Is Ottawa the City that Fun Forgot?

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Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

You need to learn more about the history of the Ottawa Valley before making such statements. The combined population of Bytown/Wrightsville was probably in the 25,000+ before the area was chosen as capital. The whole myth that Ottawa was some sort of worthless hinterland is probably one of the root sources of the "Ottawa is boring" sentiment, perpetuated through the centuries. Even if your definition of fun is the sleazy kind, Ottawa had drunken riots and whorehouses well before it was the capital.

I hadn't realized it was that large, but I know one of the main reasons it was chosen as a capital was because it was equal distance between Toronto and Quebec City, the larger or more influential ends of the Canadas. Being right on the border between the two also helped. It was a neutral territory, so to speak.

The Voyageurs and the fur trade came through here on their way to and from the West, not the St Lawrence. This was the centre of the timber trade, probably the most lucrative industry in its time. Later, Ottawa had a healthy industrial base independent of being the government centre, we exported streetcars and the first electric stoves.

Hmm...interesting. Thanks.

Edmonton before it became Alberta's Capital was a dinky little depot of 8,000 people. If it weren't crowned as such, it would probably wouldn't have amounted to much either.

Well, it did have a history going back over a century as an important fur trading post, but I agree, it was still a dinky town in 1905.

Although I would say the initial booms of Edmonton were related to it being crowned the capital (and the university going directly across the river in the then-independent Strathcona), it hasn't been the case since the 1930s. The 1907-1914 boom is the only one I can think of that really only had to do with the increased attention it was getting as being the capital of a new province. By the 1930s, Edmonton was already being chosen as a major military centre, and then by 1947, oil was discovered in Leduc County.

So this idea that Edmonton wouldn't have amounted to much if it weren't the capital I don't buy, because it was significantly influenced by other factors both before and after it was crowned capital. One only needs to look 300km to the south, to Calgary, to see that you could still be big here without being the capital. And Calgary is even younger than Edmonton, being founded in 1884!