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“The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

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Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#91

Post by hassancf »

not_math wrote: post #76
hassancf wrote: post #68

Quebec, that’s America in French. Quebec is NOT a piece of France in America. That’s the mistake lots of people make. I know what I’m talking about. I’m in Quebec.

Quebec was pretty disconnected from France for a long time, and it was not until very recently with Charles de Gaulle that the friendship started again. Now Quebec is more influenced by the European way of living, but there is still a very "American" way of life.

Yes, Quebec was disconnected from France for centuries. Totally agree with that.

However, a European way of living in Quebec? Not sure, I agree with that. Sure, there are more bakeries than in neighboring Ontario, but it pretty much stops there.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#92

Post by Elr »

jamiek88 wrote: post #90
Elr wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the questions! As a nature kind of person, Fermont had everything I was seeking; Plenty of forest, the ability to hunt, trap, fish almost anywhere, a lot of snow during the winter, the Northern lights, the fauna and much more. It IS the place for outdoor activities. If you ever drive on the 389, I recommend you check out the Mont Groulx. [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monts_Groulx The infamous Manic…

Sadly looks like it’s dying out? All those shops shut and bowling alleys etc closed down. Really sad. Surely not amazons fault out there! Is the work drying up?

I do not believe Fermont is dying out, but it's flame has reduced considerably.

The economy over there is mostly driven by the price of iron which has ups and downs. The future is never certain.

Also, a lot of workers are doing fly-in fly-out contracts (mostly 7, 14 or 21 days in a row) hence the decline in population. It does have a toll on the local business and I'll add my grain of salt by saying that Fermont mostly had essential stores with the exception of a few non-essential ones which has mostly died since.

Furthermore, most people drive ~20-30 minutes to reach Labrador City and buy what they need from the multiple stores you can find (Walmart, Canadian Tire, etc). As for Amazon, I'm confident it's been used by many people and has an impact, but I personally doubt they could've have found these items locally if all these closed stores were still open.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#93

Post by tharkun__ »

jeffreygoesto wrote: post #45
mig39 wrote: post #26

I was in Fermont a long time ago. I was driving from Goose Bay all the way south. in the 90s, the Labrador highway wasn't paved, it was just rough gravel. I got a flat tire somewhere near the border, then pulled into Fermont and tried my best high school-level French to find somewhere to fix my flat tire. I asked the guy at the gas station: "Excusez-moi, savez-vous où je peux trouver un garage pour réparer mon pneu c…

I went with a canadian friend to Quebec and thought "boy is his french bad" when he ordered a room. Much to my surprise the answer wad in exactly the same dialect. Loved it and ruined in the local radio stations for the whole drive after. Still have a certain song in my ear that we heard live in a bar in Quebec "Quand je change ma vie, je rue la Gaspesie...". Which is what we did after Quebec... If you asked in Frenc…

Do not let them fool you. If they recognize you as a tourist they will happily switch to English, however broken theirs may be, however much trouble they might have speaking it.

If they recognize you as a 'local' (i.e. immigrant) and you don't speak French you will get into trouble in most places in Quebec. Even in Montreal though not everywhere in Montreal. If you aren't aware, Google about the referendum and the "OQLF" and their practices for example. It's very telling that even the Bank of Montreal moved their headquarters to Toronto back then.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#94

Post by tharkun__ »

jamiek88 wrote: post #86
tomcam wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> even get to NYC without ever going outside Wait what? How?

Train.

Or bus (Line 747 from airport to a metro station and back 24/7) and plane ;)

Tho technically you get a bit of fresh air for that one.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#95

Post by hyakosm »

Vvic wrote: post #48

There's also the largest "underground city" in Montréal, Québec to avoid winter. It links up universities, stores, offices, subways and much, much more!

The RÉSO is pretty nice, its main part connects between 6 subway stations under downtown: Lucien L'Allier, Bonaventure (with its bus and railway station), Square-Victoria, Place d'Armes, McGill and Peel. It connects directly to shopping malls, to "Centre Bell" arena and to multiple office buildings. It would be perfect to extend it and connect through Saint-Laurent station to Berri-UQÀM, the biggest station with 3 lines and tunnels to multiple university buildings.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#96

Post by ralphc »

kens wrote: post #43

This interview with a stripper in Fermont provides an interesting look at the culture there: https://www.vice.com/en/article/dpwqzk/life-as-a-stripper-ne...

A place with a strip club and a school in essentially the same building, that wouldn't fly in the US.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#97

Post by ramchip »

tharkun__ wrote: post #93
jeffreygoesto wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went with a canadian friend to Quebec and thought "boy is his french bad" when he ordered a room. Much to my surprise the answer wad in exactly the same dialect. Loved it and ruined in the local radio stations for the whole drive after. Still have a certain song in my ear that we heard live in a bar in Quebec "Quand je change ma vie, je rue la Gaspesie...". Which is what we did after Quebec... If you asked in Frenc…

Do not let them fool you. If they recognize you as a tourist they will happily switch to English, however broken theirs may be, however much trouble they might have speaking it. If they recognize you as a 'local' (i.e. immigrant) and you don't speak French you will get into trouble in most places in Quebec. Even in Montreal though not everywhere in Montreal. If you aren't aware, Google about the referendum and the "O…

When I lived in a dorm in Montreal, a pizza delivery guy passed by and asked my neighbor for directions to a room, in English. He replied that he doesn't know. Obviously he does, so after helping the guy I asked my neighbor why he'd say that. He said essentially if the guy lives here and can't speak basic French he doesn't deserve an answer.

Most people aren't like that, but there are assholes out there...

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#98

Post by twic »

There is a more modest wall in Newcastle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byker_Wall

I just measured it on Google Maps as 979 metres long (the Fermont Wall is 1.3 km). Also, i don't think it has continuous internal corridors and extensive commercial space, as Fermont does. It's just an unusually long block of flats. I'm also not sure it's continuous - i think there might be breaks around the swimming pool building.

What the two walls have in common is that they were built to protect an enclosed area from an external hazard - in Fermont, it was the wind, but in Byker, it was noise from a proposed motorway which would have run round the estate.

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#99

Post by sidewndr46 »

not_math wrote: post #76
hassancf wrote: post #68

Quebec, that’s America in French. Quebec is NOT a piece of France in America. That’s the mistake lots of people make. I know what I’m talking about. I’m in Quebec.

Quebec was pretty disconnected from France for a long time, and it was not until very recently with Charles de Gaulle that the friendship started again. Now Quebec is more influenced by the European way of living, but there is still a very "American" way of life.

Wasn't de Gaulle banned from Canada _forever_ the one time he came to visit Quebec?

Re: “The Wall” Housing Structure In Fermont, Quebec

#100

Post by LegitShady »

mrgriscom wrote: post #2

I've actually been here: http://mrgris.com/travel/blog/labrador/2/ Quite a weird place, though definitely not 50m tall.

good ol bear sector.

It doesn't surprise me that small mining towns have strip clubs. Lots of people temporarily move to work there and are lacking in human comforts of all types.

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