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I have "couple" of questions about Montreal. Very interested to move there in my future hopefully:
I know winter's are well below freezing & snowy. Are there lots of people on the streets during winter, like it is in New York City, or do more people spend time inside since it's bitter cold?
Is it expensive in Montreal? Food, clothes, cost of living, cars, gasoline etc.?
Do people live in big/small apartments/houses? What's approx. cost of renting housing there?
During the summer, is it warm & sunny enough for outdoor bathing, sun tanning etc.?
Do you need Air Condation during the summer? Are buildings/stores/homes etc. cooled off (A/C) during summer?
Is Montreal food similar to NYC's?
Are signs in stores only in French? Or bilingual?
Is traffic bad in the city? hard to find parking? expensive parkings?
Are there lots of tourist visiting Montreal, like here in NYC?
I have "couple" of questions about Montreal. Very interested to move there in my future hopefully:
I know winter's are well below freezing & snowy. Are there lots of people on the streets during winter, like it is in New York City, or do more people spend time inside since it's bitter cold?
Is it expensive in Montreal? Food, clothes, cost of living, cars, gasoline etc.?
Do people live in big/small apartments/houses? What's approx. cost of renting housing there?
During the summer, is it warm & sunny enough for outdoor bathing, sun tanning etc.?
Do you need Air Condation during the summer? Are buildings/stores/homes etc. cooled off (A/C) during summer?
Is Montreal food similar to NYC's?
Are signs in stores only in French? Or bilingual?
Is traffic bad in the city? hard to find parking? expensive parkings?
Are there lots of tourist visiting Montreal, like here in NYC?
How is the weather overall?
Thank you so much!!
Some answers:
No, people in Montreal do not hibernate during the winter. The city may not be as lively as in the summertime, but there are still lots of people out on the streets. People also partake in winter activities like skiing, skating, etc.
Even in the city, you would find all housing types: single-family homes, row houses, apartment blocks, lofts, towers, etc.
Most consumer goods would be more expensive than in the States. Housing would be cheaper than in nice areas of major NE cities in the US like NYC, Boston, DC.
Winters are similar to Helsinki, Finland or St. Petersburg, Russia, however summers are generally quite a bit warmer than most places in the Baltic region and northern Europe in general. Montreal actually has nicer summers than many places in continental Europe like Paris, London, etc. Think Milan or Turin in northern Italy. If you don't believe me take a look at Montreal's suburbs on Google Earth and you will see the backyards are full of swimming pools. I live 200 km from Montreal (same climate) and I have a backyard swimming pool and we use it from mid-May to mid-September. Summer daytime temperatures are generally always near 25 or quite a bit above that, with sometimes a fairly high humidex sometimes in the upper 40s.
Not all residences have air conditioning though it is highly recommended if you can afford it. All businesses and offices are air conditioned.
Montreal has a pretty good culinary culture and so even though the city is much smaller, you can find almost anything you have in NYC in Montreal as well. Generally for less money.
Most store signs are of course in French, many are in French only and many bilingual in French and English (especially downtown and some western parts of the city).
Montreal has snow on the ground at moment but did not have any until Wednesday of this past week. The snow that is there now will likely stay (and get more piled onto it) until early March. However, there can also be periods where most of the snow will melt and you will see the grass. But generally there is at least some snow on the ground in southern Quebec from early December to early March. But some years there is no snow at all until late December, or all of the snow is gone by late February. It really depends on the year.
Overall, someone who is OK with living in northern New Jersey, the NYC region, or the northeastern or midwestern U.S. should not avoid Montreal for climatological reasons. This is also true for someone from northern Europe (I think you once said you are originally from Scandinavia?)
I have never heard of anyone moving to NYC from Montreal for "better weather". And people from the northeastern states don't complain about the weather in Montreal either.
Think about it: there are days in winter in NYC with snow and freezing temperatures. Well, in Montreal, there are more of them. And in Montreal there are fewer days that are cool and rainy.
It is really a variation on a similar climate. It is not as if New Yorkers are Floridians or Louisianans who are unaccustomed to cold and snow.
It's a personal thing, but I for one find November and April (when it is grey and rainy and between 0 and 10 C) in Quebec to be the most depressing months. By December, I am eager for it to snow, because at least everything is bright and white instead of grey and brown.
I don't have the statistics but I would venture to say that winters in southern Quebec are probably sunnier than on the northeast coast of the U.S.
I have kids and they almost never play outside in November, but as soon as there is snow they are right at the door asking to go out.
Don't get me wrong, I like warm weather too, but if it is not going be at least 20 C, I think I would rather have snow.
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