Marché Atwater

I used to live in the Pointe-St-Charles neighbourhood in Montreal. It’s where my great-great-grandparents settled when they first arrived in Canada from the Irish famine. Up until that point, I had lived in suburban Quebec, and had felt rather disconnected from the idea of community. Very close to my home was the Atwater Market, an institution in the city. As a young adult trying to navigate identity, community and connection, the market felt central to that. Visiting Atwater was my first real experience of a food market, with so much to look at and experience. While it is a space that feels familiar, there is also an element of adventure and excitement to visiting. There is familiarity with its layout and shop owners, but there is also always new food items on display ready to be experimented with.  It is the ultimate multisensorial experience–from the intricate placement of the strawberries in June, to the pine tree forest for Christmas, you are surrounded by a myriad of colours and textures, smells and tastes. The market was an important landmark in my everyday experience of the sud-ouest. It was often the space for gathering when the sun was warm, and it was the goal to make it at least that far on a winter’s day walk. Its distinct art-deco shape located along the Lachine Canal makes it easily recognizable as you pass through the area. On the sunniest of days, the routine was to find fun snacks from the market and to gather along the grass lawn connected to the canal. You could watch the ducks swim in the water while cyclists zoom by while hearing the endless sounds of community chatter; it is both the perfect meeting spot and the perfect people watching spot. I was always marked by how connected I felt in this space. Walking the same streets and spaces that those who came before me did leaves me feeling connected to this neighbourhood in a very special way. It is a space where you run into friends, recognize community, and you feel seen and surrounded by your neighbours. It feels like home, and has led me to a lifelong journey of finding home through community no matter where I am." (Booklet Positive Lived Experiences of Quality in the Built Environment 2023, p.135). https://www.google.com/maps/place/Marché+Atwater/@45.4795202,-73.5769653,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4cc91a78389aaeb9:0x1caf52f4e17890dc!8m2!3d45.4795202!4d-73.5769653!16zL20vMGR5cXRy