Whether it's due to the proliferation of microbreweries, signs of urban and economic renewal or the expansion of the club scene, most readers indicated that the city is on the upswing at the end of the 1990s. Of course, there were a few sticks in the mud who couldn't find a single positive change in Montreal in the last decade. Maybe this list will change their minds:

After-hours clubs * Alouettes are back! * Anglophones not allowing themselves to be walked all over, having Howard Galganov stand up for us * Better beer * Building of the Molson Centre * Canadiens not winning many Stanley Cups! * Celine Dion promising to stop making records * City cracking down: crooked cops getting caught, Barnabé cops losing jobs, Green Onions getting caught for parking stickers * CJAD finally getting a run for their money and listeners getting the benefits of media competition from CIQC * Clubs, restos, drugs & women * Consolidation of all scheduled air carriers at Dorval and away from that hideous, in-the-middle-of-nowhere, Mirabel * Decision to bring back the streetcars * Downtown core brought back to life * Easier access for handicapped people * Ethnic diversity * Everyone is tired of politics. Pheew! * Extension of store opening hours * Gay & lesbian pride celebrations * Extra metro stations & bike paths * Getting rid of the Forum * Global television--a fresh perspective on Montreal life * Green onions are not green * Habs finally suck. Go Bruins * I started getting pussy! * The introduction of foreign beers at the dépanneurs * Jean Doré * Loblaws! * Major motion pictures on location in Montreal * Me migrating to Mtl: bought a house and started a hair salon and after three years lost it all and just started all over again! * Modernization of the Central Station­Deux-Montagnes line * More acceptance of what's truly bizarre * More emphasis on tourism industry * More empty storefronts * More Latinos in Mtl * More places for women to go and get a massage! * More tourist attractions * More acceptance of visible minorities and less emphasis on "pure laine" and WASP mentalities * Mont-Royal street * Neighbourhoods coming together with the formation of local merchant associations for the promotion of local shopping districts * New ball park downtown * New stores opening, revitalization of Ste-Catherine, particularly the Gay Village * Not as many moving trucks on our roads * Nothing, that's the best thing that's changed, nothing * Peace (relative) in our times * Planet Hollywood in Mtl * Reno Dépot * Revitalization of Lachine Canal * Revitalization of small businesses * Shorter skirts, plunging necklines * Spoken word/performance poetry scene is best in North America * That "Nguyen" beat "Tremblay" as the most popular name in the phone book * The '80s are gone... * The arrival of hip coffee shops * The martial arts film fest called FantAsia at the Imperial in the summertime. Montreal should have exclusively martial arts films playing all the time and I'm not talking about the ones made in Hollywood. I'm talking hardcore blood and fighting with wicked martial artists such as Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh * The birth of the Cabaret scene (YAWP, La Vache enragée, etc.) * Introduction of the Quartier Latin, the Molson Centre and the HEC building * The change of attitude from doom and gloom to that of renewed optimism * The club scene: Montreal is known around the world for its club scene, its party animals and its good-looking girls * The disappearance of "famous" Montreal personalities like Mitsou from the headlines * The McDonald's on the corner of Parc and Mont-Royal--take that, Plateauians! * The meter maids go on strike sometimes * The movie industry is slowly but surely moving up * The new Jailhouse Café * The nightlife * The old port * The opening of the casino: no need to head to Las Vegas or Atlantic City anymore, I can lose my money here & go home to cry in my own bed * The rave scene * The renewed sense of optimal delusion * The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease * The underpass at Woodland in Beaconsfield * The untrue Montrealers have all gone to Toronto * The weather * Warmer winters * We don't think we're doomed anymore * Winters are getting warmer and shorter. Yeah! * You say something changed?