6 Journal of Aging Research Table 2: Basic Sociodemographic data, Montre´al Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), Lower NDG, and La Petite-Patrie, 1996 and 2006. Montre´al CMA Lower NDG Petite-Patrie Source: Statistics Canada, Censuses of 1996 and 2006, 20% sample data. The data for the case study neighbourhoods were calculated by aggregation of data published at the census tract level of geography. Total population Variation % Population 65 and over % of total population Population 20 to 44 % of total population % with university degree % low income households Average total personal income ratio (CMA = 1.0) % of private dwellings owned Visible minority population % of total population 1996 3,326,510 400,135 12.2 1,338,110 40,2 15.4 27.3 1.0 48.5 401,420 12.2 2006 3,635,571 +9.3 495,690 13.6 1,313,615 36,1 21.0 21.1 1.0 53.4 590,375 16.5 seen an inﬂux of a younger, highly educated population, the average incomes of its residents, while still modest overall, have increased relative to the metropolitan area average while the proportion of low-income households has fallen (Table 2). Two community organizations that have supported our project see these changes as creating pressures on low-income renters and are especially uneasy as to whether residents in their 70s and older will still have their place in the neighbourhood if current trends persist. 4.2. Lower NDG. Lower NDG, an interwar suburb in the city’s west end, is mainly inhabited by an English-speaking and lower- to middle-income population, but like La Petite- Patrie, it was also a major area of settlement of Italian immigrants, the wave in this case beginning in the 1940s. In this case too, the Italian-origin population has halved in the decade 1996-2006 (6% to 3.2%). Unlike La Petite- Patrie, the main socioeconomic trend over the past decade or so has been one of stability, even stagnation relative to the metropolitan area, rather than increasing income levels (Table 2). However, a mega-hospital project, the new McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) campus, was planned over a decade ago and has been under construction since 2009 on a vast site immediately adjacent to a section of this neighbourhood, named after the Catholic parish of Saint- Raymond, which forms the core of our study area. This has already led to speculative construction of condominiums, although so far these have been low end of market. Signif- icant revitalization of this working class neighbourhood is expected once the hospital is completed. Local community organizations have been highly proactive in warning about and trying to mitigate the potentially negative eﬀects of gentriﬁcation on the area’s low-income residents. Census data for 2006 (Table 2) show a neighbourhood whose older population is holding its own in absolute terms, but not in relative terms. A major change is that the absolute and 1996 9,553 1,110 11.6 4680 49,0 21.1 45.6 0.75 19.0 2,695 28.7 2006 10,284 +7.7 1,120 10.9 4995 48,6 29.8 41.8 0.74 20.3 3,605 35.8 1996 15,792 2,025 12.8 7735 49,0 15.4 58.6 0.60 15.5 4,150 26.5 2006 15,423 −2.3 1,740 11.3 8225 53,4 31.3 40.4 0.72 18.5 3,730 24.4 relative numbers of people belonging to a visible minority have risen considerably, unlike in La Petite-Patrie (Table 2), most of the increase being concentrated in the St-Raymond sector. As to two of the classic precursors of gentriﬁcation, the proportion of university degree holders increased faster than in the CMA as a whole but there was no relative increase in the weight of the 20–44 age group; thus, signs of incipient gentriﬁcation were less marked than in La Petite-Patrie. 5. Results 5.1. La Petite-Patrie. Before addressing the perception of changes and their assessment, it is important to describe the two main populations of older people residing in La Petite-Patrie: (1) the Italian population, homeowners who live in Little Italy, a sector within La Petite-Patrie (western sector of the neighbourhood); (2) the French-Canadians, who are mainly renters, residing near the centre and east of the neighbourhood. The Italians have a strong sense of attachment to Little Italy because this is the sector to which they immigrated, bought their ﬁrst home, and raised their families (strong sense of autobiographical insideness). Several interviewees expressed their attachment to the area of Little Italy, comparing it to a village, or rather “the village”. Their lives are organized around this relatively small geographic space, and they are able to run all their daily errands on foot. Almost all of the Italians had dense social networks within the neighbourhood. They also demon- strated strong attachment to shops and cafe´s they frequented on a regular basis as well as the local parish and associations. The public Jean-Talon market and parks also emerged as signiﬁcant places that were part of their routine. Contrary to the Italians, the French-Canadians’ attachment was more instrumental: as an 85-year-old female renter pointed out, “we appreciate the neighbourhood because everything is at your ﬁngertips” [translation]. Yet, some French Canadian