public transportation: Montreal. Much higher underground ridership (almost 2 times as many people in a somewhat smaller city). 24-hour service is good, but not very important. I'd add much better cycling infrastructure. Chicago is car-oriented. Montreal sucks for cars, which is not a bad thing. Shopping: No idea because it's better and cheaper to shop in NYC. They're both okay; I guess Montreal has more independent shops. Universities: Chicago. UChicago > McGill=Northwestern > all others. McGill is more central to the country and has more august alumni (e.g., Nobels, Rhodes, etc.), but Northwestern has more money and a rich business school. Montreal's advantage is that the universities are all centrally located, while UChicago is in the middle of a somewhat distant ghetto and Northwestern is in a suburb. All 4 Montreal universities have ace locations and are close to one another. Entertainment/Things to see and do: Chicago if you don't speak French. Probably a toss-up if you do. Alas, I don't. Maybe Montreal if you are the partying type. Diversity: Montreal. Chicago has segregated and mutually hostile race-based cultures, while Montreal has distinct language-based cultures. Chicago has very high ethnic crime, but Montreal's Muslim minority is more entitled. However, in Montreal diversity did not yet decimate the inner city unless you count the Anglo exodus. In general, Montreal probably has the least bad ethnic situation in North America among larger cities, while Chicago has one of the worst. Which may be interesting if you like that sort of thing (I do), but it's macabre. Economy: Chicago. Especially if you mean total economic power. Culture: Chicago; same as entertainment. Montreal is more unique and dissimilar to anything else, but Chicago is more powerful and more integrated. Food: Toss-up. Probably Chicago for very fancy food, Montreal for regular good restaurants. History: Chicago, but depends on what interests you. Chicago is more tragic and it is studied in greater detail (e.g., all that sociology work from the early 20th century). Montreal has been relevant for longer, but it is not as globally relevant or typical as early 20th century Chicago. Chicago's decline has been steeper. Because Chicago is in the huge US and Montreal is in Canada (or rather Quebec), Chicago topics have a lot more coverage.
Where would you rather live? Total toss-up. Eventually went with Montreal for now.
Where would you rather visit as first timer? Chicago, but maybe a toss-up if I spoke French. Montreal if I were American.
Location:
Climate:
Scenery/Architecture:
Quality of life:
Safety:
Public transportation:
Shopping:
Universities:
Entertainment/Things to see and do:
Diversity:
Economy:
Culture/Food/History:
Where would you rather live?
Where would you rather visit as first timer?
Overall:
Hard choices cause I love both cities
Location: Montreal
Climate: Tie: Chicago during winter and MTL during summer.
Scenery/Architecture: Hard choice too. I love the European architecture in Montreal, rowhouses as well but I also love all the skyscrapers in CHI.
Scenery: MTL
QOL: MTL since it's affordable
Safety: MTL, by far
Transport: MTL, newer, more reliable and we're getting a 67-km long heavy rail system, a subway extension and tramway.
Shopping: CHI
Universities: slight edge to MTL
Entertainment/things to do and see: Another hard one since both cities have an abundance of festivals and activities. I'd give a slight edge to Montreal when it comes to entertainment and festivities
Diversity: Slight edge to MTL (~200 ethnic groups) + being a French city and the most bilingual in N.A
Economy: Chicago
Culture/Food/History: Slight edge to MTL
Where would I rather live? Well, I live in MTL but I would also live in Chicago if given the opportunity. Both are large world-class cities with lively downtowns and neighbourhoods.
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