Are there any American cities similar to Montréal? (houses, neighborhoods)

[souliers]

I love Montréal, so I'm wondering if there are any American cities similar to it. I don't mean in terms of language spoken - obviously there are no large American cities with a Francophone majority - but rather in terms of size, "feel" of the city, and walkability (including good public transit).

Does such a place exist?

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by souliers

I love Montréal, so I'm wondering if there are any American cities similar to it. I don't mean in terms of language spoken - obviously there are no large American cities with a Francophone majority - but rather in terms of size, "feel" of the city, and walkability (including good public transit).

Does such a place exist?

Nothing quite like it. Sounds weird, but San Francisco, Brooklyn or Center City Philadelphia/South Philly might be closest.

[iNviNciBL3]

Boston has good public transit, pretty dense, walkable and some parts have a "European feel" to it.

[projectmaximus]

Not really.

I'd say there are some similarities to Boston, DC, and Portland...maybe throw New Orleans in there too for the cultural heritage, but they're all still quite different.

[FBF]

Montreal looks like a typical North American city with the only difference that it speaks French.

It is Quebec City which has a bit of European flair in its old center.....but I would say Boston, New York City, and San Francisco would be similar since they are big cities with good or moderate public transportations like Montreal.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by FBF

Montreal looks like a typical North American city with the only difference that it speaks French.

It is Quebec City which has a bit of European flair in its old center.....but I would say Boston, New York City, and San Francisco would be similar since they are big cities with good or moderate public transportations like Montreal.

A quick Flickr search for "Old Montreal" will return some dashing photos of Montreal's European style center. Sure, Quebec has far more of this flair, but there are parts of Montreal doesn't look anything like the typical North American city.

[nei]

Non-decayed portions of Philadelphia probably come closest to Montreal's residential neighborhoods.

[bryson662001]

Many have compared Montreal to Philadelphia. They are both large,older, cosmopolitan,sophisticated dense cities with lots of history, Lots of immigrants, a large working class living in row houses and dependent on public transit, a lot of traditions and old money, not as important as they once were (Philly is in NY's shadow the way Montreal is to Toronto) The downtown cores have a very similar feel with lots of retail, car and foot traffic, skyscrapers, a large residential population, night life etc

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

A quick Flickr search for "Old Montreal" will return some dashing photos of Montreal's European style center. Sure, Quebec has far more of this flair, but there are parts of Montreal doesn't look anything like the typical North American city.

And a huge portion of the city (most of it in fact) has rowhouses with outdoor spiralling staircases. Not exactly your typical North American streetscape.

[nei]

Originally Posted by Acajack

And a huge portion of the city (most of it in fact) has rowhouses with outdoor spiralling staircases. Not exactly your typical North American streetscape.

Typical for Philadelphia, excluding the spiralling staircases. I wonder if that's a unique local style.