Talk:Saint Laurent Boulevard

Moved section
Totally "Saint-Laurent." When in doubt, surely we should go by what the street signs say...

No no no! It's boulevard Saint-Laurent! All the English-speaking people in Montreal refer to it as such 95% of the time. If I get no objections, I will move the page back (or get an admin to do so).

Acegikmo1 5 July 2005 05:07 (UTC)

Absolutely not. I am sorry, but I always call it "Saint Lawrence". Many anglophones use "Saint-Laurent boulevard" from time to time (obviously, exceptions exist), but, generally, they use "Saint Lawrence", "Saint Lawrence boulevard", or "The Main". Only very rarely have I ever heard "boulevard Saint-Laurent" used in the middle of an English sentence, and then only by foreigners who don't know the English name. Please see my talk page --Larineso 5 July 2005 12:19 (UTC)


 * I also use both, but the English much more frequently. And I would never say "boulevard saint-Laurent". I think we should keep it here to conform with Crescent Street and Saint Catherine street, after all, this is the English Wikipedia. --67.71.73.175 5 July 2005 13:18 (UTC)


 * I live downtown (I've lived on both sides of Saint-Laurant). I am anglophone and most of my friends are as well.  And, at least in my experience, it's almsot exclusively called "Saint-Laurent" (usually no boulevard).  I realize that this is only one experience, but I find the French term much, much more common.  Acegikmo1 5 July 2005 18:30 (UTC)


 * Acegikmo, I, too, am a native Montrealer. As such, I know that usage varies between gruops... between people, families, cliques, social backgrounds, or just what mood your in. I completely understand that some people say Saint-Laurent in English all the time, sometimes, or never, but I believe that the article should be under the English name, since it is in English, but we shold make clear different usages and what is official. I hope you can umderstand what I mean... The English is there, why not use it? --Larineso 21:04, 21 July 2005 (UTC)


 * I disagree. The page's title should be Boulevard Saint-Laurent since it's the official name. Saint-Lawrence Boulevard should redirect to the official name and not the other way around. If there was a page on University Street, it would be titled in English since that's the official name but that's not the case for Boulevard Saint-Laurent. I actually study in English and I've never heard the Main referred to as Saint-Lawrence Boulevard. That's the river, not the street. Bobsky 23:00, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm Anglo and it's always been Boul. Saint-Laurent. I've never heard it referred to as St. Lawrence Blvd. Apologies to Larineso, but I think the usage is clearly Boul. St-Laurent or The Main. Samir  धर्म 07:10, 13 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Same as above, I'm english and I had no idea what Saint Lawrence boul. was, I just called it Saint Laurent street. To me I think the name of the article would be better called Saint Laurent (being the official name), especially for people who dont live in Montréal it would be even more confusing.


 * Likewise, I'm also anglo, grew up and studied in english here, and have never heard the term Saint Lawrence being used. Not only is the term Saint Laurent the official term, and the term used by most anglos, it is also the term most people out of town would refer to and search for in wikipedia.


 * Everyone take a valium, boulevard Saint-Laurent is in Gatineau. There are oh so many Ottawa and Gatineau pages linked to boulevard Saint-Laurent that I was unable to turn it into a disambiguation page. I had to redirect it to Boulevard des Allumettières instead. One has to be pragmatic. Peter Horn 01:18, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Saint Lawrence Boulevard
I roll my eyes in disbelief at all the people who refer to themselves as Montreal Anglos but have never heard the Main referred to as St. Lawrence Boulevard. It is the _only_ designation I have ever used for it when speaking English and, in fact, when I hear English-speakers refer to it as "boulevard Saint-Laurent", I take that as a tell-tale sign that these people are not native Montrealers because they are oblivious to the thoroughfare's historical English name.

Mordecai Richler, Irving Layton, or Leonard Cohen almost certainly never referred to it as anything other than St. Lawrence Boulevard when speaking English. I think the designation is a part of Montreal's heritage. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.131.160.109 (talk • contribs).

Exactly. I cannot believe everyone is conjecturing! Spend five minutes looking at an encyclopedia before trying to muck up this one! The street was originally named Boul St. Laurent, then known as St. Lawrence Boulevard and the Main. Recently, i.e., Quiet Revolution times, the name reverted back to the original. As a Cultural institution, it is known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (books and popular imagination). 'To tourists and plateau-hipsters its St. Laurent'.

While Saint Lawrence Boulevard amassed so much cultural history it no longer exists 'as such'. This is a serious issue. The reason why the name changed back to French was to protect French heritage and language in Quebec. By accepting this change, we are, in a way, rewriting the past and changing what 'happened'.

Perhaps there should be separate entries for St. Laurent and St. Lawrence Boulevard; one as contemporary, the other as a cultural and memory space. Gutmania 21:09, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

!!!!! and who calls it ' Saint Laurent Boulevard'? Its either Saint Lawrence Boulevard, Saint Laurent, or Boulevard Saint Laurent. Clearly people NOT from Montreal are writing this entry!

Montreal Demography
On the topic of the Main's English/French division the following is written: "This distinction is not as strong; people of all linguistic groups now inhabit both sides of the island." I do not think this is true. I would like this changed. There is more mixing (like in the West Island) but it is limited. Both groups are still oblivious to each other's culture. Gutmania 21:09, 23 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Amen! / Ainsi-soit-il! Everyone seems to have neglected that most people either say simply "Saint-Laurent", the latter either in French or English since in both languages we mostly drop street/rue/boul./blvd./ etc. Most of the English speakers living near S.L. are not born and bred Montreal Anglos (of B.I. stock or not), so the point of the original name (used by those who used to live there) is moot. We can all agree "Saint Lawrence" refers mostly to the river as in "the Saint Lawrence" in anyone's English. The official designation for the thoroughfare should be used, with the historical names FOLLOWING. Until there is a study on who says what in what language whether they're code-switching or not and what their age, ethnicity, neighborhood, etc. are. It's not simple, so please don't obfuscate the complex reality of it all by imposing a view, not anecdotal evidence. So who's up for a professional study? CJ Withers 08:44, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Actual toponomy
The following PDF document contains the list of official Montreal street names:

http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/page/toponymie_fr/media/documents/Rues_Territoire_Montreal.pdf

The official name for the street we are talking about is "Boulevard Saint-Laurent". Which is what all the street signs say, come to think of it.

The fact that the street has changed names in history and that not everybody uses the official name should be noted in the article, though, but the current name is obsolete and wrong nonetheless. Likewise, there is no such thing as a "Rue Université"; it is officially "Rue University".

Not to mention it seems a little fishy to me to base the entire discussion on "I always call it this way!!" "No way! You must not be a real Montrealer then!" "This is how my grandma always called it!" Etc. Not very objective by what I would expect to be Wikipedia standards. David t 22:43, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I support a move. Saint Jacques Street has the french name but with the word street. René Lévesque Boulevard is the same way (certainly not using Dorchester, even if some die-hard anglos might refer to it as such.) Saint-Laurent Boulevard makes sense to me. Any good reason to oppose? TheMightyQuill 09:28, 1 September 2006 (UTC)


 * When was the name changed? If the street was called "Saint Lawrence Boulevard" for most of its history then that fact coupled with the fact that this is the English Wikipedia might suggest that the title should remain as it stands.  More importantly the date of the official name change should perhaps be mentioned in the article itself. Spebudmak 23:14, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Title of the article...
If I could move it myself I would, but, if we are to stick with the French nomenclature, it should be Saint-Laurent, with a dash, trait-d'union, whatever you want to call it. Without it, it's just not correct.--Boffob (talk) 01:33, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

boulevard Saint-Laurent vs Saint Laurent Boulevard
Please note that virtually all, if not all, articles that link to boulevard Saint-Laurent are either Ottawa articles or Gatineau articles. I eliminated any articles (2) that referred to Montreal by referring them to Saint Laurent Boulevard. My appologies about the valium, see Talk:Saint Laurent Boulevard above. Peter Horn 01:28, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

3rd largest population of Yiddish speakers in North America...
The article says "Montreal featured the third largest population of Yiddish speakers in North America, after New York City and Buenos Aires; by 1930, 60,000 Yiddish speakers lived on or around The Main." Since when is Buenos Aires in North America? Gruguuru (talk) 23:18, 8 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you for catching that. I've corrected it. It was my error, the reference does say Americas. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 23:31, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

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