I think (I could be wrong about the exact location, but it seems correct) that this was taken by the BMO Museum just off Place des Armes metro. If you were four months earlier and panned the camera 90 degrees to the left, you would get shots of a few trees and a fountain in front of a huge cathedral. Going past that cathedral would show more trees by the riverside, and a couple of small parks (though the nearest one has been demolished for condos recently). Most of Montreal has a good amount of foliage (when the weather allows), though downtown doesn't have much, especially following the recent renovations on Ste-Cat (this isn't Ste-Cat). It's mostly just this particular street that's urban.
There's plenty of parks and such scattered around, but like others have said, this historic area doesn't have as much of that. 10 minutes walking and you're in a vastly different place. One direction is the water, another Chinatown, another the bars, another an awesome little book store. I'm definitely going back soon. Late April was so fun this year