Monkland Village is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

of the

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ( en, Our Lady of Grace), also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, ...

district in the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

borough of

Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (, ) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created following the 2002 municipal reorganization of Montreal. It comprises two main neighbourhoods, Côte-des-Neiges ...

. It is located between Grand Boulevard and the Décarie Expressway/ Décarie Boulevard, and between Avenue Somerled and Chemin Côte-St-Antoine. The neighbourhood derives its name from Monkland Avenue, the commercial street at the heart of it. The Villa Maria metro station is located at the eastern end of Monkland Avenue.

Origins

Both the neighbourhood and the avenue are named after

James Monk Sir James Monk (1745 – November 18, 1826) was Chief Justice of Lower Canada. Monk played a significant role in the abolition of slavery in British North America, when as Chief Justice he rendered a series of decisions regarding escaped ...

, who was the attorney general of

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

, and chief justice to the court of the Queen's Bench from 1804 to 1824. This area in particular became associated with Monk due to the estate he built in 1804 known as ''Monklands''. This estate would later become the Governor General's residence, and was later sold to the Congregation de Notre-Dame who would use the building for the Villa Maria private Catholic school.

Monkland Avenue

Monkland Avenue has been a commercial street since the 1930s. Today the strip is transforming into an upscale commercial street. It is home to many small businesses including restaurants ( Monkland Tavern, Lucille's, Al Dente),

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

s ( Second Cup, Mercanti), bars (Typhoon's, Ye Olde Orchard), food stores (Le Maître Boucher, Première Moisson), unique boutiques (Kidlink, 101 artisans, Espace Tricot… ) and a dance school (Les Ateliers Turcotte). In the summer of 2013 the Monkland Merchants Association organized a very successful street Festival that attracted more than 90,000 people over a three-day period. Between 2014 and 2017, Monkland Avenue boasted one of the city's largest street festivals lasting 3 days and attracts more than 250,000 attendees, over 20 food trucks and 50 independent merchants. 2015 marked the arrival of new merchants such as Café Di Mercanti, LE Cheese, Casa de Mateo (now closed), Food De Toi (now closed), Bistro Amerigo, and Bacaro Pizzeria.

References

Neighbourhoods in Montreal Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Gentrification in Canada Hipster neighborhoods {{Montreal-stub