The urban park is truly a green sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of city life. Notorious for harboring homeless people, dangerous rapists, and drug addicts, the urban park's reputation is less than amicable. It is hard to convince any mom to bring her children to an urban park where dirty beggars parade you for money.
But I think that the urban park is making a come-back, and it's time to show it some appreciation by throwing out disowned garbage, planning a picnic at the park, or just warming a bench for a few minutes. The mere sight of even the slightest public use of an urban park will naturally encourage its greater use - people go where other people are (who doesn't love people watching?).
Square St. Louis in Montreal, located at the East side of Price Arthur after the cobble stones but before St. Denis, is sort of infamous for drugged-out 'loonies' and homeless panhandlers, which usually limits its use to a small population of schizophrenics or adrenaline junkies (that might be a bit hyperbolic of me to say). But it's actually a fabulous park surrounded by enchanting row houses, especially during the summer when the gelato store opens. Fall is my favorite time to visit, right when all the leaves have changed colors and have only begun to fall (see the picture above). And the best part is that those 'loonie' people everyone is so afraid of often provide some musical entertainment, whether with their bongos and guitars, or just yelping voices. I know its sounds weird, but the eccentricity is kind of a nice change from the ordinary.
Speaking of peculiar activities at urban parks... Park Mount Royal, or what McGill students call 'The Tams', best demonstrates the quirkiness of Montreal's urban park life, especially on a sunny Sunday afternoon. In addition to the array of bongos and banjos, belly-dancers, hula-hoops and devil sticks, expect to see a surprisingly large number of people crowded together dressed as medieval combatants fighting against one another with home-made weapons. It is certainly an odd (to say the least) tradition, but medieval fighting at Montreal's Mont Royal is as much a 'Montreal thing' as poutine or depanneurs.
Montreal's urban parks, replete with eclectic dancers, loud instruments and medieval fighting, are yet another thing that adds a little special 'spice' to its unusual personality.
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