I think a key to our success is that almost all the areas you describe were built before cars. Montreal was once the biggest city in Canada, then declined. So

I think a key to our success is that almost all the areas you describe were built before cars. Montreal was once the biggest city in Canada, then declined. So we have a large amount of housing/commericial stock when neighbourhoods were mixed used and designed for walking. I'm actually not sure you could build Montreal again in Montreal. (I mean, I really don't know what regulations are like for new neighbourhoods)