residential Montreal. Raoul Jarry Raoul Jarry, Montreal city councillor from 1921 and member of its executive committee from 1924, saw in Jarry Park a means of offering some open green space to fight the diseases that spread among children in summertime and to encourage them to participate in sports and families to picnic and relax together. It was due to his efforts that the city purchased the land, which had up till then been leased from the corporation of its original owner, Stanley Clark Bagg (memorialized by Bagg Street further south in Plateau Mont-Royal). Raoul Jarry died in 1930 and the park is named after him (Jarry Street is named after Bernard Bleignier dit Jarry, an 18th-century landlord from whom Jarry was descended. His brother Henri (1893-1961) would become an alderman for Villeray from 1934 to 1938. 21st century The 21st century is seeing more and more people moving into Villeray. Attracting them to the area is its somewhat central location on the Island of Montreal, its access to Metro stations, its proximity to Jean Talon Market and Little Italy, and it is relatively close to shopping areas like Rockland Center and Marché Central. Along with the revitalization of Jarry Park, the area is increasingly more popular compared to the 1990s. This in turn, along with the new Université de Montréal campus in the neighbouring Park Extension, has caused gentrification issues to affect the area gradually and steadily since around 2010. See also Jarry Park Jarry Park Stadium References External links Histoire du quartier Villeray Neighbourhoods in Montreal Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Gentrification in Canada