Ruelles vertes: On Montreal’s green alleyway labyrinth of culture, nature, and history

Spiraling staircases, a skyline penetrated by steeples, grandfathered neon signs, and relics from Expo 67—the iconography of Montreal is often recognized in the built forms the city amassed throughout history.

Then there’s where Montrealers live, and how they live there. No matter the neighbourhood, between streets and plex apartments, there’s a rich maze of overgrown pathways to explore in the green alleyways—also referred to as ruelles vertes—the proverbial local backstage to where Montreal’s daily life plays out.

More than where trash builds up, laundry hangs to dry, or neighbours holler at one another, Montreal’s ruelles vertes represent places where locals have come together to regreen, create, and animate public spaces.

They’re often dioramas depicting the character of the neighbourhood they’re in, cabinets of curiosity where their pace of life is collected and on display. They’ll be the site of everything from gardens both wild and communally cultivated to children’s games, block parties, informal music, impromptu dining rooms, and wedding receptions.

If backdoors can symbolize mysterious entrances into the unknown, ruelles vertes are where they’ll lead to in Montreal, and there are over 450 officially designated ones of them to explore.

Unique to the city, they’re not a model to be replicated, but “a source of inspiration for the realization of an ideal,” where it’s less about Montrealers occupying space and more about their caretaking of where they call home.

The origins of Montreal’s ruelles vertes

Today, the Ruelles Vertes project is a community-led initiative that dates back to the late 1990s, but its history stretches back to the 1800s.

Le Regroupement des éco-quartiers explains it aptly. As Montreal changed hands from French to British regimes, that included the city’s planners: Before 1850, alleyways were simply small streets that provided access to homes via porte-cochères, or carriage entrances. British urban planning made room for wide, open alleyways with street access.

That’s when Montreal’s back alleys were born.

First acting as either lanes for workers to transport goods like ice and coal or for servants to access homes, which eventually led to them being treated as garbage collection points up until the domination of the car in the 1950s. Alleys were then paved with concrete and asphalt.

It was only during Mayor Jean Drapeau’s administration in the 1980s that alleyways began to see the development of parks. Two projects, Operation Tournesol and Place au Soleil, allowed the demolition of backyard sheds and the transformation of the alleys. Until the program was abandoned in 1988, 58 alleys were developed.

That laid the groundwork for Montreal’s first true ruelle verte in 1995, found between Napoleon, Roy, and Mentana Streets and Parc-La Fontaine Avenue in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. It’s still there to this day.

Montreal’s ruelles vertes serve as a case study of the benefits of equitable and sustainable green infrastructure in cities, whether it’s how they revive access to nature, create perennially pedestrian space, or enhance a sense of interconnection and belonging among locals.

What makes a ruelle verte in Montreal

Since those early developments, éco-quartiers now serve 80% of Montreal’s population, supporting residents across Montreal as they’ve mobilized to beautify alleys and establish ruelles vertes in nearly every single one of the city’s 19 boroughs. 

With community groups pushing for official designation, the city started funding the effort in 1997. Typically granting $10,000 to $20,000 per block, ruelles vertes follow an established design guide to meet specific criteria: Creating free and open areas that increase biodiversity with green and blue corridors full of nature, promoting social connections for safety and belonging and resource-sharing between residents—think anything from a cup of sugar to power tools—and slowing down traffic instead of more pedestrian space.

Adapting to the socio-demographics and landscape architecture of backyards in their locations, alleys take on (but aren’t necessarily limited to) four different ‘colours’ and forms:

• Green alleys for sustainable development projects on a human scale that are led by a citizens' committee, supervised and supported by a local program, and—in some cases—in collaboration with an eco-district.
• White alleys for snow management and different components like four-season cabins, entertainment spaces, and equipment for winter games; essentially space for winter activities.
• Blue-green alleys aimed at retaining rainwater collected by flat roofs in rain gardens and retention pits.
• Active alleys promoting a mix of uses, from the promotion of socialization and healthy lifestyle habits to ecological elements.

A source of inspiration, the realization of an ideal

Montreal’s ruelles vertes serve as a case study of the benefits of equitable and sustainable green infrastructure in cities, whether it’s how they revive access to nature, create perennially pedestrian space, or enhance a sense of interconnection and belonging among locals.

Unique to the city, they’re not a model to be replicated, but “a source of inspiration for the realization of an ideal,” where it’s less about Montrealers occupying space and more about their caretaking of where they call home. Though primarily used by their residents, they aren’t gated communities; they’re open theatres looking into the public lives of Montrealers.

Revealing a rich and inspirational history in Montreal that stands out among any other city in North America, the city’s ruelles vertes are a phenomenon whose evolution has inspired new contemporary and artistic creations. 

The most notable of these is found in spaces like the McCord Stewart Museum’s Museum Alley, a downtown core experience that transforms its adjacent Victoria Street into a space of abundant greenery and installations that shift annually that evolve with the season.

The newest edition features everything from free weekly musical programming reflecting different facets of Montreal’s culture to alley games and a street mural created by Olivier Charland for MURAL.

Learn more about McCord Stewart Museum, its seasonal Museum Alley space, and discover its weekly Musical Wednesdays programming.