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Originally Posted by Funkhouser
Biased, as I live in QC - but from an urban perspective Quebec City can offer a lot more than a number of other NHL cities. Personally, I would choose Quebec City over Edmonton (duh), Winnipeg, Buffalo, Phoenix, Dallas, Raleigh, and maybe others.
Quebec City has soul. The girls are beautiful and most people speak English (just not as their first language). The city is dense and walkable with beautiful architecture, great food and culture. They will have a passionate fan base and the media will leave you alone (unless you are francophone). If you can ignore the politics and swallow the higher taxes, it is a great place to live. For me, the only issue is that it is quite isolated, but as an NHLer, you are on the road half the season and can live wherever you want in the summer.
On a side note, every time I am in Quebec City for work, I meet a tonne of Americans there as tourists or for work; typically they rave about the place and how it is so different than anywhere else in N.A. I think this would also appeal to many (not all) NHLers.
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I go to Quebec City at least once a year (was there for Canada Day this year actually) and it seems like there are always more tourists there that are Americans than from English Canada. It could just be my perception though. I got a good chuckle from a man talking to his kid as they were walking around and listening to them. They were from Chicago and thought it was just amazing there. Honestly, I barely speak any French and have never had an issue or received any guff from anyone about it.
If I had to compare Quebec City to a city in Western Canada, I would say it is like a French version of Victoria, but way more lively. It seems to have a really fit, energetic and urban population, it's very social and outdoorsy. It also has a bit of a maritime feel with things like whale watching and fishing being big attractions. People really utilize the public spaces and for the most part, I find the people really friendly.
It's also not that isolated. It's about as close to Montreal as Calgary is to Edmonton and is much closer to Ottawa, Toronto and Boston than Calgary is any other city of over a million people.
I don't think it would be the top draw for free agents, but it would be better than a lot of cities and could give cities like Calgary and Vancouver a run for their money IMO. The tax situation is really the only draw back, but like Montreal, they will have to pay a little more for big money players.