I drive along Notre-Dame all the time but last time I walked down the street I was 18 years old and stoned on mushrooms, which was a surreal experience. Yesterday I had an experience of a different type. Notre-Dame is changing, for the better as far as I’m concerned. The three short blocks that run east of Atwater are an example of a bourgeoning trend of micro-neighborhoods. Commonly found in New York City, like NoLita and NoBat (North of Little Italy, and North of Battery Tunnel respectively) a micro-neighborhood is qualified by urbanizing trendiness. I’m having difficulty coming up with a cute acronym for an ‘east of,’ vowels don’t play well in these word games. If we called it Next to Atwater… NetA. Another example of a micro-neighborhood might be the upscale renaissance of St. Laurent north of Saint Viateur (NoSaV??). These zones have both been discovered and renovated over the past 15 months. I hope this is a continuing trend for us Montrealers, because these microcosms are a wonderful reflection of the creative systems they represent. I once asked a friend if they thought Montreal was truly a cultural meting pot, to which she responded, “No, Montreal is more like a cultural Mosaic.” I liked that analogy. Bring on the micro-neighborhoods and all their uniqueness.

More to come on Notre Dame’s NetA sooner, or later.

Links:
The Rise of the New York City Microneighborhood on New York Magazine.com