Chris Adamopoulos
AIPS-B.P.Ed.-M.Ed.
7. You have enjoyed terrasse both wat too early and way too late in the season
Sure, winters are a drag in Montreal, but it’s not so much their existence as it is their length.
Desperate to enjoy our sunny season to the utmost, we’ll pack the terrasses of restaurants and bars across the city and despairingly eke out the dying dregs of summer even when there’s a noticeable chill in the air.
Conversely, we’ll jump the gun far too early, bust out the beachwear, and rush to the terraces at the first ray of sunshine in March while there’s still snow on the ground.
You’re bound to see Montrealers eating and drinking outdoors both far too late and much too early in the season, and after spending a winter here yourself, you’ll understand why.
8. You’ve aced the post-snowstorm 45-degree parking spot manoeuvre
While some cities around the world buckle at the knees after taking a light dusting of snow, Montreal has managed to adapt to the occasional blizzard without the city grinding to a halt, and when it happens, we usually manage to find a middle ground between complete chaos and regular day-to-day life.
A glowing example of this spirit can be seen in the creative license Montrealers take with street parking immediately after a blizzard. We’ll immediately abandon any hope of parking in nice, parallel lines along the sidewalk and instead, we’ll clear hasty 45 degree angled slashes into the snowbanks and park with our car noses jauntily pointed half out into the street to save us from having to shovel out the whole length of a regular parking spot.
The city is not a fan of these blizzard park jobs, and it’s absolutely illegal, but many Montrealers get away with it in the aftermath of a big storm until the city can clear the streets.
9. You know why the tow trucks are screaming and you’ve almost gotten used to it
If you’ve spent any time in Montreal during the winter, you’re probably familiar with the shrieking banshees that are the city’s tow trucks.
You’ve surely seen them slow to a crawl, prowl up and down residential streets, and lay into their warbling siren for minutes on end, apparently for no reason. Or so it would seem to the uninitiated! This roving patrol of incredibly annoying car snatchers are actually signaling to the car owners on the street that the city’s intrepid snowplows are barreling down on them, and they’d better scram. If the car owners don’t rush out in a timely fashion to move their cars, they’ll be unceremoniously towed, ticketed, and thrown into some forsaken snowbank a few streets over.
No one messes around with Montreal’s snow removal efforts.
10. You don’t miss turning right on reds anymore
Montreal has the dubious honour of being one of only two cities in North America where it’s illegal to make a right on a red light (the other being New York City.)
The law sprouts from our population density and the fact that the city, (especially denser neighbourhoods like Downtown or The Plateau) have a heavy mix of pedestrian, bike, and automobile traffic, and to throw in the odd right turn on a red light would likely end poorly.
Whether or not you’re a fan, or even think it’s necessary, if you spend long enough on the island, turning right on a red anywhere else in the world will feel downright transgressive.
11. You’ve visited Montreal’s real auto show
Even in a city with so many standout restaurants, Gibeau Orange Julep, the classic 1950s casse-croûte set in a 3-story fibreglass orange on Decarie Boulevard stands in a league of its own.
Although Orange Julep’s menu is top-notch, and its frothy, creamsicle-style orange juice is firmly ensconced in the city’s hallowed pantheon of food and drink delicacies—what has most solidified the Orange Julep as a Montreal institution is how it has served as a community hub since its founding in 1932. In keeping with its retro roller skate drive-in aesthetic, Gibeau Orange Julep has singlehandedly been running Montreal’s most exciting classic car show every Wednesday night of the summer season since the 1950s.
This classic car cruise remains the best place in town to get the pulse on Montreal’s collector car scene.
12. In the summer months, you live by the ‘picnic law’
Montreal is home to a lovely collection of urban parks, and given our nasty winters, we try to use them to their utmost while it’s warm, and the sun is out. Naturally, one of our favourite park pastimes is to settle in with a luxuriant al fresco spread and have ourselves a damn fine picnic.
And what could possibly be more civilized than a sun-kissed picnic in the park, you ask?How about one stocked with your favourite adult beverages, so you can get properly ripped outdoors?
Though it’s normally against the law to consume alcoholic beverages in public places, there is a caveat in the Montreal bylaw on public peace that makes an exception if you’re consuming said beverages in a park as part of a meal!
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