Ottawa vs Washington DC

[Kitteh]

A friend of mine who lives in Ottawa and I were debating this. We both had the "grass is greener on the other side" point of view (not surprisingly). What do you all think?

[Hatman 🍁]

Voted for my hometown. I think we may have more posters from Ottawa than from DC. lol Well, Ottawa does have more people.

[traininthedistance]

Ottawa, because DC's Height of Buildings Act is some crap and ruins what should be a great city, and at least Ottawa...

*looks up Ottawa on Wiki*

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...well never mind then.

[Kitteh]

Ottawa, because DC's Height of Buildings Act is some crap and ruins what should be a great city, and at least Ottawa...

*looks up Ottawa on Wiki*

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...well never mind then.

Hahahaha, I had no idea. Yeah, the height limit here is pretty stupid. Although, from an urbanist standpoint, DC does have pretty good public transit (for the US)...

...while Ottawa definitely does not.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Washington DC has the Smithsonian Institution museums (most of them).  I don't know much about Ottawa. Is there anything interesting?   

[Franzl]

Ottawa

[Lambsbread]

I'd rather live in Ottawa.

[Hatman 🍁]

...while Ottawa definitely does not.

Proof? Or are we just basing it on Hashemite's ramblings?

Since OC Transpo got GPS technology, I've been quite happy with the service, as it has meant never having to wait for a bus.

[Hash]

Ottawa isn't bad, but I loved Washington DC when I went there. Of course, the grass is greener on the other side and I haven't been to the shabby parts of DC... It's just that after four months of taking lunchtime walks on Bank, Sparks and the Hill I feel like shooting myself.

OC Transpo has improved a lot though, undeniably. We finally got those cool Presto machine thingees, although Puerto Vallarta in Mexico has had a similar system working without a hitch centuries before we did.

[Hatman 🍁]

Ottawa isn't bad, but I loved Washington DC when I went there. Of course, the grass is greener on the other side and I haven't been to the shabby parts of DC... It's just that after four months of taking lunchtime walks on Bank, Sparks and the Hill I feel like shooting myself.

OC Transpo has improved a lot though, undeniably. We finally got those cool Presto machine thingees, although Puerto Vallarta in Mexico has had a similar system working without a hitch centuries before we did.

I've only heard bad things about the Presto cards.

I haven't been to DC, so I don't know what it's like. But, I'm sure Ottawa doesn't have anything close to it in terms of bad neighbourhoods.

What's wrong with lunch time walks on Bank and Sparks? It's about the only time of day where there's any life on those streets. I suppose that is one of my complaints about the city; nothing is open at night downtown.

[MaxQue]

Ottawa isn't bad, but I loved Washington DC when I went there. Of course, the grass is greener on the other side and I haven't been to the shabby parts of DC... It's just that after four months of taking lunchtime walks on Bank, Sparks and the Hill I feel like shooting myself.

OC Transpo has improved a lot though, undeniably. We finally got those cool Presto machine thingees, although Puerto Vallarta in Mexico has had a similar system working without a hitch centuries before we did.

I've only heard bad things about the Presto cards.

We have a similar system in Quebec (Opus) and it's working very well. No need to worry about correspondance tickets.

[politicus]

Ottawa, because DC's Height of Buildings Act is some crap and ruins what should be a great city, and at least Ottawa...

*looks up Ottawa on Wiki*

You must be logged in to read this quote.

...well never mind then

Whats wrong with height limits? They keep the proportions in a city "human" instead of giant structures making you feel like an ant.

[Хahar 🤔]

I haven't been to Ottawa, but I don't especially care for Washington.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

DC.  Duh.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's a shame that they didn't name the franchise the Senators again instead of the Nationals.  Then we could be arguing whether the Washington Senators are better at hockey than the Ottawa Senators are at baseball.

[© tweed]

I don't know, are DC blacks more like Northern or Southern blacks?

[LastVoter]

I don't know, are DC blacks more like Northern or Southern blacks?

Do you prefer Northern blacks?

[Lief 🗽]

DC is one of the best cities in the country. I don't know anything about Ottawa, but I doubt it's as good.

[© tweed]

I don't know, are DC blacks more like Northern or Southern blacks?

Do you prefer Northern blacks?

naturally, yes

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I would much prefer DC. I figure I will live there for a year or two in the next decade or so, if I am lucky enough to be a staffer.

[traininthedistance]

Ottawa, because DC's Height of Buildings Act is some crap and ruins what should be a great city, and at least Ottawa...

*looks up Ottawa on Wiki*

You must be logged in to read this quote.

...well never mind then

Whats wrong with height limits? They keep the proportions in a city "human" instead of giant structures making you feel like an ant.

Do you know how insanely expensive real estate is in DC?  The height limit artificially constrains supply in ways that lead to inefficiency, unaffordability, sprawl, and a whole host of other bad things. 

And it doesn't even have an aesthetic benefit: without the height limit you'd have a varied, interesting streetscape with some taller buildings and some not, but with it everything in the office/commercial area is a series of uniform, drab eleven-story blocks.

[Badger]

I don't know, are DC blacks more like Northern or Southern blacks?

Wow. Only a truly HP would seriously ask that question.

I sincerely hope you were joking.

[LastVoter]

I don't know, are DC blacks more like Northern or Southern blacks?

Wow. Only a truly HP would seriously ask that question.

I sincerely hope you were joking.

So because you are a prosecutor we can't talk about black people?

[Lief 🗽]

I think DC is a really nice looking city, and the height limit allows the monuments in the center of town to be the focal point, instead of a bunch of skyscrapers. But it also leads to pretty high housing prices that are part of the reason why poors are being forced out of the city (though after living in New York for a year and apartment hunting for the last month or so, people in DC complaining about apartment prices is kind of hilarious).

[traininthedistance]

I think DC is a really nice looking city, and the height limit allows the monuments in the center of town to be the focal point, instead of a bunch of skyscrapers. But it also leads to pretty high housing prices that are part of the reason why poors are being forced out of the city (though after living in New York for a year and apartment hunting for the last month or so, people in DC complaining about apartment prices is kind of hilarious).

Well, the aesthetics of the matter are subjective (which means it's probably a bad justification for the law in the first place), but I pretty obviously think that:



is a hell of a lot more "alive" and interesting and picturesque and free of monotony than:



What's not subjective is the effect it has on the supply of not just housing, but offices and retail as well, and the negative effect that has on a whole host of things.