Capital Connections

Wellington’s green belt, its educated populace and diverse economy is comparable to an extent with Ottawa, Canada’s capital, in that both are ideal illustrations of “younger new-world” cities. “Wellington shares more with Ottawa than, say, Paris,” writes the Ottawa Citizen. “But for years, the city has plastered ‘Absolutely, Positively Wellington’ anywhere it could, which somehow Ottawa just couldn’t pull off. And yet, new downtown buildings in Ottawa keep selling, as more people say a spunkier, denser city is something they want – like Wellington.” Then there’s the southern city’s famous gusty weather. “Writer Jane Clifton describes its women as likely land yachts, wind catching their clothes. She has a point. Antarctica’s spawn, the gale, is as unwelcome to Wellingtonians as Ottawa’s chill is for Canucks.”