When I’m in Montreal, I’m mostly confined to an expensive pretty suburb but today we ventured downtown to entertain the kids. The very first thing we saw in the Old Port was a homeless, pantless addict, defecating in the middle of the street. My kid is not used to such sights, so I had to make a speech about drug addiction and homelessness.
There was nothing remotely similar in Montreal 15 years ago. This is a problem that has been manufactured since then. This was the most livable city in North America, and it’s being murdered in the same way as all North American cities are being murdered.
Clarissa's Blog 
Yes, it is bad. There is a homeless shelter in that area, so it is not uncommon to see drug addicts or people with severe psychological issues there. In recent years, however, with weaker and more dangerous drugs circulating in the streets, and with the scarcity of cheap rentals, the problem is exacerbated and is more visible. Other areas that are suffocating now are the Gay Village (many bars and restaurants are closing, the stories I have heard…), Quartier Latin (read about what employees at the Grande Bibliothèque have to deal with on a daily basis, or about residents on Berger street), Milton Park, and Square Cabot (both places with homeless immigrant and indigenous people). Also, we now witness those problems in suburbs or regional centres, which in unheard of. I genuinely wonder what can be done.
If you are in the Old Port, perhaps you should go to the Kheops 3D experience at the Centre des Sciences. I heard good things about it and Klara may like it.
Ol.
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It’s everywhere. We’re new-ish here, so I thought maybe the huge-seeming population of very visible vagrants, zombies, and beggars here might be just… a function of being a bigger town than where we lived before. No. Looking at the state stats page, for our county, there was a 50% increase in the homeless population between 2022 and 2023, and accounting for .25% of the total population. What’s that… 1 in 400 people homeless? Seems high: the number and a lot of the people. And that’s from last year’s stats. Doubtless it’s more now. Not a blue state. Not a blue city. Not even a big city.
Here’s the chart (if I can get it to go through):
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Trying again:
https://flic.kr/p/2pCbA2b
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Though poking at it further, it’s relevant to note that Duval county (Jacksonville) which has a total population more than three times ours, has a homeless tally that’s within-margin-of-error identical to ours. So the density here is much higher.
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