Monday, October 31, 2011

Montreal's Exterior staircases


Laurier avenue East, Montreal
Laurier avenue East, Montreal


One of the unique features of Montreal architecture and often commented on by visitors to the city is the abundance of exterior staircases.

Rue Henri-Julien, Montreal
Rue Henri-Julien, Montreal


It is difficult to find the exact reasons why this architectural feature is so prevalent, but two reasons do get mentioned most often.

Rue Henri-Julien, Montreal
Rue Henri-Julien, Montreal


One reason often cited is cost savings. You don't heat exterior stair cases thus save money.

232 Laurier East, Montreal
232 Laurier East, Montreal


But the reason most often cited and actually given by the City of Montreal on one of their websites is that this all started because of a by-law trying to improve the city's green space.

Back in the 19th century (Think I read somewhere it was 1840) Montreal passed a by-law requiring all new buildings to be so many feet back from the sidewalk. This meant smaller buildings on the lot, so to compensate and maximize the living space in the building, staircases were placed outside over the required green space.


Rue Drolet, Montreal
Rue Drolet, Montreal


Another oft asked question is why are the staircases open? Obviously only asked by people who have never spent a winter in Montreal. With an average annual snowfall of 210 cm (86 inches) the open thread makes snow removal a bit easier.


Back stairs - rue Le Jeune, Montreal
Back stairs - rue Le Jeune, Montreal



Thanks for stopping by. If you are interested you can see other photos taken on my walkabout the Plateau area of Montreal in my Walkabout the Plateau - 30 August 2011 gallery.

Remember that clicking on any image on this page will open the image in my Smugmug site where you can view a larger version.

These and other images may be purchased in various formats on my RedBubble site.

Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog, in my Guestbook or in the photo gallery.

Thanks for looking. And please stop by again.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

New Product at RedBubble


Last week RedBubble announced a new product -- iPhone 4 cases

Within the first 24 hours, 2400 plus case designs were uploaded by RedBubble members. As of today, some 4 days later, there are almost 10,000 designs offered for sale on the site. Not sure if there's yet to be a single sale, but the membership is certainly prepared should there be a rush on iPhone 4 cases .

And in case there is, I uploaded a few designs of my own. Below are nine (9) designs for your viewing pleasure.


wild flowers
Fireworks
Escapade roses
Enchantress orchid
New Beginning
Sorrow
Night Music
waterlily
Marshall Point Light
Clicking on any of the above designs will open their RedBubble page. If you would like to see all my iPhone 4 case designs, you can see them here.

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment. I'd be happy to hear from you.