The Plateau was formerly a working-class neighbourhood, with the Eastern part being largely French-Canadian, and the Western part largely Jewish. The neighbourhood was the childhood home of Quebec writers Michel Tremblay and Mordecai Richler and both have set many stories in the Plateau of the 1950s and 60s.
In the 1980s its bohemian persona attracted gentrification. Rents increased, and many of its traditional residents dispersed to other parts of the city. It now hosts many upscale resturants and nightclubs. In 1997, Utne Reader judged it one of the 15 "hippest" neighbourhoods in North America.
It is also the location of some famous attractions on Saint Laurent Boulevard, including Schwartz's Deli (famous for its smoked meat sandwiches), and a weekend street fair during the summer that sees extremely crowded streets.