big question Boston or Ottawa (Watertown, Harvard: apartment, home, neighborhood)

[Eduardo.Cordero]

Greetings Bostonians,

I am faced with an exciting time in my life and I wanted some opinion on which direction to proceed. I have 2 job offers in the Biotech industry in the cities listed above and have visited and really love them both from visiting.

I currently reside in Madrid Spain where I was born and raised and am leaving my home and family to purse new opportunities in the americas.

Here is what I am looking for in a city.

Best beaches in the summertime
Large cosmopolitan area
Major important biotech industry
Diversity
Educated population, especially in the sciences
Safe
Great restaurants and bars
Futbol-Soccer community for both watching and especially playing
A Top Tier Sciences University to pursue my PhD in the future

One more background on me. Even though I am Spanish by birth both of my parents came to Spain for the Dominican Republic and I am very in touch with my Dominican Heritage. Which of the cities has the best Dominican Restaurants, Grocery stores (not just latin but Caribbean Latin specifically), largest dominican community and spanish speaking population.

Thank you for all the help!

[gf2020]

Boston meets all of those requirements. I've never seen a beach in Ottawa!

[lrfox]

I know nothing of Ottowa, but Boston meets all of those categories in at LEAST a satisfactory manner.

[lukec]

There's a very large Domincan population in Boston. (They's been at the heart of Red Sox success over the last decade).

I dont know much about soccer though. Its around, but soccer isnt that big anywhere over here.

[Drowningintherain2]

Go with Boston. Ottawa is alright but it becomes vacant on the weekends. It is a city that revolves around the Canadaian government and when parliment isn't in session people get out of there. If your choice was between Toronto and Boston that would be harder but this seems like a no brainer.

[Ottawa2011]

Ottawa has a very small Latin / Caribbean community. About 50% of people here speak English as a first language, 30% speak French, and the other 20% speak other languages. The city is diverse, with many blacks, asians, and middle eastern residents. There are a small number of stores that specialize in Caribbean and Latin groceries (perhaps 5 or 6?), and a small number of Caribbean and authentic Latin restaurants downtown (perhaps 10?). Ottawa is a friendly city, though. I encourage you to find the contact information for one of these business on the Web. Just phone them! I'm sure they would be very happy to tell you about Ottawa and what the Caribbean community is like in the city.

There are some nice beaches -- Mooney's Bay and Brittania Beach are within the central city. There are also nice beaches that are a 15-minute car trip north of downtown Ottawa, in Gatineau in Quebec. There are many lakes there that are nice for swimming, canoeing, camping, etc. Gatineau Park is a nice place for outdoor sports.

There are nice restaurants, bars and nightclubs too. There's a Chinatown and Little Italy. Here are a couple of good Websites with information on entertainment in Ottawa:
Ottawa XPress - Front Page
Apartment613

Another good way to meet people in Ottawa is to go to Find a Meetup Group near you - Meetup
You can do a search for Ottawa, and you will find groups of people to meet in Ottawa. There are different groups for different hobbies, and I'm sure there is one for people in Ottawa who speak Spanish.

For your career, you should decide based on your specialization. Do you have more opportunity in Boston or Ottawa?

For your education, you should find out which makes more sense financially: an expensive "Ivy League" university or a Canadian university? Harvard University would be a nice place to go to for a PhD!

[Redsox1972]

Congrats on having two job offers in two great cities!

I have only been to Ottawa once, but I recall that the people were very friendly (I grew up near Canada, and I personally love the country), that the city was clean, and that people seemed pretty educated as Canada's central government is located there.

Keep in mind, though, that Ottawa's metro area is much smaller than Boston's and, once you are outside of Ottawa, you are pretty much in farm land. Bost on much closer to other cities (Providence is close, New York is an easy drive, and you can be in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, etc., rather easily). With Ottowa, like some of the midwest cities of the U.S., you have to drive a lot further to be in other places. Also, again, while I love Canada, I think Boston has much more at your disposal in terms of the ocean being right here and mountains being a short jaunt to the north. And, while I cannot speak to the non-Canadian or non-British born population in Ottaway, there is a huge international presence in the Boston area. And if you like soccer, you'll find a lot of company. When I lived in Watertown, there were always soccer games in the field behind me of a bunch of adults in the neighborhood). I think you would like it here.