If I tell you that I have a visionary plan to remake Montreal and lead it to carbon neutrality by 2050, you will probably conclude that I am a dreamer. The solution does exist, however. More than a million people would have to be moved to eco-efficient mixed-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods dense enough not to need a car and to allow a rich and dynamic neighborhood life.
The good news is that it is not even a question of razing the city to get there, because all this is already in place, in our neighborhoods of the plex + alley type. Our urban design model — the way Montreal is built — is so familiar that we forget its uniqueness.
Think of boroughs like Villeray, Verdun or Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, where I live. These neighborhoods are all built a bit the same way: rows of plexes, mostly triplexes, with a few small and large buildings dotted here and there. At the back of these plexes, there are small courtyards intended for the occupants of the ground floor – generally the owners – and, just behind, alleys. Upstairs, there are rental units. East-west streets are generally commercial, north-south streets are mostly residential.
This kind of neighborhood hardly exists outside of Quebec. You can’t find anything like it in the rest of Canada, and while some towns in the eastern United States are built around townhouses, they’re not multi-unit, usually don’t have backyards, and, worse, no alley.
The plex + lane district is a unique urban planning paradigm that belongs to us. In fact, it is the secret to Montreal’s success as a city, the key to the unique vitality of its neighborhoods, and the starting point for any serious discussion about what it should look like in 2050.
A hidden refuge
Consider first the social mix. This urban model is inherently mixed, with slightly wealthier owners sharing the neighborhood with their less well-off tenants who live upstairs. The plex structure ensures that the town does not experience extreme segregation by income. On the contrary, the model ensures that we share the same neighborhoods, and that we therefore all have an interest in keeping them pleasant.
Then consider the compactness of this model, which allows for population densities ranging from 5,000 to 9,000 people per square kilometer. That’s enough to support truly efficient public transit, enough to support a dynamic set of local businesses, but not too much to feel cramped either. It is at this density that the “15 minute city” goes from slogan to reality: schools, shops, gyms, dentists and libraries are usually within walking distance, and certainly by bike.
And then there’s the real hidden gem of the model: the alley. Here is a little wonderland, both public and private, where children can play and explore, where cats can laze around and where neighbors can meet for a happy hour. – estimated of the urban model of Montreal: a hidden refuge for biodiversity, an escape from the noise of the streets and a playground that you never need to cross. The alley is where the social fabric of our neighborhoods is silently constructed.
It is this urban model that makes Montreal Montreal. Its liveliness comes from its design. And there’s nothing experimental about it, it’s the type of neighborhood where more than half of Montrealers already live.
It is also an extremely popular model, as evidenced by the enormous rise in property prices in this type of neighborhood in recent years, an increase that has greatly exceeded that of other types of urban spaces in The city. The reality is that people recognize these neighborhoods as great places to live and seek them out.
As the Office de consultation publique de Montréal opens its Réflexion 2050 to discuss the revision of the Urban Planning and Mobility Plan (PUM), it is important to highlight the advantages of what is already in place. We don’t need a new model to adapt the city to the ecological transition and produce dynamic and welcoming neighborhoods. Our task is rather to extend and deepen a proven model.
Back to basics
Montreal was first built to be used without a car. Then, in the 1950s, the city entered North America’s long era of mindless urban sprawl. Today, everyone understands that was a mistake. That’s why we need to go back to basics by rediscovering an arrangement that we already know works to deepen its benefits.
Discussions of the new PUM are oddly blind to the unique benefits of the plex + alley layout. Discussions of urban space management, mobility planning, and density take place on an abstract plain — in language you might as well use when discussing Calgary, Seoul, or Timbuktu.
It is revealing that the preliminary project that the City submitted for consultation makes only very brief mentions of its alleys. It’s unfortunate, because the PUM is not intended for an abstract city, but for the one we already have! A PUM that does not take into account the alley as a defining element of the urban model is far removed from the city as we know it.
In fact, the new PUM should consecrate the urban model of Montreal as the mode of urban development by default. Thus, areas that do not have sufficient density to support attractive local businesses and sufficient transit links should be gently guided towards adopting the principles of the Montreal model, with zoning that allows for more plexes, more cycle paths and, above all, more beautiful alleys!