Liana Lessard is co-owner of Sweet Lee’s a rustic bakery on Wellington Street. She started out in St-Henri but moved her business to Verdun a few years ago.
The reason was simple: value for money. Her overhead costs were much lower in Verdun and she found the neighbourhood comparable.
She’s part of a growing trend of young urban professionals moving to the southwest borough in search of that fine balance of affordability and lifestyle.
“I sold a dozen houses in Verdun and if there were a dozen more I’d sell them too,” said Mary Lamey, a real estate agent who lives in the borough.
“People move here and they don’t want to leave.”
The borough’s decline decades ago is complex. It was a dry independent city — meaning it was illegal to open a bar– for much of the 20th century, and it was populated by working class factory employees and lined with department stores and churches.
But eventually the factories in the southwest closed. When the Angrignon Mall opened in LaSalle and the green metro line extended into Verdun business dried up. And the younger set stayed away because there weren’t any bars.
That’s changed — the dry bylaw changed in 2010 — and members of the business community now peg business vacancy on Wellington at less than 10 percent — and new places are constantly opening.
“Verdun is really an up and coming neighbourhood,” she said. “We’ve seen the crowd change, we’ve seen a lot of young professional families establish themselves here.”
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