What caused the decline of the street scene in Montreal?

[Johnny Walker]

Going back 15-20 years ago there was a lot of street activities around Montreal. There were the well known places like St. Laurent and St. Catherine. Ontario street near St. Denis. There were even places in Laval like La Belle street and Near the Car dealership in Verdun.
What cause te street scene to go away? Where did you do your street scene action?

 

[jalimon]

Going back 15-20 years ago there was a lot of street activities around Montreal. There were the well known places like St. Laurent and St. Catherine. Ontario street near St. Denis. There were even places in Laval like La Belle street and Near the Car dealership in Verdun.
What cause te street scene to go away? Where did you do your street scene action?

Simple, the internet and intelligent mobile phone!

Why would anyone spend hours out in the street waiting for some clients when they can wait from the comfort of their home?

Cheers,

 

[jalimon]

you know obviously nothing about the street scene back then.some girls made cleanups in cash while the girls sitting on their asses in the comfort of their own homes as you say rarely got a few calls a day

you would be surpised at how many agency girls could be found on the street back then as smart girls on the street like they would say could get a quickie for $80 if they were hot and at the agency get 120 for a full hour with a asshole
cops did a big clean up and sadly probably a number of them died from drug overdoses

True. I know nothing about the scene back then. But my answer still stands. As you said, it was easy for the cop to clean that up, so where did the girls go? Back home or at agency behind their mobile phone. Much safer.

Cheers,

 

[Russ_Meyer]

so ya i guess i have a bit of a clue what happened

I was a long time lurker and one of many admirers of your writing. But Jalimon's answer is right on. Marshall Mcluhan would tell you the same thing if he had known about the Internet. When a new media appears, the one that preceded it is transformed into a form of art, and people develop fake romantic nostlagia about everything that surrounded it. The Internet destroyed the street scene, it's as simple as that. And the Internet created a whole new pool of women who would never have sp'd in the good old days on Ontario street. I can see how something was lost in the process I remember the energy that ran through me when I went back to this cute black girl's apartment and banged her doggy after she asked me if I wanted a date on Ste-Catherine street circa 1999; but much was gained, namely safer conditions for the girls and clients.

Your version of the street scene, the one that you created with your posts on the various forums, was essentially a literary construction. Not Henry Miller or Charles Bukowski, mind you, but still pretty good, much better than the beige stuff most of us post these days on merb. I don't doubt that most of it actually happened, but it was a subjective experience that few people could have experienced the way Oliver Kloseoff and Haywood Jablomie did.

 

[westwoody]

actual answer as to what caused the street decline is public pressure and businesses

The exact same thing has killed off the street scene in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg.

If developers put up an expensive offfice building or condos they do not want prostitutes or homeless people hanging around.

Also, there is public pressure to "solve" prostitution. To most people, this means what they see on the street. Police get rid of the visible street prostitution and declare the proble solved. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[jalimon]

The exact same thing has killed off the street scene in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg.

If developers put up an expensive offfice building or condos they do not want prostitutes or homeless people hanging around.

No, new development will push the girl to other streets, that's it.

Also, there is public pressure to "solve" prostitution. To most people, this means what they see on the street. Police get rid of the visible street prostitution and declare the proble solved. Out of sight, out of mind.

Absolutely. Combined with the Internet and there you go, it's much more comfortable and safer for the girls out of the street.

I kind of lived the excitement and energy associated with street scene in Amsterdam. It was just a real high to window shop in plain afternoon with whom you would have sex with. It really surprised me how much I liked it. Then the brothels of Vienna did quite the same. With really nice east european girl, montreal quality! The only place I really experienced street scene is in San-Francisco. But out of about 6 girls that came up to my room, only 2 were great experience. But still the thrill was there. It's not really explicable how exciting it is so I do understand old timers who miss it.

Cheers,

 

[westwoody]

I do not miss it, at the time I didn't know any better.
In retrospect the ladies took a lot of abuse from the public and took a lot of risks. Two women I knew were abducted at gunpoint and nearly murdered.
Ladies with drivers and bookers watching over them are much safer now than being alone and vulnerable on a corner.

 

[Russ_Meyer]

No, new development will push the girl to other streets, that's it. Combined with the Internet and there you go, it's much more comfortable and safer for the girls out of the street.,

Absolutely, Oliver would be the first to know how girls were pushed back from St-Laurent/Ste-catherine (when the real estate got interesting, 15 years before the quartier des spectacles) to Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Now that there are condos in HoMa, you find a few sp's in Pointe-aux-trembles... and of course there are still some bona fide "bottom feeders" (as the old school concept wold have it) on Ste-Catherine and Ontario. I passed around there last week and was suprised at how many were still active. I saw Manon, for instance. Even seems like there are more than last year. Maybe just my imagination. But these women are desperate and need help. They're on the street cause they can't manage a wi-fi connection or deal with text messages...

Today, ann 123, intime, hump, bp, apps like tinder, etc. they offer a similar type of "openess" as the street scene offered 20 years ago, when a guy like Frenchie could pick up a girl and her busty mother. People under 45 today are very familiar with strangers in the digital world, and there are new codes that have replaced the subtle codes of the street when you could still find a cute horny girl looking to make some extra dough on the corner of Ontario and Joliette. Today, no one would try hooking over there; too many hipster anarchists... Just read the snide remarks from guys on the board who snear at us average joes hunting through the jungle of 123 and intime for an 80 hh tryst with our fingers crossed. The bottom feeder clientele has now switched to backpage. That's where you can find the budget hidden gem these days, but only if you're as dedicated as Oliver was at Funspot...

 

[A12B]

Because of all those fucking Orange cones ! I don't know about you guys, this is causing me to wonder less and less downtown. They kill my whole day when I go there for a simple hour of MP or SP .... . This is not going to get any better for a good 4 - 6 years.

 

[CLOUD 500]

My personal opinion the street scene and any aspect of the sex business that is in plain sight has declined due to conservative politicians and a very sharp move to conservatism. During the 70's was the time of social progression so we had one tity bar after another opening and there were street walkers everywhere. There were dedicated red light districts. Now dumbass Denis Coderre wants to turn this into a city of people living the traditional family life and going to church every Sunday. Coderre was done everything to get rid of prostitution in this city. The whole reconstruction of the former red light district on St-Laurent Blvd. The city is constantly building condos just to prove my point at how the city has moved into the past to conservative values vs moving forward to more progressive values. Also Harper's conservative Bill C-36 for the first time in Canadian history has outlawed prostitution. Street walkers are history no one will buy sex off the street knowing damn well that the cops will arrest them even if they do not arrest them the bill is an effective deterrent. The purpose of Harpers bill was to discourage and reduce demand for sexual services and it has been very effective. Slowly the sex industry is going underground out of plain sight and behind closed doors. The street scene cannot work. The internet had some effects for sure on that for sure but back in the days escort agencies were advertising on the newspapers so I do not think the internet had much of an impact.

 

[CLOUD 500]

Because of all those fucking Orange cones ! I don't know about you guys, this is causing me to wonder less and less downtown. They kill my whole day when I go there for a simple hour of MP or SP .... . This is not going to get any better for a good 4 - 6 years.

The best solution is to take the metro. It is much faster and much cheaper then a car.

 

[blkone]

All I cared about 15-20 years ago ... was candy, pizza and cartoons... lol... so, no idea.

 

[Russ_Meyer]

The internet had some effects for sure on that for sure but back in the days escort agencies were advertising on the newspapers so I do not think the internet had much of an impact.

In the days of old, sp's needed the agencies to call up the JdeM and place an add. There was a whole economy that revolved aroun the management of sex work. A few could handle the job of posting ads, but it was a hastle, and it involved lots of planning and down time. Newspapers involved complicated overhead; you had to be organized. The internet provides a quick way to reach a huge pool of clients in your city; it's dirt cheap and easy to manipulate. It's perfect for impulsive people. Even uneducated factotums and dedicated drug addicts can use it. It's the closest thing to being on the street.

 

[Prof. Kingsfield]

When the street scene was going full tilt, I was only interested in amateurs. In the early mid 80s there were a lot of farm girls coming into the city for a good time.

 

[gugu]

Gentrification: JSB is certainly right on this.

Attrition: some girls moved inside, others quit the trade. Girls getting in the trade have more less dangerous places to work.

Tolerance of in-call: true that LE busted downtown siestas, but this has more to do with gentrification. Otherwise, LE stats show a huge drop in prosecution under the old 210 article (brothel keeping). That had a huge beneficial impact on the security of the trade.

Social work impact: support by Stella from the mid 1990 did help quite a lot of street sex workers.

 

[Roy Bean]

It depends what the tolerance of the day is. In the 80s inside was not tolerated and outside was tolerated to a point. There were sweeps on the street every 6-8 weeks and then it was business as usual. In the last 10-15 years the city tolerated the salons and not the street.

 

[C.B. Brown]

The early 90s in ville emard i remember a petition to get rid of hookers.
late 1997 till about 2010 downtown rocked.
you could not walk 10 feet on sthubert near ontario without meeting a hooker or drug dealer.Its funny all these street hooker you run into.
peep shows were busy as well .then all of a sudden they all got shut down.
people wonder where some of these girls have gone,have you ever seen some of the girls at local massage parlours.
the only qualifications you need when applying are 2 tits and a few holes which is pretty pathetic.
seriously ,i know 1 place which has at least 2 girls ,who are outpatients of the douglas hospital.
(hopeless slut aka haywood clean out your pm box svp)

 

[hungry101]

The first song played on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

The internet killed the street scene and thank god. Has anyone ever picked up a girl on the street corner and had real good sex? Have you ever met a really classy girl on the corner that you hadn't left you with regret? Maybe once in Montreal (this was a surprise). There was that Romanian I did in an alley in 5 minutes in Rome (I thought I was following her to her apartment. This was actually kind of fun but no more.) The internet has opened Pandora's box for all of us and for the multitude of French-Canadian women who want to make a quick extra buck and not worry (or worry less) about her identity being revealed.

 

[Baileybos]

There was a good street walker on St. Andre in the day when street walkers were popular. Her name was Annie you could have her for $40 plus $20 for the room. There is nothing like the thrill of picking up a street walker.

 

[Halloween Mike]

There is nothing like the thrill of picking up a street walker.

Whats the fun you see in it? I mean beside being able to see her first before booking (with face and everything) i wonder? I think internet has made the street stuff totally irrelevant. Its safer (in general, if you book at the right places) and you generally have a pretty good idea of her look with pictures, some even have full face pics. Plus you set everything up with your phone in minutes. No need to go around "searching"