New city on a runway

Bois-Franc, near Montreal, is marketed as a “new city.” That’s reveals not just its urban location and high density — but also the relatively positive Canadian attitude toward cities, compared to the U.S., where the word “city” is likely to provoke a negative response. When built, Bois-Franc will have 8,000 dwelling units on 496 acres, a gross density of 16 to 20 units/acre. Yet a large centrally located park built around a lake and 25 neighborhood greens provide plentiful and well-distributed open space. Fifteen minutes from downtown Montreal in the City of St. Laurent, Bois-Franc was formerly the site of an airport and aircraft parts manufacturing plant. Its history determined the site’s unique shape; a part of the main runway is preserved as a boulevard that bisects the linear, northwest neighborhood. Developer Bombardier, the Quebec-based manufacturer of high-speed trains, watercraft and Lear jets, acquired the site from Canadair, but only needed to retain 93 acres for industrial purposes. The company could have sold off the remainder of the valuable property (now the Bois-Franc site), but instead hired Daniel Arbour and Associates of Montreal to design a town. Infrastructure costs are projected to total $115 million — and construction costs will

...