In Montreal again, working, but really enjoying this first week of spring/summer. When not hotelling it downtown, I have a new lovely space to crash near Parc Baldwin, so a couple of blocks above Sherbrooke, close to Mont Royal. When not Bixie Biking, it is close to the bridge for points south and east of the river when i am ICEING it for the day.
Anyways, Bixie Bikes are great as usual, as are the separated bike lanes, as are no right turn on red lights at intersections. Doug Ford is at the beck and call of the 'only me first in my car' crowd. I just wish he could see the flocks of people scooting along major streets - school kids and younger to the more senior ages groups. In fact, and I should have taken a photo, there were backups of cyclers on the separated bike lanes on Rue Rachel the past couple of days. I guess its a routine happening and speaks to the volumes of people on two wheels. Time to expand the bike lanes! Or maybe a tunnel?
If I would grumble, ti would be the (seemingly) lack of good north/south routes, compared to the number of east/west routes. And why does Sherbrooke not have bike lanes (any lanes for that matter, paint seems to be in short supply in Montreal)?
I know Montreal is not perfect by any means (the health care system is a disaster) but there is a certain livability factor in the above, plus the neighbourhoods of 3/4/5 story walkups - density without towers, lovely living spaces with better then single family densities. Contrast that to Liberty Village (for an example) and you do question the need for that level of density.
Working from the crash pad today so Cappuccino time! Shout out to Croissant Croissant on Mont Royal and Toledo a little further along.