Why you love a thing or a place or individual is intensely personal and often a bit inexplicable. What's common place or a negative for a more neural observer might be the reason we love something. Montreal is a beautifully flawed city that'll I'll defend to my grave. One of the things I love about it is the organic feel of its streets and alleys and what colors the walls and storefronts. Recently I've noticed a beautiful mosaic of graffiti that dots the urban landscape. It all feels very spontaneous and intrinsic to the neighborhoods. Great figures of our past are venerated on the sides of buildings or quirky little interests that an artist has decided to publicize. New York has public art too, but a lot of it is commissioned or commercial. Real Estate is expensive. Graffiti that appears without official sanction is often endangered or removed by monied interests. An incredible decades-long project in Queens was tragically whitewashed overnight when the building was sold. In Montreal, whole facades are devoted to folk singers, indigenous leaders, or champions of Quebecois independence. With few exceptions, none of it is about getting paid.