I think we exceed in terms of museum and festivals.
Museums (Nature, War, Science & Tech, Canadian History, Art Gallery, Aviation)
Festivals (Winterlude, Race Weekend, Tulip Festival, Canada Day, Bluesfest, Jazzfest, Electronic/Dance Music Festival (forget what it's called).
I don't think Edmonton, Calgary or even Vancouver have as many museums and festivals as us...
I think where Ottawa lacks "fun" is in:
-Retail (but finally getting a lot better with Bayshore, Rideau expansions)
-Downtown liveliness (other than the byward on weekends, the "downtown core" is often empty. Hopefully this will change with Rideau and Sparks St. revelopment and alot more condo towers and permanent residents in downtown.
-People/style. For me "fun" big cities, is people-watching and seeing all the different kinds of people, some dressed in different/weird outfits go by etc.. In Ottawa most people are 9-5 government workers in business casual attire (or in Jeans on Fridays
)
-Arts Scene: Big cities usually have a lot of fun art going on. People singing and playing guitars in public squares or transit stops (have you ever seen someone sing/play at an OC transpo stop? didn't think so..) As far as I know there is 1 spot (in the market next to Tucker's Marketplace) where if I wanna show street-performers to visiting relatives, that's where I need to go. I would also like interesting architecture, billboards & colourful advertisements, and contemporary public art. (I like the idea of the huge rubber ducky) or anything really (think of the bean in Chicago). Ottawa's version of "public art" is red painted bench tucked away on Somerset -_-