Is Ottawa the City that Fun Forgot?

[ue]

^ I don't think Calgary sprawls more than Ottawa, really. They're both about the same in that regard. I have alluded to the fact that the ByWard/Lowertown area has a uniqueness that isn't matched in other cities. It's probably the city's best urban asset. But while no ByWard, I would say the Old Strathcona area of Edmonton has a certain uniqueness to it, especially being the center of one of the country's largest theatre scenes.

During the day, Downtown Calgary is busier than Downtown Ottawa, though I'll admit that Downtown Edmonton is still the quietest out of all three. I will grant you Downtown Manhattan being fairly quiet, but much of the business in New York also takes place in Midtown.

I would still say Edmonton beats Ottawa on the festival scene. The sheer amount of them, particularly between June and September, is quite something. None of them match the Stampede in Calgary or Canada Day in Ottawa for sheer vibrancy, but there are instead many extremely well attended festivals that are just under the Stampede level (Fringe, Heritage, etc).

I think with things like this, where the cities are pretty close to one another in size, clout, offerings, etc. there's going to be significant bias from anyone from these cities. I've seen a lot of comments in here which indicate Ottawa being better than Calgary or Edmonton, whereas I'm arguing the opposite. Perhaps we're both right in our own ways (or both wrong).