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| Stories in brick and steel Montreal, QC September 2023 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
As I was commuting to work, I didn’t have the opportunity to take in the history of this place, to appreciate the century-plus of history oozing from giant relics of a vanished industrial era.
Yet as I silently cruised between water and crumbling brick, I wished for a renaissance, that one day I’d return here and the area would be home to a new generation. I hoped future cyclists would have more reasons to stop - and fewer reasons to fear the rusty neglect that had come to define this place.
When we visited last year, I was able to walk around the once-abandoned factories, now lovingly rebuilt as homes and offices. Cyclists still whizzed past as they moved from here to there, but now there was a reason - ample reasons, actually - for many of them to stop along the way and lay down some roots.
For much of my life, this had been a city that bulldozed its history in the misguided pursuit of progress and future. What we ended up with was anything but, and I always worried the canal zone would similarly fall victim to this shortsighted urban planning narrative.
Thankfully in my absence, at least a few lessons seem to have been learned. I’ll have to bring my bike along when we next return. I’ll have a whole lot of reasons to slow down and enjoy the ride.
#montreal #quebec #yul #throwback #lachine #canal #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #downtown #city #history #brick #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography
Related:
Standing under crumbling brick, December 2020
Stumbling across an old bookstore, July 2020
Old man in a forgotten window, January 2019
Where time stands still, November 2018
A crumbling icon fades to black, May 2016
Wordless Wednesday - Busted light, February 2009
DQ me, November 2008
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