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I love Miami and rather live there than Montreal, but when comparing downtowns, no comparison. While Miami is making huge strides, Montreal is in the league of cities like Boston, DC, Seattle when it comes to downtown, where Miami is not, a tier lower than that.
You have to realize it is what it is. Sure Miami has made huge strides but if you are a person moving to a city looking for the best urban experience,it's just natural that if you have a point of comparison,you will compare.
You view is personal but so is the decision to move or travel somewhere based on your own taste.
Miami just doesn't hold up well on this topic and it's irrelevant the strides as it jjist the nature of two different cities ..
Miami's strides are very relevant to the discussion. Or else, what is there to discuss?
There's no doubt that Montreal's Metro>>>Miami's overall.
But, when specifically comparing how the metro serves the downtown... not only is it free, but there are 21 stations serving different portions of the area considered downtown. It's really quite comprehensive of that area.
This is the one domain (aside from skyline maybe) where the downtown vs. downtown category benefits and does not serve as a detriment to Miami's cause in this comparison.
Fair point, though I'd personally give transportation (public transportation specifically) to MTL without question.
There are 3 separate metro lines serving Montreal - most if not all of the 11 stations located in downtown MTL are connected directly to the underground pathway system, meaning that once you get on a subway, you never really need to get out because there is a good chance the station has direct access to your hotel/office/shopping center.
On top of that, like acajack mentioned, MTL is currently constructing the new Metropolitan Express Train Network (a network of 4 lines of elevated rapid transit), which will further add to rapid transit lines serving downtown. This is currently U/C (the lines below highlighted in purple) and will open for service 2022-23.
Also, I don't think Montreal's STM Metro is at all comparable to Miami's MetroMover - the former is a comprehensive heavy rail subway system with nearly 400,000,000 ridership in 2019 and one of the top 5 metro systems in North America, the latter a much more limited and self-contained system with about 10,000,000+ annual ridership (or 2.5% of Montreal's metro ridership). Apples to oranges.
Last edited by bostonkid123; 02-07-2020 at 01:20 PM..
Miami's strides are very relevant to the discussion. Or else, what is there to discuss?
Okay maybe not irrelevant but not relevant to reality.
ON CD people talk about why and what makes a city the way it is rather good or bad but at the ned of the day when its about the present,it just what in front of us based on the evidence.
Montreal is what 300yrs old at least
Miami is technically older than Atlanta yet most of its growth as a city didnt happened till the 1950's. To be what is is today is remarkable. The simple answer is weather and beaches but its not really relevant because now its a city with a population and economy that has surpassed much older and historically prominent cities today.
So while its a remarkable achievement for a city, its only a small footnote explaining that its bigger and better than it was but its still just not where a city like Montreal is and has been for a longer time. This is just something as I said before,"it is what it is"
Fair point, though I'd personally give transportation (public transportation specifically) to MTL without question.
There are 3 separate metro lines serving Montreal - most if not all of the 11 stations located in downtown MTL are connected directly to the underground pathway system, meaning that once you get on a subway, you never really need to get out because there is a good chance the station has direct access to your hotel/office/shopping center.
On top of that, like acajack mentioned, MTL is currently constructing the new Metropolitan Express Train Network (a network of 4 lines of elevated rapid transit), which will further add to rapid transit lines serving downtown. This is currently U/C (the lines below highlighted in purple) and will open for service 2022-23.
Also, I don't think Montreal's STM Metro is at all comparable to Miami's MetroMover - the former is a comprehensive heavy rail subway system with nearly 400,000,000 ridership in 2019 and one of the top 5 metro systems in North America, the latter a much more limited and self-contained system with about 10,000,000+ annual ridership (or 2.5% of Montreal's metro ridership). Apples to oranges.
In other words ,what good is having 21 stations downtown and is free if service destinations are to few and infrequent?
I think it'll also be cool and informative to talk about future projects in each respective downtown as well. Not only to show others who aren't familiar with the downtowns but to also explain how it'll improve each downtown and what it'll bring to the table. I was gonna put it as a category but I put more than enough lol, but I still think it'll be nice to engage in that in addition to the other criteria.
This is not a fair fight;Miami is better than people think, but still, Montreal has one of the better downtowns in North America (top 5 IMO)
Greenspace: Montreal with Mt. Royal right there.
Entertainment: By definition given, Montreal wins, but...Neither are top tier by North American standards.
Nightlife: Pure city limits-Montreal wins. If including various areas around Miami, Miami might win or at least tie.
Events: Montreal wins easily
Arts: I'm going to disagree with some and call it basically a tie
Transportation: Montreal smokes most top public transit cities in the U.S. While Miami's public transit is somewhat underrated, it is nowhere near Montreal's.
Retail: Miami wins this one, as would any large U.S. city versus a Canadian one.
Urbanity/vibrancy: Montreal, but...the gap is not that wide. Montreal has some patchiness in the urban fabric (reminds me somewhat of Philly, although Philly has gotten rid of most of this in the past 10-15 years-Montreal is still a work in progress in this regard)
Street-level presence: Draw
Cosmopolitan/international: Miami easily
Culture: Completely subjective and too hard to answer.
Pace: Miami is faster and much more frenetic; I'd say Montreal is on par with Chicago and slower than cities like New York, Boston, or SF
DT/better space: Montreal
Neighborhoods: Montreal (some of the best in North America between Plateau, Mile-End, Outremont, let alone getting further out into places like CDN-NDG).
The funny thing about this comparison is that although I find Montreal to be a superior city, without question, I'd still rather live in the Miami area.. I'm from the north east originally and I hated the weather there, and Montreal is even more brutally cold in the winter... Yes it's true that downtown Montreal is vastly superior to downtown Miami, but I like the Miami metro and surrounding areas far more.. I love the hot weather, the palm trees.. I love Miami Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, downtown Miami, the Keys.. I love being close to the Caribbean, I love the gulf coast of Florida..etc..etc... But yes, if you're comparing central Montreal and it's amenities to central Miami, yes.. it's superior....but.. I'd still rather live in Miami..
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