When we are interested in the world of real estate, we generally take a Manichean look at it. On the one hand, the “private sector” in search of profit without any scruples, without regard for the environment or for heritage. On the other, the public and community sectors, guardians of the common good, bearers of visionary solutions without always having the means to implement them.
You will understand that these are caricatures here. Yet none of these caricatures even come close to our Montreal reality. Worse still, these stereotypes distance us from the reality of those for whom everyone works in the housing sector: our fellow citizens.
Fortunately, things could soon change and we could thus develop a more harmonious vision of the domain. Moreover, several signals have been added over the past few days, giving hope that we can finally “depoliticize” housing.
The first signal came from the Vision Bridge-Bonaventure group, a group of builders, urban planners and architects that proposes a vision other than that of the City for the development of this sector. A different but converging vision: the experts’ proposal meets or exceeds the objectives of the municipal administration in terms of density, green spaces, mobility, the environment and the enhancement of heritage.
We could have expected an end of non-receipt, but it was quite the opposite: the reception is enthusiastic. Even the mayor of Montreal, often depicted as being in opposition to the real estate sector, welcomed this proposal, calling it “an excellent initiative”.
The next day, the City of Montreal in turn rejected stereotypes by creating a major housing project co-chaired by Édith Cyr (Building your neighborhood), Benoît Dorais (City of Montreal) and yours truly (Broccolini). The goal? Pooling our expertise, reviewing all our ways of doing things and finding solutions to make housing more affordable in the city. Who would have thought it was possible a few months ago?
This major housing project is in addition to the “facilitating cell”, the communication channel that opened last February between the City of Montreal and the private sector. We are thus joining the good practices in terms of innovation that make the success of other major cities in North America, many of which are in direct competition with Montreal.
Such collaboration allows us today to consider projects that our fellow citizens were not even able to dream of before. Collaborate, create, innovate: this is how Montréal can maintain its place among the cities with the best quality of life in the world.
The Montreal Real Estate Summit, which was held in the last few days, allowed us to appreciate the scope of the possibilities available to us. Will we be able to seize these opportunities with all the ambition of which we are capable? The new collaboration that is taking place between partners in the private sector and the public sector, who wish to work together, finally allows us to believe in it.
Let’s depoliticize housing to dream and create Montreal together!