August 15 may not have been a particularly significant day for a lot of Montrealers, except for one: Gilles Beaudry, the author of the blog Mes Quartiers, finished a year-long project of visiting all 443 ruelles vertes (green alleys) of the city and giving his top 20 picks.
Using data provided by Montreal écoquartiers, boroughs and media, Beaudry writes that each of them were visited and assessed according to how green they are—the level of plant life and if extra fixtures like birdhouses or insect hotels were present—and if elements were present that benefitted the community like benches or free libraries. "After walking nearly 200km, taking more than 3600 photos, and losing 10 pounds, I present to you the most beautiful green alleys that I have found," Beaudry wrote.
Mes Quartiers's Top 20 Ruelles Vertes of Montreal
Here's the blog's Top 20
1. Mercier: La ruelle des découvertes: entre Lebrun/Baldwin, Brouage/Ontario (Mercier)
2. Maisonneuve: La ruelle Vimont: entre Ville-Marie/Vimont, la Fontaine/Adam
3. Maisonneuve: La ruelle verte Sainte-Catherine: entre Ville-Marie/Vimont, Adam/Sainte-Catherine
4. Maisonneuve: Le P’tit village Sicard: entre Aird/Sicard, la Fontaine/Adam
5. Sainte-Marie: La ruelle La Petite Pologne: entre Gascon/Bercy, Sherbrooke/Hochelaga
6. Plateau Mont-Royal: La ruelle champêtre Henri-Julien/Drolet: entre Henri-Julien/Drolet, des Pins/Square-Saint-Louis
7. Plateau Mont-Royal: La ruelle entre Hôtel-de-Ville/Laval, Napoléon/Roy
8. Plateau Mont-Royal: La rue Demers: entre Saint-Joseph/Villeneuve, Hôtel-de-Ville/Henri-Julien
9. Plateau Mont-Royal: Ma Ruelle Marquette: entre Marquette/Papineau, Saint-Grégoire/Barrette
10. Plateau Mont-Royal: La ruelle entre Papineau/Cartier, Masson/Laurier
11. Plateau Mont-Royal: La ruelle verte Cartier-Chabot: entre Cartier/Chabot, Masson/Laurier
12. Plateau Mont-Royal: La ruelle verte De Lorimier/Des Érables: entre De Lorimier/Des Érables, Masson/Laurier
13. Marie-Victorin: La ruelle Enc Hantée: entre 25ième avenue/26ième avenue, Bélanger/St-Zotique
14. Rosemont: La ruelle entre Joliette/Chambly, Rachel/Sherbrooke
15. la ruelle Pro V Herbes: entre 6ième avenue/7ième avenue, Holt/Dandurand (Vieux-Rosemont)
16. Vieux-Rosemont: La ruelle Basile-Patenaude: entre Place Basile-Patenaude/Masson, Iberville/1ere avenue
17. Quartier Beaubien: La ruelle entre De Lorimier/Des Érables, Beaubien/Bellechasse
18. Villeray: la ruelle verte Les Voisins d’Abord: entre Saint-Dominique/Casgrain, Guizot/Jarry
19. Saint-Michel: La ruelle verte Le Raccourci: entre 2ième avenue/9ième avenue, Jean-Rivard/d’Hérelle
20. Ahuntsic: La ruelle Le Sentier des Lutins: entre Georges-Baril/de la Roche, Henri-Bourassa/Prieur
There's also a map created by a benevolent Google user of—not all, but most of—Montreal's ruelles vertes:
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