Try refreshing your browser, or Today's letters: Can we put the fun back into Ottawa? Back to video Ottawa originally was a fun place when it was a roughhousing, rowdy and drinking lumber town. For the most part, the city was artificially created when it became the country’s capital. It wasn’t meant to be a Montreal, Toronto, New York, Vancouver, London, or Paris. Many of the world’s great capitals, especially in Europe, are state and business capitals combined. The main issue with Ottawa is that the majority of its population now lives 30 minutes from its core, so in the evening the air is suddenly deflated, and people return to their ‘burbs. Having more cafés open year-around, with longer hours, could bring people back downtown. Opening up the canal stretch with cafés and restaurants, like the River Walk in San Antonio, would also work. In Washington, DC, many museums are free.