Montreal Named One Of World's Happiest Cities

[Sol Invictus]

Lonely Planet travel guide calls the city ‘clean, welcoming and refreshingly multicultural’ (lol)

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/00462/port_462371a_jpg_462371gm-a.jpg


July 29 2010(Globe & Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec/montreal-named-one-of-the-worlds-happiest-cities/article1653642/)) Montrealers can smile knowing their city is considered one of the world's top 10 happiest places.

Canada's second-biggest city has made the list compiled by the popular travel guide Lonely Planet.

Montreal is the second place named on the list, just under the South Pacific island paradise of Vanuatu.

While considerably colder than that far-flung tropical locale, Montreal apparently has a few other things going for it.

Lonely Planet says the city has several attributes — especially in the summer, when it hosts one of the world's biggest comedy festivals.

“Clean, welcoming and refreshingly multicultural, Montreal is happy enough year-round,” it says.

“Come July, though, it's downright hilarious. Just For Laughs takes over the city in summer, packing venues with the best in both Anglo and Francophone comedy.”

Montreal was the only Canadian place named on the list, which includes spots in China, Japan, Colombia, and Africa.

Bhutan is described as a “jovial,” “Himalayan Shangri-La.”

Colombia is becoming increasingly safe, contrary to its reputation and violent history, says the guide; a visit to its Caribbean coast, coffee plantations and carnival parties is described as “infectious and uplifting.”

Wuyi Shan, China, is “a realm of secret valleys splashed with waterfalls and pocked with mysterious caves.”

Malawi is described as “the warm heart of Africa,” where visitors are greeted with “effusive grins.”

But it's tough to beat Vanuatu.

“Many a human's idea of blissful living involves swinging in a palm-strung hammock while the ocean swooshes gently onto a white-sand beach nearby,” Lonely Planet says.

“The water's ridiculously blue and teeming with life; the interior's lush and volcanically rumbling, great for exploring amid the breadfruit trees.

“But it's the sense of community that makes this a truly happy place.”

This cheerful list comes after Montreal found itself frowning over some of the headlines it generated in recent months.

There was some hockey-related vandalism during the spring; last fall, Maclean's magazine ran a cover story about the city's mayoral election with the headline, “Montreal is a corrupt, crumbling, mob-ridden disgrace.”

While the happiness list was originally published in May, it was picked up today by the popular U.S. website the Huffington Post, where it is generating some discussion and debate.

The page featuring Montreal includes a picture of two young men — their faces painted red, white and blue — wearing Montreal Canadiens jerseys.

There was some debate on a number of the locations included and on many excluded from the list.

As for Montreal, one person on the Lonely Planet website wrote: “Really glad to see a Canadian city included since I am originally from there.”

And someone else offered a more philosophical measure of bliss.

“Happiness is anywhere you happen to be — with good health, good company, and a fat wallet in your pocket.”

[antonio]

refreshingly multicultural

Yeah, the few occassions I walked into our brand new multicultural city guettos, I used to feel a strangely refreshing sensation on my mouth, like if I was eating an ice-cream, unfortunatelly I could no indulging much on it, Im too occupied analyzing all the strange people I crossed trying to discriminate criminals from simply ugly or unellegant ones.:thumb001:

[nisse]

Hard to believe that there is a happy place anywhere in China...don't they get put in jail for having too much fun?

[Sol Invictus]

Re: Montreal -- Having lived there for several years of my life I can tell you; the streets smell like shit, there's way too many people living on the streets (unacceptable) and the Hell's Angels basically have the run of the town.

[antonio]

Re: Montreal -- Having lived there for several years of my life I can tell you; the streets smell like shit, there's way too many people living on the streets (unacceptable) and the Hell's Angels basically have the run of the town.

Umm, really refreshing!:D

[Wölfin]

LOL it doesn't stink everywhere. But Montreal as a whole? Meh. I never really wander from the "good" parts of town. I'd be terrified of Montreal North where they Haitian ghetto trash * walks around acting like their the bloods and crips or some ridiculous shit like that. I like the Plateau Mont-Royal though, Outremont, the Mile End etc. Gay village is alright as is most of down town. The rest isn't worth a visit though.

Anyway I've decided to move 2-3 years from now. That will be that. Its a good city for young people and students and for gays. Not so much for serious people.

* I wanted to specify not all Haitians are ghetto trash, which is why I needed to highlight that it was the ghetto trash specifically I was talking about. I've met a few respectable Haitians including some of European descent.

[MagnaLaurentia]

Re: Montreal -- Having lived there for several years of my life I can tell you; the streets smell like shit, there's way too many people living on the streets (unacceptable) and the Hell's Angels basically have the run of the town.

Street smell like shit? LOL seriously... where?

St-Michel or Montréal-Nord (haitian ghetto)?
Côte-des-Neiges (multiethnic, paki, jew, asian ghetto)?
Centre-ville (punk, homeless... you know what? they are 75% of time anglo-canadian whitetrash who think Montréal is "cool" and a "good" place to live like bohemian)?
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (Quebecois whitetrash "ghetto" + ex-headquarters of the Hell's Angels)?

Okay maybe... but what do you think of Mercier, Anjou, Pointe-Aux-Trembles, Rosemont, St-Léonard, Ahuntsic? I live in Mercier and I never see homeless people, street not smell like shit, very peaceful (no Hell's, no street gang)...

Every city have their poors neighborhoods, crime gangs, immigrants... all city in the north america and europe are like that... In my point of view Montreal smell much better than New York or Paris. Just Côte-des-Neiges is exception to the rules because the paki and south-asian have no concept of hygiene. I've been in this neighborhood last month. For me it was a real shock: Nobody speak French and it's really dirty.

You see for me (a guy from the east of Montreal) ... I felt no more in Montreal.

Oh btw... the Hell's Angels is over... they are all in jail and too old. Today, you have street gang of Haitian, mainly.

[Wölfin]

Street smell like shit? LOL seriously... where?

St-Michel or Montréal-Nord (haitian ghetto)?
Côte-des-Neiges (multiethnic, paki, jew, asian ghetto)?
Centre-ville (punk, homeless... you know what? they are 75% of time anglo-canadian whitetrash who think Montréal is "cool" and a "good" place to live like bohemian)?
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (Quebecois whitetrash "ghetto" + ex-headquarters of the Hell's Angels)?

Okay maybe... but what do you think of Mercier, Anjou, Pointe-Aux-Trembles, Rosemont, St-Léonard, Ahuntsic? I live in Mercier and I never see homeless people, street not smell like shit, very peaceful (no Hell's, no street gang)...

Every city have their poors neighborhoods, crime gangs, immigrants... all city in the north america and europe are like that... In my point of view Montreal smell much better than New York or Paris. Just Côte-des-Neiges is exception to the rules because the paki and south-asian have no concept of hygiene. I've been in this neighborhood last month. For me it was a real shock: Nobody speak French and it's really dirty.

You see for me (a guy from the east of Montreal) ... I felt no more in Montreal.

Oh btw... the Hell's Angels is over... they are all in jail and too old. Today, you have street gang of Haitian, mainly.

Agree with you, but don't forget some of the Western neighbourhoods as well ;)

[MagnaLaurentia]

Agree with you, but don't forget some of the Western neighbourhoods as well ;)

I'm too proud to admit it! :p

[blan]

Re: Montreal -- Having lived there for several years of my life I can tell you; the streets smell like shit, there's way too many people living on the streets (unacceptable) and the Hell's Angels basically have the run of the town.

i have read lonely planet books and they have much good info but they in same ways can be full of shit and way off but as far as travel books go i dont think you can get much better information wise

[blan]

LOL it doesn't stink everywhere. But Montreal as a whole? Meh. I never really wander from the "good" parts of town. I'd be terrified of Montreal North where they Haitian ghetto trash * walks around acting like their the bloods and crips or some ridiculous shit like that. I like the Plateau Mont-Royal though, Outremont, the Mile End etc. Gay village is alright as is most of down town. The rest isn't worth a visit though.

Anyway I've decided to move 2-3 years from now. That will be that. Its a good city for young people and students and for gays. Not so much for serious people.

* I wanted to specify not all Haitians are ghetto trash, which is why I needed to highlight that it was the ghetto trash specifically I was talking about. I've met a few respectable Haitians including some of European descent.
there are haitian gangs running a muck in montreal and there is a steady increase in crime due to them,
i constantly see deported gang scum being sent back to haiti to wander the streets and continue to start trouble in places like cap haitien and port au prince

[blan]

* I wanted to specify not all Haitians are ghetto trash, which is why I needed to highlight that it was the ghetto trash specifically I was talking about. I've met a few respectable Haitians including some of European descent.

thank you for not lumping everyone from Haiti into the category of the vole/dirty street scum

[blan]

Hard to believe that there is a happy place anywhere in China...don't they get put in jail for having too much fun?

i taught language classes for a school based in china,
though the program was run out of the usa, the authorities, schools, ect are very unpleasant to deal with, and very unfun, though the the people of the country strike me as amazing

[Bloodeagle]

I visited Montreal back in 92 for one long day.
I had the time of my life driving around and trying to find my way through the city.
I slummed around the downtown area going to record stores and other shops.
I had a blast!
At the time I would have thought that I would be happy in a city like Montreal.:thumb001:

[Treffie]

Montreal is one of the best places that I've ever visited - best food in North America :)

[Crossbow]

Never saw a travel guide which didn't extol multiculturalism. See this market and that one, exotic colours and tastes, the fantastic new Hindu-temple in the old bohemien district, try a Thai-sandwich at midnight etc. It's a mind-freshing experience....you know. Too bad that you don't have to go to Montreal at all. When you change the names of the roads and the ethnics who live in a particular city, you can fill every travel guide with the same text.

[Aemma]

Pessimists! :mad:

Montreal is a jewel, still in the rough in parts and beautifully polished in others. But a jewel nonetheless. :thumb001:

[anonymaus]

Montreal is one of the best places that I've ever visited - best food in North America :)

Everybody loves steamies.

[Aemma]

Everybody loves steamies.

LOL I cracked up the first time I ever read a sign saying: "Chien chaud steamé" Gotta love franglais! :D

[anonymaus]

LOL I cracked up the first time I ever read a sign saying: "Chien chaud steamé" Gotta love franglais! :D

hungry now :D

[Atlas]

Montreal is indeed a great city, though I dislike winters.

[Wölfin]

By the way I forgot to mention, that Montreal's "multiculturality" is not just code-word for "full of non-europeans", on the contrary, when they speak of diversity they talk about how the many european immigrants of the 20th century contributed to Montreal's cultural richness.

From the French-Canadians and the English-Canadians that have been there for centuries, to the waves of Italian and Greeks, not forgetting the German and Ukrainians, European descendants make up a majority of the city. Of course there are also many East Asians, various Latin American and Caribbeans (predominantly Haitian rif-raf unfortunately) Africans (including North of course), South Asians and Middle Easterners. Yes it is diverse but I do not feel it is overrun.

I spent a good part of the summer working at the Jean Talon Market, which does give you a good idea of what kind of people you find in the city (including tourists). One interesting thing I noted was that there was somewhat a baby boom, especially and predominantly with French-Canadians and to a lesser extent, WASPs. Every time I saw a French-Canadian with kids, she always had at least two toddlers and often a third one on the way. And these weren't white-trash lower class types either. It was kind of nice knowing the population was being renewed for once by locals and by people who could actually afford to take care of them and raise them decently.

Vive Montréal!

[blan]

Never saw a travel guide which didn't extol multiculturalism. See this market and that one, exotic colours and tastes, the fantastic new Hindu-temple in the old bohemien district, try a Thai-sandwich at midnight etc. It's a mind-freshing experience....you know. Too bad that you don't have to go to Montreal at all. When you change the names of the roads and the ethnics who live in a particular city, you can fill every travel guide with the same text.

travel guides for the west indies often act as if non black minorities are long gone or never were any where in the area.
i think its a mixture of white guilt on the behalf of the writers and publishers because they know most of the minority has much wealthand they dont want to promote whites and asians. aside from the fact most dont even know we are there

[Crossbow]

travel guides for the west indies often act as if non black minorities are long gone or never were any where in the area.
i think its a mixture of white guilt on the behalf of the writers and publishers because they know most of the minority has much wealthand they dont want to promote whites and asians. aside from the fact most dont even know we are there

Truly a falsification of facts, indeed. In future times, travellers will not meet with any authentic culture anymore, for they will be all mixed up in the great multicultural blender.

[Allenson]

I've had many enjoyable trips to Montreal before. It's not far from here (three hour drive or so) so trips there are quite easy. Granted, most of my time there has been spent in bars, clubs and stip joints (lol) but I did swim in a public pool there one hot summer's day (little bit yucky) with my ex-girfriend and her niece & nephew. Her brother & family were living in Montreal at the time and we were there for a G-rated visit. ;)

I even met Cam Neely there at a bar once. :thumbs up

I've actually been toying with the idea of taking the wife to Quebec City sometime this fall. Neither of us have ever been there, so if any of you Canadians have some suggestions, I'm all ears. It's a bit further drive than Montreal but not bad at all by the sounds of things. Google maps puts it at under 5 hours to get there from here in central Vermont.

[blan]

I've had many enjoyable trips to Montreal before. It's not far from here (three hour drive or so) so trips there are quite easy. Granted, most of my time there has been spent in bars, clubs and stip joints (lol) but I did swim in a public pool there one hot summer's day (little bit yucky) with my ex-girfriend and her niece & nephew. Her brother & family were living in Montreal at the time and we were there for a G-rated visit. ;)

I even met Cam Neely there at a bar once. :thumbs up

I've actually been toying with the idea of taking the wife to Quebec City sometime this fall. Neither of us have ever been there, so if any of you Canadians have some suggestions, I'm all ears. It's a bit further drive than Montreal but not bad at all by the sounds of things. Google maps puts it at under 5 hours to get there from here in central Vermont.

vermont were you are is amazing i have a friend who has a home there. i was there not long ago, peaceful place

[Aemma]

I've had many enjoyable trips to Montreal before. It's not far from here (three hour drive or so) so trips there are quite easy. Granted, most of my time there has been spent in bars, clubs and stip joints (lol) but I did swim in a public pool there one hot summer's day (little bit yucky) with my ex-girfriend and her niece & nephew. Her brother & family were living in Montreal at the time and we were there for a G-rated visit. ;)

I even met Cam Neely there at a bar once. :thumbs up

I've actually been toying with the idea of taking the wife to Quebec City sometime this fall. Neither of us have ever been there, so if any of you Canadians have some suggestions, I'm all ears. It's a bit further drive than Montreal but not bad at all by the sounds of things. Google maps puts it at under 5 hours to get there from here in central Vermont.

Oh go! Go! Go! You MUST go! :) It's the closest thing to Europe this side of the Atlantic. I'd try to stay in a gite (B&B) within the old city limits; you really get a feel for the ancient-ness of the city (well by North American standards anyway).

I'll post more stuff in a bit. But you won't regret having gone, Allenson. It's truly a gem of a place.