Montreal

For years if not decades, Montreal was a city in decline. A huge chunk of the population and dozens of businesses left (mostly for Toronto) after the 1980 referendum, and more still departed after the one in 1995 (mostly for Vancouver or Calgary). I moved out of my parents’ home the year after that, when they were practically giving apartments away, with first and last month’s rent free and more selection than one could dream of. I too contemplated leaving because prospects for employment were slim, especially in a town of under-funded libraries and two library schools. Ten years later, I wouldn’t dream of it.

Renaissance is definitely the word for it. That mot juste is also used by Jean-Louis Roy in his book Montréal: ville nouvelle, ville plurielle, which I read this weekend. Everything he states about the surge in growth of this city, I could feel just by walking down the street. There are signs that prosperity has returned, including everything from cranes to a dramatic increase in the costs of rent and real estate. People are choosing to move here instead of the inverse, and the same is true for companies.

In his books on the creative class, Richard Florida discusses what it takes for a city to attract the best and the brightest, which he narrows down to three Ts: talent, tolerance, technology. We have all of them in spades. Our population is also really educated on average, a state of affairs aided by the presence of four universities and scores of colleges. We are also truly bilingual in a functioning way. Florida’s books, especially the most recent (The Flight of the Creative Class) are really good, although the first two are less readable because of the amount of statistical charts. I heard him speak at a conference last year, and he was fabulous. City planners should listen up.

From a bibliophile and librarian’s perspective, this town has collectively never been more ‘book aware’. The opening of the Grande Bibliothèque last year resulted in the multitudes flocking to use the facility. Being World Book Capital meant that literary activities abounded, and the merger/demerger discussions put libraries at the forefront of citizen debate. I absolutely love our Salon du Livre, which takes place in the late fall, and we have a thriving publishing industry as well.

I am incredibly enthusiastic about all of this, and I do hope to contribute in some way to the intellectual life of a once-again thriving island.

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