I'm one of the lucky 900,000 people that calls Ottawa home. Am I lucky because of the endless tourist attractions? How about the festivals, the great food or the amazing diversity of culture we have?
No! I'm lucky because Ottawa is an absolute goldmine for Pokémon Go!
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Here is a quick rundown of how Pokémon Go operates in Canada's Capital.
Confederation Park, one of the most well known and most visited tourist attractions in town, is packed with Pokémon Go players at any time of day, on any day of the week. One day, our mayor casually strolled down for a visit and played for a little while.
You might get a discount on products, depending on your team choice.
When the game was first released, some businesses were offering discounts on food or services, depending which team you represented (for the record, many were in favor of Team Mystic!)
We get $12,000 worth of parking tickets in one weekend.
There's one spot that has always has 3 active lures, and by far has the best spawn rate of rare Pokémon in Ottawa. The community was quick to discover this gem, but the park has minimal parking. People took it upon themselves to create their own parking spots, which resulted in hundreds of tickets.
"What team are you?" Is the new icebreaker.
If you see someone staring intently at their phone around town, it's pretty safe to assume that they're playing Pokemon Go. I've walked past hundreds of people playing the game, and I've received everything from smiles, to passing comments about team choices, to full out conversations because of the game.
You get excited with a group of strangers, who soon become friends.
When there's a lure set up, people flock to it. When a gym changes color, people get audibly excited or upset. And when a rare Pokémon spawns, you'll almost always hear one person announce it to the group, and you'll feel the energy swell around you. It's beautiful.
You end up on CBC News.
That's me and my boyfriend. We were playing Pokemon Go at Confederation park one day when a reporter came up to us and asked if we knew anyone who had started dating because of the game. Well, we knew people. Us! We got interviewed and were on the news because of it. It was an interesting experience.
If this is the way things will be forever in Ottawa when it comes to social trends, I can die happy. Because I have yet to meet a kinder group of people than the people I've met through Pokémon Go.
