I recently spent a week exploring New York City, and found myself constantly comparing things to Montreal. So I thought I would share ten things that I found to be better in Montreal.
1. Unique vegetarian restaurants.
I'm a vegetarian, so finding good food out is always a challenge. I kind of thought that New York would be the mecca of amazing vegetarian restaurants. I ate at two vegetarian restaurants while there, "Blossom", and "By Chloe". "Blossom" was amazing. Nice neighbourhood, lovely atmosphere and absolutely delicious food! "By Chloe" was more like a chic fast food restaurant. In Montreal there are a crazy amount of vegetarian and vegan restaurants. I've eaten at at least half a dozen and they are very good. From what I saw in New York, the majority of vegetarian restaurants tend to be café style places and they are all spread out over the city for most part. My New York guide book actually only listed four places for the whole city! In Montreal, you can walk to a dozen veggie restaurants within half an hour.
2. Underground city.
New York is surprisingly mild compared to Montreal, so they don't need an underground city quite as much. However, it is still pretty cool to be able to get around a city completely indoors for the most part. It's nice when it's snowing, raining, very windy, cold etc. Actually, it's really nice in the summer too when it's super hot! I found myself going back to my hotel earlier than planned most days, simply because I was tired of walking around outside and didn't feel like sitting in yet another Starbucks.
3. Friendlier restaurant and store staff.
I was surprised by this. I find the customer service in Montreal rather appalling. I didn't think it could actually be worse somewhere else! Well, I was wrong. I noticed that I was never greeted when I entered stores. Now, on the one hand it can feel superficial and off putting when you are immediately greeted upon entering a store. However, I think it's actually worse to not be greeted at all. There is something slightly cheerful about being greeted with a smile (even if it's fake) and a cheerful "Bonjour/Hi!". To walk into a store and have staff just glare at you and then look away is slightly depressing.
4. Cleaner metro (subway) stations.
Montreal metro stations are definitely cleaner and newer looking. They aren't spotless, far from it. However, they do look like they've been cleaned in the last 20 years. New York trains felt really old, rickety, and noisy. Some of the stations smelled vile and were absolutely filthy. I also didn't like the sliding bar doors to get in and out, I found them scary.
5. Less security and police presence.
I found it a bit scary seeing police standing around on streets holding machine guns. As in, they had their fingers on the triggers. I also didn't like having to open my purse to show museum and library staff. I think Montreal feels a bit more free without all the extra police.
6. The city is more accessible and compact.
This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your own preferences. In my opinion, most of the really cool things in Montreal are very easy to get to by bus, metro or by walking. Now, don't get me wrong, New York is easy to get around! However, in my experience, I found that most of the time it was just as fast to walk as it was to take a bus, subway or taxi. That can be a good thing. But, after walking several miles every day I was tired and I had bought a weekly subway pass that I was eager to use. But what I found was most of the time it was more convenient to walk. When ever I looked up directions to get somewhere it was often something like "walk 0.5 miles to subway, take subway for 1 or two stops, then walk 0.3 miles. So no matter what, I seemed to have to walk almost a mile to get anywhere! It also seemed like buses were easier to get on the avenues than the streets. Obviously public transit made much more sense when I was traveling longer distances.
7. Friendlier people.
In New York you get the distinct impression that strangers want to be left alone. There is absolutely no warmth. I'm sure it's just because people are busy and have their own lives and just want to be left alone. Hey, I'm actually a very cold person and I don't bother with strangers anyway. But I have noticed that in Montreal strangers seem to strike up conversations with each other more often and that it wouldn't be the end of the world if you wanted to ask someone something.
8. Cheaper food.
Wow. New York is expensive. That's not to say that cheap food can't be found. But I just found that I had to look a bit harder to find it. At the museum of Natural History, the little café in there wanted $10 for a sandwich. Right now the exchange rate is awful, so poor little me was looking at those sad sandwiches and thinking how ridiculous it was that they were $12! Obviously anywhere touristy is going to be pricey in any city, but that just seemed a bit excessive. We paid $70 to have an awful and cheap looking Italian meal in a tacky restaurant. In Montreal for the same price we can get a really nice meal in a nice atmosphere with great service.
9. More benches on streets.
In New York I think you are expected to just keep going. Never stop. Unless you want to go to a park. The bus stops didn't have benches, or even shelters half the time. In Montreal there are benches to sit on everywhere. Which is great when you are new to a city and just want to sit down for a rest, or to check your map.
10. Tim Hortons
New York's equivalent is Duncan Donuts (which we used to have a lot of too until Tim's came along). It's just handy to have a place where you can get a cheap cup of of coffee and a cheap snack. There were Starbucks everywhere in New York, but I'm not a huge fan. Their coffee tastes a bit burnt and it's a lot more expensive. Also, their food does not look very appetizing and is also very expensive. Tim Horton's really does offer good value for a person on a budget.
1. Unique vegetarian restaurants.
I'm a vegetarian, so finding good food out is always a challenge. I kind of thought that New York would be the mecca of amazing vegetarian restaurants. I ate at two vegetarian restaurants while there, "Blossom", and "By Chloe". "Blossom" was amazing. Nice neighbourhood, lovely atmosphere and absolutely delicious food! "By Chloe" was more like a chic fast food restaurant. In Montreal there are a crazy amount of vegetarian and vegan restaurants. I've eaten at at least half a dozen and they are very good. From what I saw in New York, the majority of vegetarian restaurants tend to be café style places and they are all spread out over the city for most part. My New York guide book actually only listed four places for the whole city! In Montreal, you can walk to a dozen veggie restaurants within half an hour.
2. Underground city.
New York is surprisingly mild compared to Montreal, so they don't need an underground city quite as much. However, it is still pretty cool to be able to get around a city completely indoors for the most part. It's nice when it's snowing, raining, very windy, cold etc. Actually, it's really nice in the summer too when it's super hot! I found myself going back to my hotel earlier than planned most days, simply because I was tired of walking around outside and didn't feel like sitting in yet another Starbucks.
3. Friendlier restaurant and store staff.
I was surprised by this. I find the customer service in Montreal rather appalling. I didn't think it could actually be worse somewhere else! Well, I was wrong. I noticed that I was never greeted when I entered stores. Now, on the one hand it can feel superficial and off putting when you are immediately greeted upon entering a store. However, I think it's actually worse to not be greeted at all. There is something slightly cheerful about being greeted with a smile (even if it's fake) and a cheerful "Bonjour/Hi!". To walk into a store and have staff just glare at you and then look away is slightly depressing.
4. Cleaner metro (subway) stations.
Montreal metro stations are definitely cleaner and newer looking. They aren't spotless, far from it. However, they do look like they've been cleaned in the last 20 years. New York trains felt really old, rickety, and noisy. Some of the stations smelled vile and were absolutely filthy. I also didn't like the sliding bar doors to get in and out, I found them scary.
5. Less security and police presence.
I found it a bit scary seeing police standing around on streets holding machine guns. As in, they had their fingers on the triggers. I also didn't like having to open my purse to show museum and library staff. I think Montreal feels a bit more free without all the extra police.
6. The city is more accessible and compact.
This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your own preferences. In my opinion, most of the really cool things in Montreal are very easy to get to by bus, metro or by walking. Now, don't get me wrong, New York is easy to get around! However, in my experience, I found that most of the time it was just as fast to walk as it was to take a bus, subway or taxi. That can be a good thing. But, after walking several miles every day I was tired and I had bought a weekly subway pass that I was eager to use. But what I found was most of the time it was more convenient to walk. When ever I looked up directions to get somewhere it was often something like "walk 0.5 miles to subway, take subway for 1 or two stops, then walk 0.3 miles. So no matter what, I seemed to have to walk almost a mile to get anywhere! It also seemed like buses were easier to get on the avenues than the streets. Obviously public transit made much more sense when I was traveling longer distances.
7. Friendlier people.
In New York you get the distinct impression that strangers want to be left alone. There is absolutely no warmth. I'm sure it's just because people are busy and have their own lives and just want to be left alone. Hey, I'm actually a very cold person and I don't bother with strangers anyway. But I have noticed that in Montreal strangers seem to strike up conversations with each other more often and that it wouldn't be the end of the world if you wanted to ask someone something.
8. Cheaper food.
Wow. New York is expensive. That's not to say that cheap food can't be found. But I just found that I had to look a bit harder to find it. At the museum of Natural History, the little café in there wanted $10 for a sandwich. Right now the exchange rate is awful, so poor little me was looking at those sad sandwiches and thinking how ridiculous it was that they were $12! Obviously anywhere touristy is going to be pricey in any city, but that just seemed a bit excessive. We paid $70 to have an awful and cheap looking Italian meal in a tacky restaurant. In Montreal for the same price we can get a really nice meal in a nice atmosphere with great service.
9. More benches on streets.
In New York I think you are expected to just keep going. Never stop. Unless you want to go to a park. The bus stops didn't have benches, or even shelters half the time. In Montreal there are benches to sit on everywhere. Which is great when you are new to a city and just want to sit down for a rest, or to check your map.
10. Tim Hortons
New York's equivalent is Duncan Donuts (which we used to have a lot of too until Tim's came along). It's just handy to have a place where you can get a cheap cup of of coffee and a cheap snack. There were Starbucks everywhere in New York, but I'm not a huge fan. Their coffee tastes a bit burnt and it's a lot more expensive. Also, their food does not look very appetizing and is also very expensive. Tim Horton's really does offer good value for a person on a budget.
