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Montreal Moving Day: what happens when a whole city moves house at once
- djrogers 8y agoSo not really the whole city, but around 8% of it? Sounds crazy, but nowhere near as crazy as the ‘whole city’...
- lifeisgood99 8y agoIts a figure of speech. Writing liberty. 8% is definitely a huge proportion of the city moving in a single day. For my own experience living in Montreal, no chaod but lots of furniture and other trash left behind.
- crooked-v 8y ago8% of Montreal is 136,000 people. That's an entire small city's worth of people.
- graeme 8y agoThey mean ‘everyone who moves, moves on that day’
- m-p-3 8y agoFinding a moving truck, company, etc for such a big percentage of the population that moves all on the same day is often a challenge.
- hugodahl 8y agoIt is, particularly since there is a) a premium price on the rental (3-5x last I checked) for that one day b) rental windows are shrunk (3-4 hours max is typical) and c) rentals are reserved back-to-back-to-back, such as 6-10,10-2,2-6,6-10,but often returned late, which trickles down. So last moves often end in the wee morning hours. Doubly fun when you're waiting on the previous tenant to get out before you can get your stuff in. The same is true when using movers and moving companies, assuming you can find any with availability.
- sjg007 8y agoMadness and also inefficient.
- jandrese 8y agoI have to imagine the moving truck rental companies must summon nearly every vehicle in the fleet to one city for one day of the year. This seems so insane. Do the advantages even come close to outweighing the headaches this scheme causes? What happens when July 1 is rainy?
- antoineMoPa 8y agoYeah but people who move often have the help of a few friends. The percentage of people who are moving/helping would be more impressive.
- RobertDeNiro 8y agoThe vast majority of people who move do it on july 1st. So much that when I moved in march everyone thought it was impossible.
- sonnyblarney 8y agoThat's quite massive number if you just count people moving.
- nicholascamera 8y agoThe best part of moving day is the free stuff! Everyone is having garage sales and sharing items for trade or for free on Troquer c’est gratos and other Facebook groups.
- Forge36 8y agoA similar spectacle happens near me. We've taken to calling it "hippy Christmas" I've dropped stuff off on the curb and it's been picked up in <1 hour by someone looking for new furniture.
- lostlogin 8y agoIn New Zealand that’s how you get rid of stuff. You put it on ‘the council strip’, which is a bit of grass between the house and the road, theoretically owned and maintained by the council.
- cjbprime 8y agoBoston has the same thing on August 1st. Fun times.
- swampthinker 8y agoAllston Christmas is more like the week before September first. With a guaranteed UHaul on Storrow that got its roof torn off.
- Andrex 8y agoBest part of Sep 1st is the vids of moving trucks getting can-opened on Storrow Drive.
- jacquesm 8y agoThat looks to me as though dropping the road 10" would solve the problem nicely.
- dsr_ 8y agoThat would let people drive trucks on Storrow, and they aren't supposed to do that. It gets enough traffic as it is/
- huy-nguyen 8y agoHmm I thought moving day in Boston is Sep 1?
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- ergothus 8y agoI find the interaction with capitalism interesting. Basically(according to the article), because it makes getting future tenets easier, landlords will arrange leases to end in July, even if they need to make short leases to do so. This in turn means people are open to enter new contracts in July, which maintains the incentives. If you are an individual buyer, you will have little influence on this incentive. Thats... interesting to me.
- pvg 8y agoGetting new tenets is more a New Year's thing.
- braythwayt 8y ago/chuckles https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenet https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenet
- sbuas 8y agoI will have to disagree with the article on this, really it is 2-way. When searching for a new apartment you will have way more choice in the weeks around July 1st than at any other time of the year.
- tempestn 8y agoThat's true, unless you're moving to Montreal at some other time of the year; then it will be very difficult to find somewhere to live.
- auxym 8y agoIn the weeks leading to July 1st you are pretty last-minute and won't have great choice. Lease renewals/non-renewals are due for the end of March (IIRC), so starting to look around April is a good idea. In case someone is thinking about moving to Quebec next year ;)
- sevensor 8y agoThis sheds some light on what I observed on my one visit to Montreal, which was that there were signs everywhere reading "a louer". I thought it was a bit unusual that so many apartments should be in need of tenants at once.
- sonnyblarney 8y agoNo, this is an economic problem in Montreal in general. Montreal doesn't have the greatest of economies. Reasonable standard of living, good culture, but Montreal is like Buenos Aires a little ... there is a weird kind of dysfunction and chill that doesn't exist elsewhere in North America. Source: I live here.
- sgc 8y agoIs it great or a pita? Honestly, as a French speaker who has looked into moving to Montreal before, that is an attractive description.
- sonnyblarney 8y agoIt's laid back easy living in summer, but brutal winter if you're not into it. Quebecois are not mean, but they are insular if you're not Quebecois or actually French. 'They eat at their own table in the cafetaria' kind of thing. The economy is iffy and weak, and there's very few good jobs, even the good one's pay absurdly low. If you're any good, you can move to the US and double your salary, which is why it's a kind of economic trap - young, good talent leaves and it's nary impossible to convince people to come even if the net standard of living is good. You almost need a reason: like super choice job, spouse, contract job, family etc. etc..
- notmars 8y agosure. http://www.montrealinternational.com/en/blog/montreal-is-the-most-affordable-city-in-canada/ http://www.montrealinternational.com/en/blog/montreal-is-the...
- michaelmior 8y agoAnother weird thing to me about Montreal compared to other cities I've lived in is that it's common for people to take their appliances with them when they move. Perhaps that's normal elsewhere, but it was unique to me among the cities I've lived in.
- Naga 8y agoIt's a Quebec thing. I moved to Quebec a few years ago and had to buy a whole set of appliances, as every other place I lived in always came with them. Looking at other places around me as well, none of them come with appliances.
- deleteme12345 8y agoWhere? Lots of rent w/ furnished appliances in Montreal.
- OoooooooO 8y agoWhat do you mean with appliances? Dishwasher? Washing machine? Coffee maker? Sink? Stove?
- ajmurmann 8y agoWondering the same thing. In the US it seems people leave ovens and stoves behind and sometimes washing machines but not always. In Germany people move all that stuff.
- lbearl 8y agoI think it's regional. When I lived in the midwest all of the appliances came with the apartment. Now I live in Los Angeles and you have to bring your own fridge.
- jgh 8y agoThat doesn't seem to be a consistent thing in LA anyhow. But yeah definitely some apartments dont have fridges supplied.
- Sytten 8y agoYeah it's one of the most annoying thing in Quebec. Especially when you need to rent for just a few months, it's almost impossible. It's not a "Montreal" thing though, it's a province wide thing. It's even more crazy this year with the temperature...
- tgtweak 8y agoMoving your household in 115°f with 90% humidity is just rediculous. I've already heard some stories this year about movers just not showing up. There is also a very common scam where individuals pose as movers and ask for a deposit since it's near impossible to get movers in the month leading up to moving day, only to never show up the day of and subsequently disappear.
- rossdavidh 8y agoWell, I could think of one advantage not mentioned, which is that you can make sure to be out of town that day, and thus miss all of the havoc that is spread out throughout the year otherwise. Sort of like those towns where all the bars turn their drunks into the street at 2am, and you just know to not be driving then because the percentage of drunk drivers will be at its highest.
- jonahrd 8y agoThis is why I go to Ottawa to celebrate Canada day and have fun while everyone in Montreal deals with the nightmare
- kelvin0 8y agoOh yeah, we also take our vacations at the same time. Construction 'break'. https://www.ccq.org/en/M07_CongeVacances?profil=GrandPublic https://www.ccq.org/en/M07_CongeVacances?profil=GrandPublic Kinda ridiculous.
- antognini 8y agoInteresting, I had heard about this in New York, but I didn't know it happened elsewhere, too! There's a fascinating Wikipedia article about New York's Moving Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_Day_(New_York_City) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_Day_(New_York_City)
- pkamb 8y agoOne of the most interesting blogs I've followed over the last couple years is Garbage Finds, a guy who picks historic/vintage stuff out of the trash in Montreal. Learned about Moving Day from him. He finds amazing stuff! https://garbagefinds.com https://garbagefinds.com https://www.instagram.com/garbagefinds https://www.instagram.com/garbagefinds
- lostlogin 8y agoThat first link with the story about a sale is really depressing.
- sonnyblarney 8y agoFYI it's actually 'Canada Day', equivalent to 'Bastille Day' in France, or July 4th in the US. The 'moving day' bit is a slightly subtle dig at the very notion of the country. It's complicated, though as of late less hostile. Source: me, Anglophone living in entirely French district of Montreal.
- vaughnegut 8y agoI'm not inclined to agree. Some holidays are just not as popular with québécois folk (Thanksgiving is another example). A long weekend in summer based around a holiday the majority of the people in the province don't particularly care about is perfect for moving.
- sonnyblarney 8y agoThat people would literally refer to the Nation's holiday/foundational day as 'moving day' - almost ubiquitously (i.e. on radio, TV etc.) - without reference to the actual holiday, is definitely antagonistic. Imagine if you were in NYC, and reading CNN on July 3rd, and the only mention was: 'hey folks it's moving day tomorrow, here are some tips' - and that was literally the only mention of the July 4th holiday, i.e. no reference to Independence Day or anything else. And when someone piped up and mentioned - "Oh yeah, it's Independence Day" - and the crowd giggled ... (as happened on the radio yesterday with reference to Canada Day) ... In Toronto, Canada activities are big, and way overrepresented by new immigrant Canadians, as multigenerational-Canadian folks generally do a more low-key thing at the cottage. Ottawa is different.
- Sytten 8y agoWe (speaking for majority of Québécois) definitely don't care much about the ROC and I don't think we should be offended of that. It's just the reality of two cultures forced to coexist by a foreign power :/ Ans it's reciprocal I think. As a student en computer eng. I see it a lot. All my fellow students apply for jobs in Quebec and I personally have a hard time finding anything outside of Quebec.
- BooneJS 8y ago“Hippie Christmas” [0] in Madison, WI. Many sleep in tents overnight as they have to move out on one day and they can’t move in until the next. [0]: https://badgerherald.com/news/2014/08/15/photo-slideshow-hippie-christmas-madison/ https://badgerherald.com/news/2014/08/15/photo-slideshow-hip...
- monkbroc 8y agoMoving Day is an example of something I thought was normal but only realized was a local custom when I moved to another country. Frozen thinly-sliced fondue meat (beef, pork, turkey) being available at any grocery store was another one. Fondue in a pot of beef broth is a popular dish for dinner parties in Québec since it scales no matter how many guests you have and each guest can eat however much or little they want. In the US the closest I can find is beef bulgogi from a Korean grocery store. What are some examples of things you thought were "normal" until you moved elsewhere?
- NicoJuicy 8y agoWe Belgians have a "washandje" to wash our face with it. You can stick your hand in it and use it. It's not known anywhere else and we actually laugh with it :p
- guiomie 8y agoI had fondue in Los Gatos, and the meat what in cubes, cubes!!!!
- cperciva 8y agoLooking out the window and seeing trees and mountains.
- nhf 8y agoIf your area has a Chinatown or large Chinese grocer, you can get your fondue meat by asking for "hotpot meat" there.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- electrotype 8y agoAnd there are currently heat warnings... Won't be fun! https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/alerts/high-alert/quebec/montreal https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/alerts/high-alert/quebe...
- intellectronica 8y agoThis was also the tradition in Switzerland, but it has been relaxed significantly in recent years, most likely as the result of the addition of many out-of-country residents. Most Swiss nationals still assume that they can only move on moving day, but the ~25% of foreigners simply never accepted that and move freely whenever convenient.
- malthaus 8y agoIt‘s more a result of the shortage of available rental flats so people can easily find a successor by themselves. Outgoing renters have negotiation power and the incoming ones have to adhere to whatever date they want, resulting in cascading effects. New flats in big cities have arbitrary (ie monthly) moving dates in the contracts nowadays to bring them in line with reality. But it is never a problem to agree on any random date between you and the next guy, as long as you provide somone willing to take it over per that date. I‘m Swiss and never moved on one of the official moving dates...
- IshKebab 8y agoSo it's impossible to move on any other day? That sounds incredibly stupid. Does everybody start new jobs on the same day too? After one year don't your contracts switch to monthly?
- vaughnegut 8y agoYou can find apartments any time of the year, it's just that the majority are up for rent for July 1st. Moving at another time of year is a mixed bag. There's less selection, but so much less competition.
- thinkingemote 8y agoThe UK has a weekend like this too (sometime last month) when all the university students in all the university cities move to other digs, or back home for Summer/Good. It results in horrendous traffic full of parents in large cars full of stuff packaged around the student stuck in one of the back seats. The way around it if you live local is to remember that the parents will not know the local roads, and to avoid the direct routes that a route planner would suggest. If you are driving long distance, then you might be best travelling early in the morning.