Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier Park — Attraction in Montreal

This park is one of the places I recommend people visit when coming to Montreal. It isn't a tourist attraction by any means, but it's an excellent place to spend an evening meeting locals and experiencing the culture.

I don't know of a city where people use their parks more than the Montrealais. There are a few things that contribute to it. Culturally, we are very community-oriented. Hanging out with neighbors is natural and easy. Spending time outdoors on beautiful days makes the hard winters more bearable. Park areas are highly valued public spaces, and are better maintained than roads. Tiny apartments with alleys and the classic Plateau three-storey walk-up townhouse make for lots of people with no yards. So we collect at the park, often entire blocks or extended families having regular barbecue soirees or cinq-a-septs.

Reasonable city laws allow wine or beer, so long as you are decent enough to have a picnic table, a table cloth, and a meal to accompany your drinks (though many people just go for wine and hummus/baguette on overturned jackets under a tree- the point is, be civilized.) Free wifi means people come to work on their laptops on picnic tables under the shade of trees. Benches set in circles are a natural place for musicians to gather for jam sessions. Most often I see klezmer, strings quartets, or folky accordion here, occasionally a small drum circle and group of dancers off to the side. There is a generously-sized, fenced-in playground for families with children only, and it improves the park experience for everyone. I often see numerous families there, potluck picnics spread across many tables with all children playing together til 11pm while the parents enjoy some adult conversation over prosecco.

Because the park is so well-loved by locals, it has little of the danger associated with city spaces at night. Occasionally highschoolers will hop over the fence to dive into the pool, but that's as much trouble as you'll see. It seems that because they city treats its citizens with such attentive humanity in these spaces, the people rise to a standard of civility in them. In the warmer months, wooden loungers and stands for hammocks are raised, and in the winter a skating rink is set up for hockey, as well as a meandering skating path through the trees.

There are amenities for bocce ball/ Petanque, badminton, table tennis, outdoor exercise (ramps, chin-up bars, etc.), and horseshoe all along Brebeuf, near the midpoint. There is a soccer field, baseball diamond, off-leash dog park, and free public swimming pool. A central building offers washroom facilities, and there are several water fountains. There is a Metro grocery store right at Brebeuf and Laurier and a SAQ a couple doors down, so you can pick up your picnic supplies there- no need to trek them along on the...

A lot of jonkies are smoking tobacco and marijuana or drinking alcohol everywhere and everyday. It's an open loud outdoor spring break bar atmosphere (day and night) It looks like Plateau mayor Luc Ferrandez doesn't care about it. Why? Because the mayor (best known as The King Without Crown or Little Napoleon) may has a power trip reload or anger manegment issues. He doesn't have a ecological planification (écoquartier) or a urban security program strategy (Tandem) : 1 "Key city-council ally Luc Ferrandez called the attempted explanation "amateurish." That, along with subsequent apologies, turned a two-day story about a tax hike into a saga." 2 "... the mayor Ferrandez posted comments in French on his Facebook page that target not only politicians, but the general public, including flood victims for current environmental problems.

The post, which has since been taken down, started with the words: “f*...

This was an awesome public park i. Mont Royal, Montreal. I enjoyed goingnto this park since its close to the airbnb I was at. The park is also close to the local restaurants and to downtown Montreal. Its a good spot for waking around or biking if it is preferred also. There is an adult pool.and kiddie pool for families to enjoy. The adult pool has a section for families to place their belongings together at the side of the pool resembling a beachhead. People are friendly at the pool and i didn't encounter any problems with anyone there. The lifeguards are fluent in English and French so there is no issue of a...