There's an interesting article by Eric Darwin at Spacing Ottawa on this subject:
http://spacingottawa.ca/2011/09/08/h...from-the-city/
Both the article and the comments are worth reading, and the topic may be an interesting one for some discussion here as well. I like the way that Darwin does not flinch at taking on some sacred cows: namely, criticising Charlesfort. While I generally like Charlesfort projects, Darwin raises an interesting point about their ground-level interaction.
Where I think the article is dead wrong is about the Mondrian, which is extremely lively at grade (at least along Bank, and even if it is because of a Shoppers).