The Main
Beginning at De la Commune Street at the edge of the Saint Lawrence River, it transects the Island of Montreal, passing through the boroughs of Ville-Marie, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, and Ahuntsic-Cartierville to Rue Somerville at the edge of Rivière des Prairies–-a total length of about 11.25 km.
Saint Laurent Boulevard became a boulevard in 1905 and is often referred to as The Main. It serves as the city's physical division of east and west. Street numbers begin at Saint Lawrence and continue outward, with street names being suffixed by Ouest (West) or Est (East), depending on their orientation.
The boulevard traditionally divides Montreal by language, ethnicity, and class. Saint Laurent Boulevard was for generations the symbolic dividing line for the city, with the predominantly English-speaking population to the west, French-speaking population to the east, and immigrant communities in between along the Main and Park Avenue. The Main runs through many of Montreal's ethnic communities, a first stop for immigrant communities for over 100 years — initially Jewish, Chinese and Italian, and later Portuguese, Greek, Arab, Haitian and others.
The southern section of the boulevard in downtown Montreal and the Plateau is lined with trendy shops and restaurants, and is the site of many street-fairs and festivals. What were once run-down factories have been turned into expensive lofts. Saint Laurent Boulevard is representative of Montreal's shift out of the economic decline in the 1980s and 90s.
Read more about this topic: Saint Laurent Boulevard
Famous quotes containing the word main:
“One of the main things that interfere with our joy is the belief that if we try hard enough, read the right books, follow the right advice, and buy the right things, we could be perfect parents. If we are good enough as parents, our children will be perfect too.... Unfortunately, what comes from trying to live out this philosophy is not perfect children but worried parents.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“I am a Communist, a convinced Communist! For some that may be a fantasy. But to me it is my main goal.”
—Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931)