Montreal in a Minute
When it first launched, Urbania magazine had a pretty useless Flash-based website that replicated selected content from its print magazine. I’m glad to see it has embraced the full potential of the...
View ArticleA Hasidic Exodus from Park Avenue?
The Montreal Gazette reported this weekend that the Hasidic community in Outremont and Mile End is suffering from a housing shortage. In 2002, there were about 4,200 Hasidim in the neighbourhood; today...
View ArticleInside the World’s Largest Human Migration
Last Saturday, I stumbled into Cinema du Parc after fighting a losing battle with some serious wind-chill. I found myself watching Lixin Fan’s documentary, Last Train Home, a jarring film that expertly...
View ArticleThe Shenzhen Flâneur
It’s easy to spot Mary Ann O’Donnell in a Shenzhen crowd. She’s the one wearing a pink-and-orange linen scarf and flowing dress. She’s also white — a rather rare sight in a wealthy city that is still...
View ArticleFrench Expats, Here and There
French football fans celebrate in 2006 on the Plateau Mont-Royal Photo by Oliver Lavery It’s been a long time coming, but the French — in the words of a shop manager on Mount Royal Avenue — “are taking...
View ArticleHong Kong’s Little Thailand
Before there was Gold Mountain — the promised land of North America — Chinese immigrants flocked to Southeast Asia, where they settled in countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Eventually, they...
View ArticleMexican Bohemia: Chicago’s Pilsen
From the Loop, the Pink Line El bursts west, floating among the rooftops of a low-rise industrial district. As the city’s wall of downtown skyscrapers drifts away and the train enters an expanse of...
View ArticleHaiphong Road’s Halal Meat Market
The wet market on Haiphong Road comes as a bit of a surprise, tucked as it is beneath a busy flyover that shudders with the weight of passing trucks. The crowds streaming along the road towards the...
View ArticleJudaism with a Hong Kong Flavour
Rabbi Asher Oser opens the heavy doors to Ohel Leah and steps inside, pausing for a moment to consider its vaulted ceiling, intricate woodwork and marble floors. As the door closes behind him, the...
View ArticleElected by Ethnoburbia
Election results in Toronto in 2008 (top) and 2011 (bottom) Red is Liberal, blue is Conservative, orange is NDP Canada held its 41st federal election on Monday and the results have unleashed a seismic...
View ArticleCollecting the Scraps of a Changing Shanghai
There was no reason to have entered what looked like a dumpster north of Wangjiamatou Lu (王家码头路) which was located in Shanghai’s Old Town, or known better to some as the former walled city of Nanshi...
View ArticleCatholic Shrines of Carroll Gardens
At Court Street and Fourth Place is the Van Westerhout Cittadini Molesi Social Club’s Madonna Addolorata Jesus has risen again on Brooklyn’s Wyckoff Street. His hand outstretched toward passersby,...
View ArticleDelving Brick Lane’s Layers
Early on a Friday morning, London’s Brick Lane bustles with Bangladeshis heading to prayers at the local mosque. The women wear brightly coloured saris and the men don long pastel robes, looking...
View ArticleA City Beyond Its Borders
Halfway through director Heiward Mak’s new short film, SAR², Eric Tsang takes a tumble in front of a propaganda sign in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new development zone. “Supported by Hong Kong, Serving the...
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