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Verdun
Photograph: Caroline Perron

Montreal's Verdun was named the 11th coolest neighbourhood in the world—here’s how locals reacted

'Can’t wait to have hordes of tourists asking how to get to Verdun. LOL.'

JP Karwacki
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JP Karwacki
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Ever since the borough of Verdun got named one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world yesterday, there's been a steady amount of readers and commentators in social circles having sometimes heated, sometimes happy back-and-forths over the choice.

We get it: Trying to assess anything as the 'coolest' is a controversial thing. While many Montrealers didn't chime in on who they thought should've made the cut, many more brought a full gamut of opinions that ranged for concerns over gentrification in the area and the affordability of Montreal as a whole to outward displays of love for the borough if they called it home.

That said, your truly has chimed in as to why Verdun was deserving of its rank increase by a full 11 spots in 2020's annual Time Out Index survey (up from #22 in 2019 if you haven't done the math), but don't take my word for it: The survey is the result of as many as 38,000 respondents from across the globe, and the results that are simply backed up by Time Out's editors and contributors. 

As an editor, I spent time watching "Verdun’s continued rallying cry of local flavours, sights and sounds in the face of uncertainty", and that Verdun was a city-within-a-city that—over the months following the city's first lockdown—demonstrated a lot of strength in supporting its independent businesses, that it gave a lot of space to local culture, and the borough has since really banded together to keep itself afloat.

Some locals agreed with that, while others didn't exactly feel that way.

Here are some of our favourite reactions from Twitter over the last 24 hours:

Most popular on Time Out

- Montreal's latest red zone restrictions start today: Gyms, sports, schools and travel

- Netflix and pay up: Prices are going up for standard and premium subscribers in Canada

- Quebec has adopted the COVID tracing app, so sign up—if you can

- The results are in: Verdun is Montreal's coolest neighbourhood

- Montreal's own culinary school ITHQ is doing four-course takeout menus for $35

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