I visited Waterloo-Kitchener a few times before choosing, but it never felt very interesting as a place to live. People diss Ottawa for being boring, but we have a pretty good number of attractions, and it's really easy to get around without a car. Montreal makes a nice weekend trip if you want to go someplace more exciting.

Academically I do feel like I missed out on a higher quality education / more prestigious degree from Waterloo. I have to do a lot of legwork to make my co-op program work and (hopefully) graduate on time next year. Ottawa also doesn't (yet) have the startup/developer culture Waterloo has, but I think we're working on it.

On the plus side, I did all 5 of my co-op terms without leaving Ottawa, met my girlfriend of three years and have a sweet job coming out of school next year. I wouldn't have done anything differently, but it is interesting to consider.