So where's St. Catherine street? Easy! Any Montreal toddler could guide you there with their first-ever steps.
Within seconds newcomers and tourists grasp our downtown street grid by memorizing St. Cat and buds Sherbrooke, Maisonneuve and Dorch.
And they're all nice and close and walkable. Granny can stroll from Sherbrooke to St. Catherine in five minutes downtown, as the two east-west streets are just 350 metres apart.
A decent sprinter could run that in about a minute.
But get thee to the east and try doing the same and the bewildering disorientation and inevitable perplexing discombobulation begins.
That's because the further east you go, the more the main east-west streets sneakily drift apart.
By the time you get to Viau, that pleasant urban stroll from Sherbrooke to Ste Catherine might require a map, solid hiking shoes, a place to rest and a reliable hunting rifle.
Viau between Ste. Cat and Sherb, is a 25 minute, 2.1 kilometre walk, including an often icy and windy hill. (Ice in the summer? From spilled cocktails?- Chimples)
The cruelest part? Just when you think you see your destination in the distance you realize it's a decoy, a street you've never heard of, Adam, Lafontaine, Rouen, Hochelaga, Pierre de Courbertin, Charbonneau. There's even something called the Long Point Antenna, scrubland that looks like a great place to dump a corpse. Moral of the story? Things are very bad and quickly getting worse.
Sherb to St. Cat is a happy walk downtown |
And they're all nice and close and walkable. Granny can stroll from Sherbrooke to St. Catherine in five minutes downtown, as the two east-west streets are just 350 metres apart.
A decent sprinter could run that in about a minute.
But get thee to the east and try doing the same and the bewildering disorientation and inevitable perplexing discombobulation begins.
That's because the further east you go, the more the main east-west streets sneakily drift apart.
By the time you get to Viau, that pleasant urban stroll from Sherbrooke to Ste Catherine might require a map, solid hiking shoes, a place to rest and a reliable hunting rifle.
Sherb to St. Cat on Viau? Welcome to hell boy |
The cruelest part? Just when you think you see your destination in the distance you realize it's a decoy, a street you've never heard of, Adam, Lafontaine, Rouen, Hochelaga, Pierre de Courbertin, Charbonneau. There's even something called the Long Point Antenna, scrubland that looks like a great place to dump a corpse. Moral of the story? Things are very bad and quickly getting worse.