The_Liquidator wrote:

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I bought pair of these the other day



Only in a much nicer colourway, which I unfortunately can't find online.

I was kind of disappointed they reissued those. I took up jogging in 1982 and bought a pair of royal blue and yellow Nikes very similar to these. I must have jogged about 10 times since, so they're still in near-mint shape.

Back to the main subject: I walked through an HMV store yesterday, which was a slight shortcut on my path. I realized I hadn't been in a chain store in ages let alone bought anything from any chain record store in Montreal, which has about two dozen good to great small record stores, all within walking/biking distance. There is not much (if any) at an HMV store that you can't download, and a lot of good stuff (and vinyl) that you can't find online at the small independent stores.

Montreal also is arguably the best bookstore city on the continent, by virtue of having decent used book stores in both languages, as well as some terrific specialty ones like the Drawn and Quarterly headquarters store. There also are many comics stores, in both languages. The prices on the french-language side are much more reasonable than what you'd find in Paris or Brussels.

It's also a great magazine store with lots of newstands offering a great selection of local magazines in both oficial languages as well as American and Franco-european items, in addition to local zines and prints.

I agree with AG, record stores and bookstores should be on the quality of life checklist. Other ones should be produce/farmers markets, access to nature/parks, beaches in summer and snowy slopes in winter, public transit, access to other great cities nearby, nightlife, food quality and variety, diversity, local culture/music scene and affordable housing. Part of the reason there are still many small bookstores and record stores around in Montreal is that rents are still very reasonable, so someone can live on a pretty low salary here.

This is the one obvious fatal flaw for Montreal though, though it's somewhat tempered by the access to countryside and the winter cabin experience, which makes winter much less oppressive:

That sounds a bit like Minneapolis/St. Paul and why I like it. It's got lots of things that other cool cities have, but because it's cold in winter, the poseurs usually stay out so the cost of living isn't too bad.

The transit there isn't ideal. They've got a great bus system and light rail by American standards, but like a lot of American cities, they fucked it all up in the 1950s with interstates and sprawl, so instead of letting the city grow around the transit system, they're trying to retrofit the transit to fit their city, which doesn't work nearly as well.

I understand some people really enjoy the experience of shopping in them, so I can see how that would be a QoL issue for some people, but in the internet age, I don't think their non-presence in a particular city means the city is bereft of intellectual or creative culture. It doesn't mean people aren't reading or listening.

In addition to the things mentioned, I'd add local radio and local public tv to the civic institutions that mark the quality of a city's arts and culture. DC is remarkably poor in this area, I think, compared to other places I've been including Boston and Minneapolis.

gerontophile wrote:

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Mitch wrote:

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Utrecht: football fans

What, In general? I've been there four or five times, and found it a lovely place. Like Amsterdam, without the bad aspects.

I don't know much about the football there, apart from the fact you can see the ground from the top of that massive medieval tower in the city-centre.

The only time I ever felt scared (as an adult, apart from ... another time) was in the crowd at Utrecht (admittedly, supporting Sparta, some years ago)

And perhaps when they go away, its worse. But they are (collectively, and very negatively) the most loathesome obnoxious bunch of twats, I have ever hadthe misfortune to come across.

And I have been to the Rangers end at Ibrox.

Wow, that bad! (We don't have an 'end' at Ibrox, you do. Pedantic loyal).

I think it's a character in Northern Exposure but to be honest I can't keep up, I thought there were about 10 Crusaders fans on here at one time.

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

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That sounds a bit like Minneapolis/St. Paul and why I like it. It's got lots of things that other cool cities have, but because it's cold in winter, the poseurs usually stay out so the cost of living isn't too bad.

The transit there isn't ideal. They've got a great bus system and light rail by American standards, but like a lot of American cities, they fucked it all up in the 1950s with interstates and sprawl, so instead of letting the city grow around the transit system, they're trying to retrofit the transit to fit their city, which doesn't work nearly as well.

What is that skyway system there? I only know about it because of the Replacements song "Skyway."

The Skyway refers to all of the pedestrian bridge thingies they have across streets between buildings downtown. In the middle of winter you can walk for several blocks without ever exposing yourself to the elements.

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London is probably perfect for me apart from the transport situation.

Maybe if you lived in London, as opposed to commuting from far off suburbia, you would be better off.

Seriously, though, where is better public transport-wise? I find anywhere with trams is usually comparable but can't think of a city, off the top of my head, that has better.

I didn't bother learning to drive until I was in my late 20s because I used London Transport

Mitch wrote:

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Utrecht: football fans

What, In general? I've been there four or five times, and found it a lovely place. Like Amsterdam, without the bad aspects.

If you're comparing the very centre of the cities, then yeah. Utrecht has a really nice, picturesque, historic centre, with better canals, no stag tourists and no annoying backpackers. But lots of Dutch student fraternity types (but not as bad as Leiden in this respect).

But exit the very centre of the city and Utrecht is a messy dump of concrete roundabouts. My favourite parts of Amsterdam are the mini-neighbourhoods outside of the touristy centre. Oud-West, Jordaan, Zuid, Westerpark, Indische Buurt, De Pijp, Rivierenbuurt, etc. Utrecht has nothing on that.

Bored Of Discipline wrote:

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London is probably perfect for me apart from the transport situation.

Maybe if you lived in London, as opposed to commuting from far off suburbia, you would be better off.

Seriously, though, where is better public transport-wise?

Pretty much any major Japanese city. Paris as well.

Montreal sounds amazing. Does it really not go above 25C in summer? That's the holy grail I've been looking for.

I think I heard something about Canada actively encouraging immigration from the UK, can anyone confirm this?

moth, those numbers in the chart are just averages for the highs and lows. We get 2-4 weeks of hot weather in summer (highs near or over 30C in the city) and about the same duration of bitter cold (below -15C, most people here don't consider -13C to be that cold.) As well, Montreal gets more sun in winter than London or Paris, which helps get through that season.

I'm not sure about immigration policies, but it's probably quite liberal for young Brits with college degrees. I know the door in Quebec is wide open for French nationals and most French/bilingual speakers.

If you're looking for a place that never gets too hot, the Pacific coast from Northern California through Vancouver is the place. The San Francisco Bay might be the best place to live overall on its continent, but it does have some serious flaws as well (mainly the cost of housing and its effects, as well as the effects of the lack of a social policy at the national level), while Vancouver is a bit light on things like nightlife. Both places are off the chart great in terms of the physical beauty of their environments though.

Reed, I've heard a lot of good things about Minneapolis, I'm looking forward to visiting the Twin Cities when Cal plays the Golden Gophers next year.

I agree about local radio stations, they are an important component of the local cultural and music scene. It's basically down to PBS and college radio stations in the US. I would have thought that the DC area would be covered there between Georgetown, Maryland, GWU and others. We've got two good college radio stations in Montreal (and I'm really happy to be a tiny cog in one of them) in addition to some good public stations in both languages, and a decent jazz station. But the commercial music radio stations blow about as much as they do south of the border.

delicatemoth wrote:

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Montreal sounds amazing. Does it really not go above 25C in summer? That's the holy grail I've been looking for.

I think I heard something about Canada actively encouraging immigration from the UK, can anyone confirm this?

Immigration here works on what's called a "points system", meaning that we award points to immigrants with various charcteristics (age, education, work experience, language ability and "adaptability"). Basically, if you have a degree - especially an advanced degree - and some decent professional experience and speak either English or French fluently you can more or less come in to the NPS at will.

To see if you score enough points to be accepted into the NPS, check out this handy NPS immigration points calculator (67 points ot of 100 required to immigrate)

Be warned, though: Montreal is bastard humid in summer. Amittedly, that's only about six weeks a year, but it can still be nasty.

Piece of piss. I took that test and got a 76, but I could probably do higher if I found a job in advance. I got a zero on arranged employment. I also got a zero on adaptability; I guess because I don't have any family there.