Last month, Clarence Eckerson journeyed to Montréal to see how much progress it has made in reining in the car culture, creating more livable communities, encouraging cycling, making roadways safer and, most important, bringing back freedom to inhabitants long oppressed by car drivers.

Of course, Montréal has fewer open streets than New York City does, but the open streets in the Paris of North America are much better.

Montréal’s 13 open streets are much longer and operate almost entirely car-free — car-free, meaning no parking, either! — 24 hours a day, all summer long.

“It’s about making the city accessible for everyone,” Montréal’s mayor Valérie Plante told me. “There has to be more room for cyclists and pedestrians, and arts and parklets.”

On Montréal’s open streets, you don’t just see people walking or biking as you see in New York, but also art installations, benches, bioswales, swings (with cupholders!), play areas for kids and bollards to keep out the cars. “It just brings so much joy and fun and, of course, safe spaces for our kids,” Plante added.

And local business owners confirm that pedestrianized zones bring in more money for struggling merchants.

Read the full article from Streetsblog here: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2021/09/16/see-it-montreal-offers-lessons-for-al...

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi5wmsK-3Zk