In the eyes of a Winnipeg hipster, Montreal has got it goin’ on. From its eclectic art and music scene to its bitchin’ loft parties and superior Quebecois coffee, the hipster appeal of the culturally diverse Canadian city is colossal.

Twenty-year-old ex-Winnipegger and current Montreal resident Janelle Campbell, who moved to Montreal last August and is currently working in a small cafe, explained why she thinks Montreal is so damn appealing to Winnipeg youth.

“People are more open here [in Montreal]. While there are spots in Winnipeg, like Osborne Village, that have a young hippy/hipster ‘we accept strangeness’ vibe, Montreal is a city for youth and is thus very open-minded to all sorts of lifestyles,” she said, adding that Montreal has its own Gay Village that is almost two kilometres long.

Gimli native and aspiring musician Jake Petrowski, a 20-year-old who lived in Winnipeg for a year before relocating to Montreal in February of 2008 to join friends, explained his take on the hip lifestyle of youth in Montreal.

“It feels like everyone is here just to be doing something cool,” he said, adding that on any given night one can walk into a bar and find great music.

“Everyone, I find, is willing to party a lot and spend their money.”

And while several young Winnipeg folk, like Campbell and Petrowski, flock to Montreal to live the trendy life and become completely dazzled by the utter coolness of the big city, many Winnipeggers end up coming back home.

“ It feels like everyone [in Montreal] is here just to be doing something cool.

Jake Petrowski

Chantal DeGagne, a 25-year-old graphic artist who works at Winnipeg’s Graffiti Art Gallery, moved to Montreal and back - twice. She first ventured there in 2004 hoping to get involved in the visual arts community. While she enjoyed basking in the all-night entertainment, relishing in the city’s rich culture, and hitchhiking around the Quebec countryside, she found the experience to be overwhelming and returned to Winnipeg the following year.

“There wasn’t enough to hold me there,” she said. “I was young and had no idea what to do with myself. I thought it would be fun and exciting.”

Two years later in the fall of 2007, feeling suffocated in Winnipeg and longing for anonymity, DeGagne decided to give Montreal another shot. This time, she couldn’t seem to shake the Winnipegness in her.

“I was searching to create my Winnipeg environment in Montreal,” she said. “I was never really conscious of it…but…I found myself connecting with those groups that I did in Winnipeg,” said DeGagne, explaining that she worked at an Aboriginal women’s centre and small community art groups similar to those that she had been involved with back home. DeGagne returned to Winnipeg last Christmas.

University of Winnipeg student Owen Toews, who lived in Montreal last school year while attending Concordia University, said that during his stay in Montreal he found himself missing the quirky little things that he feels make Winnipeg charming.

“Winnipeg is hilarious,” he said, explaining that he found himself longing for things like the Paddlewheel Restaurant, the Winnipeg Sun and the fact that wherever you go, you always run into someone you know.

“I am a Winnipegger. I feel an attachment to that weird shit.”

Weird shit aside, Winnipeg does have some truly compelling qualities that often go unappreciated until one moves away. Now that she is back, DeGagne doesn’t take for granted just how great a city Winnipeg is.

“It’s a supportive environment,” she said, explaining that in Montreal, she found people to be very unhelpful in helping her find darkroom space where she could develop her photos.

“It kind of has this nice small town, community feel. Everyone works together,” she said.

Being surrounded by generally louder, more “cut throat” Quebecois everyday, current Montreal resident Campbell explained that she misses the friendlier, more laid back feel of Winnipeg that DeGagne referred to.

“Winnipeggers… essentially have a ‘country’ outlook on life and believe in helping neighbours and strangers,” she said.

Montreal’s Petrowski agreed with Campbell and admitted that he is now appreciative of Winnipeg folk.

“Definitely the people in Winnipeg are nicer,” he said.

So whether it is Winnipeg’s charming little quirks, its friendly, close-knit community feel, or its recently added American Apparel store, there sure is something about this city that beckons Winnipeg’s venturesome, hipster-folk back home.

Published in Volume 63, Number 27 of The Uniter (May 20, 2009)