MONTREAL – Over the last decade, wealth has significantly moved around the Montreal area: from the city centre to the suburbs.
Global News has created an interactive map, which breaks down median household income by sectors and neighbourhoods between 2001 and 2010 and it shows a flurry of activity.
One of the clearest takeaways seemed to be an overall – and in several cases quite impressive – increase around the island, with a more mixed picture on it.
“The housing market is driving people off of the island.”
Hudson, located about 48 km west of Montreal, constituted a rare and arguably surprising exception, with a modest drop of seven per cent.
Many areas in the suburbs and the exurbs, notably on the South Shore around Chambly and Saint-Philippe, as well as on the North Shore in the Laurentians around Saint-Colomban and Saint-Jerome, boasted an increase of income upwards of 20 per cent, adjusted for inflation, over a ten-year period.
In the city of Montreal, the picture, while not as bright, was not without some positive signs as well.
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In fact, the long stretch from the Sud-Ouest all the way to Viauville, along Notre-Dame street, has seen median incomes often jump upwards of 30 per cent since 2001.
But the overwhelming majority of sectors having experienced a drop could be found on the island.
Sebastien Carriere, the director of town planning for Ile-Perrot, which enjoyed a bump in its income figures, said that he saw younger families choosing to set foot just outside of the city as the key to his town’s success.
“The market is likely to pick up when people are willing to make the commute.”
Property in the “4-5-0 region,” although expensive, is still – at least for now – more accessible for average middle-and- upper-middle class households. Property taxes, which are markedly higher in Montreal, also drive many to the suburbs.
“The market is likely to pick up when people are willing to make the commute and a train facilitates that commute,” Carriere noted.
The work commute: Bus, subway, and even ferry, but mostly by car
Dr. Ahmed El-Geneidy, an associate professor in the School of Urban Planning at McGill University, supported this explanation.
“Prices on the island are becoming really crazy,” said Professor El-Geneidy.
“The housing market is driving people off of the island.”
Check out Global News’ interactive map that shows changes in income levels in Montreal and surrounding areas over a decade:
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