Hochelaga, Quebec

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve () is a neighbourhood in Montreal, Canada, situated in the east end of the island, generally to the south of the city's Olympic Stadium and east of downtown.

Historically a poor neighbourhood, it has experienced significant change and gentrification in recent years.

History

Early history

Hochelaga was named after the Iroquois village of the same name, first visited by explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. The neighbourhood was at one time believed to be the location of the historic village, but modern historians and anthropologists have not reached agreement on the exact location.

Present-day Hochelaga was founded as a rural village in 1870. Industry soon started moving in, including the Hudon and Sainte-Ann cotton mills and in 1876 the terminal and railway shops of the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway.

In December 1883, Hochelaga was annexed to the city of Montreal against the demands of landowners. In response, they founded the village of Maisonneuve to the east, intended to be a model industrial city.

Maisonneuve grew rapidly between 1896 and 1915 and became of one Canada's largest industrial slums, commonly known as the ''Pittsburgh of Canada'' throughout the early 20th century.

These factories hired many workers, including immigrants and people from the surrounding countryside. They worked in the shoe, textile, tanning, slaughterhouse, tobacco, food, and shipbuilding industries.

In 1918, $18 million in debt, Maisonneuve was forced to annex to Montreal, consolidated the neighbourhood as Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

The botanical garden was opened in 1931.

Decline

The construction of major transportation infrastructures such as Highway 25 in 1967, required the demolition of some 2,000 homes and institutional buildings. These changes, combined with the movement of capital and production to Toronto, hurt the neighbourhood's economy and vitality. Many factories left the area, along with numerous residents.

In 1976 the Olympic Stadium was opened, in time for the Summer Olympics.

Beginning in the 1980s, factories started shutting down at an alarming rate, leaving the neighborhood ridden with poverty and a high concentration of welfare, especially in Hochelaga. This has led to a population exodus, high crime rates and a general negative portrait of the area.

It became particularly notorious for prostitution, which has been problematic for many years.

During the Quebec Biker War, the Hells Angels had their clubhouse in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, which worsened its reputation for criminality.

In the most notorious incident of the ''guerre des motards'', on 9 August 1995, a drug dealer was killed by a bomb planted in his jeep while the shrapnel badly injured an 11-year boy, Daniel Desrochers, who died of his wounds four days later.

Present day

The 2010s were marked by increased gentrification, the arrival of students and professionals, and condo development leading to protests and some cases of vandalism of commerce. Notable areas that developed include the ''Promenade Ontario'' shopping street and the recently revitalized ''Place Simon Valois''.

Despite this, areas continue to struggle with poverty, prostitution and drug trafficking, particularly in the south-western corner of Hochelaga on Rue Sainte-Catherine Est.

In summer 2020, in the same area, a significant number of homeless people began camping along Rue Notre-Dame, creating something akin to a tent city. This was attributed in part to the ongoing housing crisis in Montreal, significantly heightened by unemployment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as overcrowding of existing shelters.

In December 2020, the camp was shut down by the police, following a fire a few days earlier and hygiene concerns. This occurred despite promises from the mayor that they would not be forcibly relocated.

However, by the summer of 2022, many of the occupants had gradually returned, and were again removed by the SPVM in June, leading to an outcry from homeless advocates and certain opposition politicians.

Features

A notable attraction is the Olympic Park, which contains the Stadium, Olympic Tower, Saputo Stadium, Biodome, Olympic Pool and Maurice Richard Arena. The Biodome was renovated between 2018 and 2020. It reopened to the public on August 31, 2020.

Part of Parc Maisonneuve is in the neighbourhood, as it the Marché Maisonneuve, one of the city's largest public markets.

Recent features to develop include ''Promenade Ontario'', a shopping street that becomes pedestrian in the summer to host street fairs and street performers.

The revitalized ''Place Simon Valois'', a public square on the corner of Ontario and Valois, is home to a variety of new commerces and attractions as well.

The borough operates the Hochelaga and Maisonneuve libraries.

Geography

A part of the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, its borders are roughly the CP rail line west of Rue Moreau to the west, Rue Sherbrooke to the north, the train tracks east of Rue Viau to the east, and the Saint Lawrence River to the south.

Boulevard Pie-IX is the traditional dividing point between Hochelaga and Maisonneuve.

It is bordered by Ville-Marie (Centre-Sud) to the west, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie to the north, and Mercier to the east.

Its main commercial arteries running east to west are Rue Sainte-Catherine Est, Rue Ontario, Rue Hochelaga and Avenue Pierre de Coubertin.

Transportation

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is served by the Préfontaine, Joliette, Pie-IX and Viau stations on the Green Line.

The following STM bus routes transit through the neighbourhood;

Popular culture

Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is prominently featured in Québécois culture and media.

Notable songs about the neighbourhood include ''Voyou by Les Cowboys Fringants,'' ''Hochelaga'' by Alexandre Poulin
as well as ''La Question a 100 Piasses'' and ''Rue Ontario'' by Bernard Adamus

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