Most Montrealers cheer on the construction of tall buildings, as a robust skyline increases our sense of importance and prestige and heck, more residents and businesses downtown liven up a city and help combat urban sprawl.
But there's a rarely-mentioned (never-mentioned? - Chimples) downside that come with the skyscrapers, principally in the form of wind tunnels that the buildings cause.
The wind tunnel effect occurs when wind is channeled into a narrow area and while a nice cool breeze might be welcome in some sort of place like Panama or Dubai, it's less fun in a cold winter city like Montreal where the wind chill factor is already difficult to cope with.
Downtown is usually a little warmer than areas outside of the city because the concentration of heated buildings means that internal heat seeps out into the streetscape, but those who dare to walk out on a terribly cold day in future-Montreal will have to brave some wicked winds after these buildings get done.
Skyscapers also cast long shadows below, which will further cool down areas around them.
I'd suggest that the city immediately undertake measures to compensate the punishment that pedestrians will be forced to endure in the future as we stroll amid these buildings while winds whip up and tear the heat off of our vulnerable bodies.
Some sort of heated sidewalk system might be in order, as it would not only make things warmer but it would also clear off well-trod sidewalks without costly snow clearing operations.
Get 'er done Bob!