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It has long been popular to decry Ottawa as an inadequate capital, a “sleepy” backward place, even a “soulless city,” as Citizen columnist Andrew Cohen called it Wednesday. It’s a tradition that stretches back to Maclean’s writer Allan Fotheringham. In his heyday in the last century, the criticism was even partly accurate.

Despite what you might read, though, Ottawa is changing rapidly and for the better, with more to come.

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Cohen’s column appeared on the same day that we learned that Ottawa’s long-anticipated new central library just took a huge step forward. The fact the city may work with Library and Archives Canada on a shared building is great news that’s likely to result in a bigger, better library. It’s the kind of synergy with the federal government that this city needs.

Later this month, we will find out the details of the proposals to redevelop LeBreton Flats. While it’s disappointing that both ideas feature an NHL hockey rink, the real news will be in what else is involved and how the project will connect to its neighborhood. Cleaning up the empty mess of contaminated soil so close to the centre of the city would be a real gain, even if the project itself isn’t all that we would hope.