the word trendy keeps popping up. please allow me to enlighten you and i'll stand to be corrected.

uk trendy. rather continental nowadays, hardly milan but all the top designers in the big cities, huge top class dept stores, harvey nics, selfridges et al. wine bars a plenty, specialist cafes, bistros and eateries where you can select cuisine from across the world, with fine ales to accompany. long streets lined with these kind of places, scattered with old world buildings, statues and parks.

canada trendy. wearing something you did not get free with a six pack. cooking indoors. not wearing socks with sandals. driving something other than a truck. not possessing a large firearm.

catch my drift.

whyte ave is a short expanse of jumble sales, with an odd chain bar thrown in.

the mall is a huge expanse of samey shops you can find anywhere.

Thanks for all your replies. Edmonton is coming off the list since it has no proper downtown. Ottawa will be the place to visit in 2-years time. If we don't like it then we will check out Edmonton and Vancouver. But if we do like Ottawa we will consider moving their.

I read an article that they want to start building inwards in Ottawa.

Ottawa has some large malls in downtown so that suites us. Architecture seems to be around in the city too.

It seems there are lovely drives around Ottawa, is that correct?

You summed that up beautifully.

I give up.....

Don't give up.

Take a look at ottawatourism.ca

There is a pretty good image gallery.

The City of Ottawa (and le Ville de Gatineau to a lesser extent) are trying to intensify within instead of growing aluminum siding crops on Class 1 farmland on the outskirts of the City. Unfortunately, the devil is in the details and often when an intensification project comes before City Council, the existing neighbours complain about 'noise, traffic, shadowing, density, loss of privacy, increase in british ex-pats and their obsession with block heaters etc' and the project either gets refused or watered down.

There are some lovely drives near Ottawa (north from Hull to Low or Kazabazua, ne to Mt. Tremblant, Perth to Kingston via Westport, Gatineau Park, etc.

Your definition of architecture is very subjective...one persons monstrous carbuncle could be another persons efficient workplace/home etc.

Honestly, I think you need to come for a visit instead of using Google Maps and stats that can be skewed.

Do you know why the Museum of Civilisation has no corners?

The architect did all the drawings freehand?

Good try but wrong. The architect was First Nation and in his tradition, for want of a better word, bad spirits hide in corners. Hence, no corners.

That's the official tourist version, anyway. Others might suggest that it was done to ward off Korean shopkeepers.

I am impressed with the images on Ottawa. Much nicer than I thought. I love the historic buildings. It look snice to my eyes. Certainly somewhere I ould not mind living.

Glad to help. Ottawa is regularly slagged-off, particularly by people that have never been here. It's true that's it's not Las Vegas but I've been to Las Vegas and I hated it.

Next time you're on Google Earth, take a look at the photos of Gatineau Park.

Yes, Gatineau Park looks great on Google Earth. Apparently, Google Street View will be up and running for Canada (including Ottawa and I believe Edmonton) by late June.

The Microsoft competing imagery http://maps.live.com/Default.aspx?q=&FORM=BDIR&enc=0 can be even better, especially when you use the 'birds eye' imagery.

Ottawa looks nice downtown and round about. Certainly pritier than I thought at first. Seems to be plenty of historic buildings downtown. I like the canal. Its also nice to know there are plenty of scenic drives outside Ottawa. And its only 2hr 30mins away from Montreal - not sure whhat the drives like?

My partner says it reminds her of Germany.

From the east edge of Ottawa (say 417/174) to when you get on the island of Montreal should be about 1:50...to get downtown w/o major traffic should be about 2:20.

The drive is monotonous (put the car on cruise at about 110/115 km/h and try and stay awake.

To me, it rivals the journey from London to Windsor in terms of monotony.