Marché Maisonneuve, a major farmer's market, with the statue La Fermière by Alfred Laliberté in the foreground and the Olympic Stadium in the background.
Map of the island of Montreal, with Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in red.
Hochelaga was founded as a village in 1870, and annexed to Montreal in 1883. In response, dissatisfied landowners founded the village of Maisonneuve to the east.[3]
Maisonneuve grew rapidly and became known as the Pittsburgh of Canada for its heavy industry, before finally being annexed to Montreal in 1918.
These factories hired many workers, including immigrants and people from the surrounding countryside. They worked in the shoe, textile, tanning, slaughterhouse, tobacco, food, and shipbuilding industries.
In 1920, many factories closed and moved east to Mercier. Mercier was an agglomeration of old villages: Beau-Rivage, Longue-Pointe and Tétreaultville. It was previously annexed to Montreal in 1910, before Maisonneuve.
In 1960, the construction of the Autoroute 25 saw the demolition of many residential buildings in Mercier and divided it into two districts: Mercier-Ouest and Mercier-Est.
Starting in the 1980s, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve suffered significant economic and social decline, gaining a bad reputation for poverty, unemployment and organized crime.[4][5][6][7]
In recent years, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, and to a much lesser extent Mercier, has experienced significant change and gentrification.[8][9]
Geography
The three regions of the borough.
Located in the east end of the Island of Montreal, it was part of the City of Montreal prior to the 2002 municipal mergers. It is composed of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Mercier-Ouest (Longue-Pointe) and Mercier-Est (Tétraultville) areas. Each area has roughly the same population, but they differ in their commercial and social characteristics.
The borough is often cast in a negative light, mainly due to its economic planning and high poverty rate. However, it is often neglected to mention that the borough, despite a descriptive accent on its poverty, has large industrial zones and is commercially dynamic. It is often considered 'up and coming' with new revitalization plans for its residential zones.
According to 'Recensement des établissements et de l'emploi à Montréal (REEM 2000)' there's been an increase of 95% in professional and technical jobs in the borough. However, this can be attributed to gentrification in the area, specifically in the Hochelaga district.
The average family income in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is $48,544 and personal income of $29,919 are considerably below the Montreal average.
Nearly 19% of the borough's population is considered low-income, and there are patches of poverty scattered throughout the borough and heavily concentrated in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district.[11]
La ville de Montreal, Arrondissement de Mercier-Hochelaga Maisonneuve: Plan strategic de developpement economique 2005-2008 (Plan D'action local pour l'economie et l'emploi) Le Groupe DBSF, Corporation de developpement de l'Est, May 2005
