How Montreal took back its streets from cars

Almost everywhere in Canada, the car is king. Even in the walkable downtowns of our largest cities, traffic is generally given priority over pedestrians, and any proposal to change is met with complaints from drivers, businesses, and delivery services.

But there is one Canadian city that is slowly but surely taking back some of its most beloved streets and neighbourhoods from daily commuter traffic.

Toula Drimonis wrote about Montreal’s pedestrian streets for The Walrus.

“I think these are vital moves to make cities more livable, safer and visually more interesting and to create this sense of community,” says Drimonis.  

So how did Montreal manage to take some of its streets back from the car, and what can the rest of Canada learn from it?

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.