Walking around #Montreal neighborhoods like Plateau Mont Royal and Mile End, you can’t help but notice a quirky residential design feature: exterior staircases. •• It is, to put it mildly, a curious choice for a city submerged in snow, ice, and subfreezing temperatures around 6 months out of the year. But it is a uniquely Montreal feature, with a lot of staircases even taller and longer than the ones pictured, much bigger than Brooklyn stoops, for example. •• Many theories exist as to why they were designed: to maximize the use of internal space by transferring staircases outside the usual “plex” (stacked) arrangement of Montreal homes. Because an old voting law gave tenants the right to vote only if they lived in a dwelling with its own, separate entrance. Lots of other theories abound. •• Regardless, I always love walking around a city and noticing all its little quirks, from its design and flow to its people, streets, and shops. . . . .