@Cyclist
One of the first lessons I learned when I came to Aberdeen is that there were no public spaces. Unlike Glasgow, where Falun Gong and buskers competed for your attention on Buchanan Street, efforts to run a Free Tibet stand in St Nicholas were quickly shut down by private security. The difference really shows. There are Canadian cities with fully underground public spaces, so it's not the weather; it's the bitter legacy of a once-green, once radical city now wholly owned by old, terrified, angry fossil fuel junkies.