Source: Montreal Gazette
Montreal's Gay Village will be the site of the city's longest pedestrian mall this summer, after city officials announced this morning that Ste. Catherine St. will be closed to motorized traffic between Berri St. and Papineau Ave. from June 17 to Sept. 3.

Qnews update: Montreal's Gay Village takes on extra party atmosphere with street closure [23July08]

Today's announcement, made by Ville Marie borough mayor Benoit Labonté and Denis Brossard of the Gay Village's commercial development corporation, caps weeks of planning and consultations with local businesses and residents, not all of which went smoothly.

Residents have expressed concerns about increased noise and vehicular traffic because of detours away from Ste. Catherine St., while others contend an influx of visitors will lead to a deterioration of the quality of life in the neighborhood which, away from Ste. Catherine St., is largely residential.

At a public meeting last week residents grumbled that side streets will be clogged with visitors' cars, litter will be everywhere, the streets will be noisy until after 3 a.m. Panhandlers and the homeless will come from miles around, they complained while arguing that crime will increase.

It's an old dilemma. Entertainment districts are not the ideal place for family life, and yet at least some of the residents above and below the Ste. Catherine St. stretch in question, from Berri St. to Papineau Ave., have lived there since the Gay Village was a secret.

Supporters of the street closure argued that the Gay Village is an attraction to tens of thousands, an employer, a part of the city's allure. The street closure will allow the neighborhood to prosper, they say. People who live near an entertainment district can't expect rural, or even suburban, tranquility, supporters argued.

Full article: Gay Village to get pedestrian street this summer  | Montreal Gazette
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