Why Montreal Is North Americas Best City For Creatives

Not only is Montreal rated among the best cities to live in the world, but it was also recently recognized as one of the best cities for students. The city is known for its cultural vibrancy and different creative communities, from music to literature, fashion design, and the visual arts. Here are some key reasons why Montreal is also one of North America’s best cities for creatives.

Creative community

Montreal is the home base of bands such as Arcade Fire, Stars, Grimes, and more, some of Canada’s best indie designers, fashion magazines, creative writers, and performers. But beyond these world-famous names, the city is also home to countless local groups, galleries, cafés, bookshops, and other venues that cater to creatives at all stages of their careers. Additionally, unlike some other Canadian cities, Montreal incorporates less (sub)urban sprawl. Instead, it was designed with active street life in mind—rather than accommodating high-rise buildings.

Low cost of living

Green space and beyond

Additionally, Greater Montreal incorporates a network of 17 large parks that cover a total of around 2,000 hectares, along with over 1,000 smaller neighborhood parks. The city also has easy access to rural areas and national parks, some less than an hour outside of the city, that offer opportunities for refuge and creative inspiration.

Appreciation for art

One thing that makes Montreal stand out is the array of striking and unusual street art found in neighborhoods throughout the city. During the annual Mural Festival, artists from all over the world gather in Montreal to construct murals right in front of the audience’s eyes. The city is also home to some top art galleries and museums in North America, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal. Also, the city’s layout incorporates a blend of historical and contemporary architecture that makes each neighborhood distinctive and adds to the city’s creative character.

Festivals and events

All year long, Montreal is alive with countless end-to-end festivals of all kinds. Many of these events highlight local, national, and international artists—from musicians and DJs to writers and spoken-word poets, graffiti artists to photographers, dancers, comedians, and actors. These festivals can help bring different creatives together and help promote their work—in addition to contributing to the general sense of imaginative joie de vivre for which the city is celebrated.

Les Francofólies, a Montreal music festival

Multiculturalism

Montreal is shaped by a diverse cultural fabric that has historically been defined by a blend of both European and North American influences. Approximately one-third of the city’s population was born outside of Canada, and this diversity of heritages and languages also lends itself to Montreal’s creative pulse. The interplay of different cuisines, music, literature, and fashion all contribute to the city’s dynamism, which also plays out through its various ethnic neighbourhoods—from Chinatown to Little Italy.

Safety

Unlike many major cities, public areas throughout Montreal, as well as the city’s downtown core, are lively both day and night throughout the year and are generally safe to pass through or linger in. The crime rate, which is already low for a major North American city, has been steadily decreasing since 1990. While this might not be the first factor that comes to mind when thinking about a creative city, the ease of moving through and gathering in parks and other public spaces, as well as taking public transit, adds to the general sense of well-being and accessibility that can contribute to and create a foundation for an abundantly creative urban fabric.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

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