Some discussion appeared in the
Tribeca thread.
I just want to make one point: there are lots of great cities - New York, Chicago, Vancouver, London, Paris... almost all of which have an urban core where owning or even renting is far far outside the reach of the average person. Just to give a couple examples, 550 square feet in New York's Upper West Side goes for about U$500k (after property prices took a major hit when the US real estate bubble burst).
New York Times -
Got 500,000 Clams? The City Is Your Oyster - February 11, 2010
And in an extreme example, 178 square feet is renting for U$944 in Brooklyn
New York Times -
A Roomy 178 Square Feet - February 10, 2010
The point being: Ottawa is not perfect, but it's getting better every year and, for the moment, you can still afford to buy and rent downtown. The food scene is good, the outdoorsy exercise scene is good, there's the NAC and the museums... I dream of subways, trams and better urban green space, but at least you can still affordably enjoy the many positives that Ottawa has. In other words, ever more "vibrant, exciting and alive" is coming, but be aware, it comes at a price. I won't say we're exactly fortunate that Ottawa neglected its downtown for so many years, but it has allowed a lot of new urbanites to move (and own) downtown who could never afford to live in the core of other major cities.
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