What makes Montreal so unique?

When I moved to Austin, I was hoping to find a southern version of Montreal. To me, Montreal has always been a romantic and beautiful city, despite its flaws. But perhaps more importantly, Montreal is a creative city with plenty of opportunity for those with the desire to hustle. Musicians, writers, artists and wannabes can all coexist peacefully in the city. But why is Montreal so unique?

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CHEAP RENT

When I first moved to Montreal, the rent was dirt cheap. Used to New York City's unbelievable prices for one-bedroom and studio apartments, where I frequently lived in lightless, illegal basement dwellings under bizarre subletting arrangements, Montreal's inexpensive rents were a breath of fresh air. Heat and hot water were included in many of my apartments' rent, and even the crappiest places had plenty of character. Indeed, one of the classic jokes in the city is that while the line "hardwood floors" will usually bring in eager newcomers, a seasoned Montrealer knows this is pretty standard and, thus, not worth getting excited about.

Add to the mix the fact that the Régie du logement governs all housing disputes (meaning that landlords and tenants are given equal weight, and that if your landlord tries to break the rules, you can take him to a special court to resolve the dispute fairly), preventing unfair rent increases on a yearly basis, and you've got the basis for some sweet apartment deals.

Cheap rent is one of the key factors that brings the "creative classes" to a city, as Richard Florida has often noted, and this is indeed one of my measures of what makes a city great.

CULTURE

Culture is a bit more difficult to define, but for me, Montreal had plenty. For instance:

Wherever you turned, there were musicians busking in the streets and in the metro — some highly talented students from McGill's conservatory, and some with unique hooks like the saxophonist on stilts or the "nose-flute" guy (he played two recorders with his nostrils).
We had an awesome art-house movie theater (Cinema du Parc), as well as the Dollar Cinema where you could catch old favorites and cheesy newer flicks for only a buck.
Summertime was wall-to-wall festivals, taking advantage of the warm weather for as long as possible, and in the winter there were the "White Nights" that encouraged shut-ins to get out, see some art, dance or slide down an ice sculpture in an all-night marathon.

There were always free events around town, or inexpensive cover charges to see local bands, attend readings by local authors, or just sample some local brews with friends. Some describe this kind of culture as "European," but to me, this just seemed normal. Why WOULDN'T you want to experience art, music, film, literature, food, drink and more in your city?

PUBLIC TRANSIT

After New York, I found Montreal's public transit a bit lacking (after all, their metro only runs until midnight!), but for the most part, it was easy to get around town without a car. I rarely found myself wishing for a vehicle, especially since I had a bicycle that made fast work of my commute in the summer months, and a monthly bus pass covered the downtown core quite completely. Once downtown, I often preferred to walk to my destinations, getting plenty of exercise and enjoying the scenery, but whenever I needed to get somewhere it only took a bus or metro between 20 and 30 minutes to arrive at most of my destinations.

Since I've left the city, they've added even more options for commuters, like the Bixi bike rentals (which are free for the first half-hour) and Communauto, a car-sharing service much like Austin's car2go.

BIG CITY, SMALL TOWN PRIDE

I think at the heart of it all, Montreal is a big city with small-town pride. While there's no particularly organized effort to get people to "buy local," as there is in Austin, Montrealers instinctively prefer to support their hometown shops and culture. Maybe it's a case of "Je me souviens," as it says on Quebec license plates, supporting French culture. Maybe it's just that Montrealers feel they know what's best for other Montrealers. Whatever the case, I found myself hanging out at tons of excellent local cafés and bookstores, preferring to shop at local boutiques when I could, and using the big chains more as research centers than places I would actually spend my money. Whenever a friend or colleague announced an artistic project, we would rally around that person and show our support — even if we were not particularly interested in their string quartets or poetry or abstract paintings.

Because that's just what Montrealers do.

Maybe my experience was different, because I came to Montreal as an outsider, a student. I had my eyes turned toward the bohemian and the cheap thrills from the get-go, and I found plenty. Maybe it was the contrast between my life in NYC, where cheap thrills seemed very hard to come by and the people were cynical about art and one's decision to create it. Or maybe Montreal's famed joie de vivre really does exist, and the people there really are passionate about living life to the fullest. As they say, you work to live, not live to work. In Montreal, one can work very little in order to live quite well. So why hold back?

What do you think makes Montreal so unique?