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TORONTO (CP) - Go west isn't good advice if what you want to do is wind up in most of Canada's top 10 places to live.

MoneySense magazine has come out with its second annual list of Canada's Best Places to Live. It ranked 123 Canadian communities with a population greater than 10,000, crunching the numbers on everything from the weather, real estate values, income levels and unemployment rates to discretionary income, crime rates and signs of prosperity.

The country's capital came out on top, with mid-sized and smaller cities filling out the top 10.

Ottawa was rated as Canada's best overall place to live, said MoneySense features editor Duncan Hood, because it didn't do poorly in any category, had high household incomes but the housing is still relatively affordable - leaving people with more discretionary income. He said MoneySense thinks that means a higher quality of life.

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It even has a lively tech industry (what I work in). And most importantly, they occasionally bring in a few Dippers!

on the down side, hell finding many real restaurants, and the baseball Lynx leaving town soon

but for a burg in the under-million category, quite good

[ 04 May 2007: Message edited by: Geneva ]

As I can not tolerate high heat or humidity, I've chosen to remain here on the Quebec coast in my retirement, where the summer temps never exceed 85F (about what it was in the Ottawa of my youth) although winter windchill factors can reach -40C/F. I can tolerate that better than I can tolerate 104F heat.

And, we were close to the Parkdale Market.

Now we live in Halifax -- which came second on MoneySense's list!

[ 04 May 2007: Message edited by: Sharon ]

Sigh...I miss you Ottawa...and the fun times we spent together.

[ 04 May 2007: Message edited by: jrose ]

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When skirting around city limits and outlying areas, you realize Ottawa is surrounded by nature, and that's a bit of home for me.

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Now, I grant you, I've never been to parts of Africa or Afghanistan or India where the temperature can climb into the 50s (Celsius) and even I might find that too hot.

But I don't find Canada too hot. I do, on the other hand, find Canada too cold and I complain all winter about the cold -- even though Halifax tends to be more moderate than Ottawa or Montreal, where I also lived for several years.

Our house in Ottawa did have air conditioning but I used it very rarely because I like open windows and screen doors so I can hear and smell the outdoors all summer.

The only time I would turn it on was if my husband was away and I had to get groceries so I would have to walk the hot streets pulling a wagon-load of heavy stuff and trying to hang on to a three-year-old with my other hand.

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Originally posted by jrose:
It was incredible, and only a twenty minute drive from downtown Ottawa. It’s one of my only regrets of living there for so long, is that I didn’t spend more time exploring the outskirts.

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:
My brother who lives south of Ottawa told me spring came very early this year - the earliest he has ever seen it. I wonder what their summer will be like. Montreal at 104F in 1995 was the hottest city temperature I've experienced in Canada, but one summer I was up in Sorrento, British Columbia, where it went to 105F, and I think even higher than that! The highest temperature I've experienced in North America was at the airport in Phoenix, Arizona in 2001 - an incredible 112F!

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Originally posted by hatman:
Actually, it hasn't come early at all. In fact, it's still quite cool out. There was snow on the ground only a couple of weeks ago.

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Ottawa, Canada's best place to live?

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The warmest it's ever been here was 42C/106F in '98. We've only crested the 40 degree mark one other time. It's not pleasent.

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Originally posted by West Coast Greeny:
And this is a Canadian board Boom Boom. We use CENTIGRADE.

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Originally posted by West Coast Greeny:
I moved from the Okanagan Valley to Edmonton for school this winter and holy friggin hell, I couldn't feel any of my extremities for about 4 straight months. I'm much better with heat than cold. I'll probably be wishing it's winter when I'm working outside and its 36 degrees.

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I know what you're saying, West Coast Greeny, when I lived in Edmonton the winter months were the coldest I've experienced in my life. You could actually feel your flesh starting to freeze when the wind chill dipped low enough.

To get back on topic, there was another piece in the media extolling the virtues of Ottawa, this time in the weekend Globe and Mail.

From John Ibbitson's take on the city:

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It is quieter, it is simpler, it emphatically lacks adventure. But it can be a deeply pleasant way to spend an evening, and a satisfying way to live a life.

Ottawa has other assets, of course: Being a national capital, it enjoys museums, music and theatre beyond what its population could support...Everything the tourism people say is true.

But that's not what the place is really about. The place is really about those dinner parties, and bumping into someone you know during the Saturday shop and chatting for a while, and going for a bike ride in the park, or the Central Experiment farm – bike through cornfields in the heart of the city! – or along the Rideau River, then throwing yourself into the river at Mooney's Bay.

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The Senators scored three second-period goals on a surprisingly mediocre and porous Brodeur Saturday night on their way to a 3-2 victory and a 4-1 win in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

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from The Citizen for the moment it out ranks the beginning of the Tulip Festival

Fortunately the flowers are still there, unfortunately someone has decided to increase its' popularity by morphing it into a festival of ideas and holding a 'by invitation only' lecture fest.

Despite that

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A revamped Canadian Tulip Festival is blossoming into a multipurposecultural fest, bringing together film, art, books and a lecture series under one umbrella and giving visitors something to admire other than tulips.

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again, The Citizen

The Glebe is the best. I lived off Holmwood Ave right by the canal. During summer weekends we portaged my ol' grummin canoe 2 blocks dumped her in the rideau canal and paddle to the NAC where we tied her up, shared a carafe of sangria and then trekked over to the Byward market to do our shopping. When finished buying the fresh veggies, cheeses, fish and meat we had a quick few drafts at the "Chateau Lafayette (the laff)and headed home.

In the winter we donned our skates and I actually skated to work at Carleton univeristy where I was a TA.

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:
My fmily lived on Second Avenue near Bronson Avenue, then Third Avenue, then Fourth Avenue, all quite close to Dow's Lake and I attended Mutchmore PS in the Glebe.

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Hi Boom boom:

Nice (as always) to see you

I am right now sitting about two blocks from Bronson (on Summerset) and pass Dows's lake pavilion every day on the way to work.

I hope to check out the tulips along the canal this afternoon .....

[ 06 May 2007: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]

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we had a quick few drafts at the "Chateau Lafayette (the laff)and headed home.

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What a swanky name for one of the BEST holes in the wall in the city. Gotta love a bar that has a backway connection to the neighbouring Subway sandwich shop! I always loved that place.

The green space in Ottawa is one thing that I really miss. Not only is there a lot of it, but it's connected to the downtown core. Within minutes you can go from great shopping to a patio bar, to a wonderful museum, and then find yourself walking along the beautiful Ottawa River. Wow, I'm starting to sound like an advertisement for Ottawa!

There is still a lot of Ottawa I never had the chance to explore. I was a Carleton student and I worked at South Keys, so the area in between I knew pretty well, plus my stomping grounds of Ottawa South and the Glebe, and of course I spent a lot of my time downtown, but as for Sandy Hill, Bronson and many other parts of the city I never took the time to explore like I maybe should have.

[ 06 May 2007: Message edited by: jrose ]

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:
Hi Croghan, hope you're enjoying Ottawa! I wish I could afford a visit, but my new place needs renovations, and I'm just getting started on the gardening, so any visit back to Ottawa is sadly a long way off. I forget what the area west of Bronson Avenue near the Rideau Canal is called, but I spent a lot time there when I was growing up. It's a gorgeous neighborhood.

[ 06 May 2007: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]

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It begins with beautiful new War Museum in Lebretton Flatts and extends through the Italian Village down Preston.

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Originally posted by Croghan27:
It begins with beautiful new War Museum in Lebretton Flatts and extends through the Italian Village down Preston.

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Originally posted by ohara:
Know the area well; the ol' Prescott hotel, Ciccio's cafe (some of the best homemade Italian cooking anywhere), and an Italian bakery (forget the name) that made THE BEST canollis ever!!!!

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:

I believe that's north of Carling Avenue, and nowhere near the area (west of the Glebe) I was talking about. But, it's an interesting area of the city, regardless, although awfully hot and dusty in the summer. I wasn't happy to see the Queensway bisect all these nice areas.

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Originally posted by ohara:
Either was I ..the area to which you refer does not have significant restaurants or landmarks of which I am aware. Its nice by the lake and canal though. I jog there often

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Reading this thread makes me yearn to be back in my hometown. Well, maybe some day.

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Originally posted by jrose:
I've somewhat contented myself to the fact that if I do choose to settle down and have a family somewhere along the line, Ottawa seems like the best place to do it. Now the hard part will be to convince the boyfriend of the same!

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Ottawa seems to have that effect on people! I can think of at least 3 friends (and their respective partners) who are currently eyeballing Ottawa as their preferred location for settling down to raise their families. I believe they are all originally from here or spent some part of their formative years here. After moving to Ottawa myself, I had a few conversations about whether I would be around long enough to be here when long-distant friends made the move. It also seems to be the location of choice for people from Halifax to move. It's something of a crossroads, I guess. All roads lead to Ottawa!

I finally made it, this afternoon, to the area you were speaking about:

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My fmily lived on Second Avenue near Bronson Avenue, then Third Avenue, then Fourth Avenue, all quite close to Dow's Lake

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That is the area of the serious tulip action. I shudda known

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Originally posted by Croghan27:
That is the area of the serious tulip action.

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Originally posted by Boom Boom:

If I were to inherit a million bucks (unlikely), that's where I'd move.

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An Ottawa original for the best egg rolls and wonton soup in North America is the Golden Palace on Carling Ave. This place has not changed one iota since it opened in the early 60s. Its like stepping into a time machine. Same owners and waiters.

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Originally posted by ohara:
An Ottawa original for the best egg rolls and wonton soup in North America is the Golden Palace on Carling Ave. This place has not changed one iota since it opened in the early 60s. Its like stepping into a time machine. Same owners and waiters.

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I would love to find an independent dougnut shop in Ottawa, with fresh, home-made-ish doughnuts. But first, I'm heading down to the Golden Palace to try some egg rolls. Thanks ohara!

[ 13 May 2007: Message edited by: M.Gregus ]

Download the latest podcast from “Sound Like Canada.” It’s on exactly this topic. Shelagh Rogers opens up the show with quite the introduction, talking of her hometown of Ottawa, and her ambivalence to it. She says she misses the “grit” of other capital cities, calling Ottawa the “city that went to bed right after the National,” not the “city that never sleeps.” She even makes the joke “What’s the best part of Ottawa?” “Hull!” Hull, Quebec is another topic all on its own!

This episode is a response to an article by writer Andrew Cohen, who was also one of my profs at Carleton. The Ottawa Citizen published an excerpt from his newest book The Unfinished Canadian, in a chapter called The Capital Canadian.

Cohen’s arguments are these: Rideau St. has become a prestige of tattoo parlors and shwarma shops. Bank St. and Sparks St. are both failures, becoming home to lousy souvenir shops and indifferent restaurants. He calls it a city that lacks energy and imagination, calling the typical “capital Canadian” unlike the typical Canadian, because far more energy is being released in other big cities. People are content in Ottawa and accept things like job-security and other benefits as they are. He even goes on to call the city the “Standing Ovation Capital of the World,” meaning that no matter how horrible, or average a show at the National Arts Centre is, it will always receive an ovation, because Ottawans are easily contented.

This of course led to a response. The Citizen published an article by Julian Armour, who defends his city. He argues that there is something interesting about the quiet, and unassuming Ottawans, who are looking for solutions "in their own thoughtful way." He argues that there is a huge resurgence in the arts in Ottawa, which I would absolutely agree with. Per capita arts funding is even growing!

Food Picks:

Best Steak - Hy's on Albert (Queen, maybe?) at Bank. (best cheap steak et frites is Vinyards in the Market (great mussels, too)

Best Indian - Taj on Carling and Kempster (some people swear by Haveli, but I don't) or Bombay Masala on Eagleson (Kanata)

Best German - Dorfkrug on Industrial (Lindenhof OK, too)

Best East European - New Dubrovnik on Carling at Churchill

Best Chinese - Chu Sing - Somerset W near Bronson (honorable mention - Yang Sheng on Somerset W on other side of Bronson)

Best Pizza - Gabriel's ANYWHERE

Best Italian - Ciccio Caffe on Preston south of Queensway

Roast Beef - Friday's on Elgin and Laurier or the Mill on the Parkway

Best kept secret (no longer) - small riverside park with awesome view behind Supreme Court bldg on Wellington

Ottawa's one of my favorite Canadian cities, but it is getting waaaaaaaay too congested and expensive, now. If you like Irish or English Pubs, there's one on every corner, though.

Not the greatest nightlife or counterculture, but if you have a young family, you'll be in HEAVEN!!! Great bicycle trails from Kanata to Downtown (and beyond), Gatineau Park and a kazillion little beaches on a gazillion little lakes, there are so many interesting little towns and villages less than an hour away, INCREDIBLE amount of greenspace for a city of ~1 million, Vincent Massey Park, two pretty good yacht clubs (Brittania and Andrew Haydon)...

Like to ski? Gatineau Park again, or Mont Ste. Marie, or Edelweiss, Fortune, Vorlage, Calabogie Peaks (hahahahaha...PEAKS!)...not to mention 1.5 hours to (IntraWest bastardized) Mont Tremblant...lots of places to ski-doo, ice fish, play hockey, etc...Softball at the RA Centre EVERY NIGHT (about 10 diamonds or so) or at Nortel Carling...

TulipFest, JazzFest, BluesFest, Winterlude, Italian Festival down Corso Italia (Preston St.)in July, GreekFest on Prince of Wales in Aug, Chineswe NewYear on Somerset W. (ChinaTown)...

Like I said - if you have a young family, you will be in HEAVEN (if heaven includes a huge mortgage and extortionate taxes...)!!!

[ 08 June 2007: Message edited by: Atavist ]

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Originally posted by M.Gregus:
I can think of at least 3 friends (and their respective partners) who are currently eyeballing Ottawa as their preferred location for settling down to raise their families. All roads lead to Ottawa!

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Originally posted by Wilf Day:
Anyone been to Cedar Cove Resort? Or anywhere else in the Carleton Place/Arnprior area? Handy enough to Ottawa to make a day trip in to the city on a rainy day, but still cottage country.

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Originally posted by Atavist:
two pretty good yacht clubs (Brittania and Andrew Haydon)...

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Originally posted by Atavist:
Ottawa - "The City that Fun Forgot."

Best German - Dorfkrug on Industrial (Lindenhof OK, too)

[ 08 June 2007: Message edited by: Atavist ]

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Read this article recently,not sure if I would go back.

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Canada's capital city is a national disgrace.

That's the only conclusion I can come to after visiting my son, who attends university in Ottawa.

It used to be a joy to visit that city, with its great galleries, museums and lovely restaurants. But the place has gone downhill rapidly over the past three years.

The city's downtown core is infested with crack addicts. At an intersection just a few blocks from Canada's beautiful Parliament buildings, I saw dozens of drug deals happening in broad daylight. I saw countless people sitting around smoking crack.

We had dinner at a posh restaurant in the trendy Byward Market. It was a beautiful evening, so we sat out on the patio. Imagine our shock when numerous addicts interrupted our meal, begging for cash.

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http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Blizzard_Christina/2007/07/13/4335721.html

C'mon - Ottawa has no drug problem whatsoever.

[ 24 July 2007: Message edited by: Doug ]

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Originally posted by Frisko:
Been to Ottawa,not what I would expect from a Capital City.

Read this article recently,not sure if I would go back.

[Edited by Michelle to remove link that was causing sidescroll.]

We went to the Art Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Nature on McLeod Street.My sister who lives there said not to go down Rideau Street after dark.

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Well, I can't speak for the east end of Rideau Street, the west end's fairly safe after dark. Of course, most people tend to be intoxicated at that point, but I haven't seen much in the way of trouble.

[ 28 July 2007: Message edited by: Michelle ]

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Originally posted by jrose:
it seems like there are some great little spots around that area.

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really too bad

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Originally posted by Summer:
Here's a NYT article which calls Ottawa Eastern Canada's SanFran. Never having been to SF, I can't really comment there, but the article does make O-Town sound pretty damn good.

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I like Ottawa, visited recently, but when I saw that headline, said: sheesh, what a silly thing to write

to compare Montreal to San Francisco, OK, but Ottawa ??
-- for crying out loud, the place has less than a million people and is a tomb on weekends ...

fine, as this writer says:
[...]beneath Ottawa's buttoned-up, civil-servant demeanor lies a surprisingly vibrant community, with enough green space, trails and water within city limits to satisfy the most hyperactive of travelers. [...]

that does not make it SanFran.

[ 28 August 2007: Message edited by: Geneva ]

Ottawa Xpress has released its annual "Best Of Ottawa" list.

Reader's Digest ranks the "nicest" cities.

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Toronto came in ninth with 60 per cent. Saskatoon and Ottawa scored the worst with 57 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.

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Aunt Olive's
Café n' retro clothing store

Shanghai Restaurant
Funkadelic hotspot for art, music, disco bingo and famous karaoke nights with China Doll. Great potstickers too!

Pub Italia
200 different beers in what might be the world's *only* Italian pub

The Whalesbone

Venus Envy

The Wellington Gastropub

Plant Bath

PLUS we've got:

Artengine
Spins and Needles
Ladyfest
Guerrilla Gay Fare
WESTfest
Spa Nordik

And I was reminded by some of CMOT Dibbler's YouTube tidbits of this cool dance company:

DanceAbility

There are a lot of lovely things about Ottawa, but there is altogether too much sprawl, and a city that side needs proper public transport - it is as big as Toronto and Montreal were when the subway and métro were built.

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Originally posted by lagatta:
Wilf, that is utterly beautiful.

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Originally posted by jrose:
That picture is absolutely beautiful, Wilf.

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Originally posted by jrose:
The Citizen published an article by Julian Armour, who defends his city. He argues that there is something interesting about the quiet, and unassuming Ottawans, who are looking for solutions "in their own thoughtful way."

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Julian Armour, son of Prof. Leslie Armour, OttawaU, best professor I have ever had. Gave me the best mark of my life: an A+++ in second year metaphysics, for a paper attacking one of his own theories. Then he gave me an incomplete for the course, for reasons that were unclear -- natch! So I went to Brazil. I remember running into him at the public library before I left and he was trying to convince me to go back to school. Pretty cool for a guy like that, preeminent scholar and everything, to care about some random undergrad. His son sounds like an excellent guy too.

I lived in Ottawa for seven years. For the first few years I was in school, living first on Florence (downtown, west of Bank) then on McClaren I think it was called? Corner of Elgin, across from the old Museum of Man, between the Iraqi and Iranian embassies -- we used to get RCMP coming to the door telling us to stay away from the windows when there were bomb threats. I worked part-time for an architect on Queen and at lunchtime I would ride my bike through the park trails over to Westboro beach. Would be pretty well deserted, nothing but the birds and me. That was idyllic. Then in winter though I remember wearing two parkas walking to work. One time I volunteered for Winterlude and they had to cancel the program because the propane tanks froze. It sure gets cold there alright.

The last few years I was there (after Brazil) I was living out in the west end, hanging around mainly low-income people. My impression is that there's not quite as much out and out long-term homelessness there simply because of how cold it gets, a lot of people end up hitching to TO or Vancouver.

Is the NCC still pumping in the federal money for the landscaping budget?

Is the National Gallery still leaking? That place is just awesome.

Is the jazz festival still the best outdoor festival in Canada bar none?

Best part of Ottawa: proximity to PQ.

[ 29 April 2008: Message edited by: triciamarie ]