Young Families at the Heart of Neighbourhood Change. The Case of Ahuntsic, a Pericentral Neighbourhood in Montreal
The literature on gentrification of urban neighbourhoods has flourished in recent years although the role of families in neighbourhood change remains relatively unknown. We study neighbourhood transformations due to the arrival of families with young children in Ahuntsic, a peri-central neighbourhood in Montreal, which is a type of neighbourhood largely underexplored in the academic literature. The results presented are based on a study conducted in Ahuntsic between 2010 and 2012 that includes: 1) thirty observations of public spaces (parks, sports facilities, libraries and community centres); 2) more than forty short interviews with residents and users of these spaces; and 3) over twenty in-depth interviews with families with young children. These families’ arrivals participate in the neighbourhood’s transformation through the ways in which they consume, socialize and appropriate the use of public spaces. Two major neighbourhood changes are analyzed. First, families demonstrate differentiated uses of shops, parks, sports and cultural facilities that fit their needs. Second, they display intensive neighbourly relations that transform local sociability dynamics and contribute to maintaining a valued urban lifestyle. It is argued that the neighbourhood change that comes with the arrival of families with young children, emphasizes the need to rethink the place of families in peri-central neighbourhoods as well as a renewed vision of urban inclusiveness.