McGill Ghetto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The McGill Ghetto (or officially, Milton-Parc Extension) is a neighbourhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, named after McGill University, situated directly to the east of the university campus. The Ghetto is located in the "Plateau-Mount Royal" borough of Montreal. Many McGill students live in this area, which is characterized by a mix of rowhouses and low- to mid-rise apartment buildings. The area is roughly bordered by rue University and the university campus to the west, rue Sherbrooke to the south, avenue des Pins to the north, and avenue du Parc to the east, though McGill University considers this area to extend as far east as boulevard Saint-Laurent.
The neighbourhood has many historic townhouses built in the late 1800s, which housed affluent businessmen and their families. The area remained a wealthy enclave throughout the early half of the 20th century. Eventually, many of the affluent residents of the area moved to other boroughs such as Westmount or to the suburbs.
In the 1970s, community activists were concerned that the vast La Cité mixed-use complex (consisting of apartments, offices, a mall, and a hotel) would destroy the neighbourhood's character. McGill University recently acquired the hotel component and transformed it into an undergraduate student residence called New Residence Hall, which increased the student population in the Ghetto by 650 people.
