Habits make Home

I recently moved from a 4.5 (two bedrooms, living/dining room, kitchen, bathroom) in NDG, to a 6.5 in the Plateau.'The new place' is steadily becoming my place, and nearby Duluth has become my favourite stretch in the city. The main reason I already feel at home in this neighbourhood is that, only days after moving, I had determined a few regular 'spots':
I regularly go grocery shopping at Segal's (it always smells like bad fish)
I regularly do my laundry at Net-Net
I regularly eat breakfast at Chez José
I regularly drink at Else's, which is also where my roommate works.

All these places are big stars on my mental map because they are close, convenient and comforting; I can rely on the employees to recognize me, and they, in turn, can rely on my business.

It is these little insular communities that make Montreal feel like a second home to so many. I forget sometimes that my neighbourhood bubble is only a fraction of the multi-cultural metropolis. Besides being the unofficial working artist and starving student stronghold, the Plateau has an influential Portuguese population (luckily for chicken lovers...)

It takes only ten minutes of walking to move seamlessly from one international community to another (consider the sudden surrealization upon crossing from Mile-End to Outremont!) Each area has its own 'regular' spots for locals to meet, shop and do errands. I like feeling a part of all these tiny nations. I like the idea of many self-sufficient communities sitting side-by-side, together making a city of four million.