I actually just got back from a weekend in Montreal and was amazed at the size and energy of the gay village there. One club, Unity, was a pretty good comparison to Babylon in Queer as Folk and there are so many other bars and dance clubs to choose from. (OTOH, we went to two male strip clubs and were pretty disappointed - we had a better time watching naked women at Club Super Sexe.)

I agree with EastChestnut that hookup sites and chatrooms have pulled a lot of people out of the bars and clubs, for better and worse. But I'd have to disagree that New York's gay scene is lacking. Barracuda and G are both busier on a Tuesday night than Bump is on a Saturday, and I also like that there are several gay nodes spread across the city, rather than having everything lumped together.

I do think Philly's gay nightlife is a little disappointing for a city of our size, and I think there are several reasons...

First of all, and probably most important: the complacency of local gays means that venue owners have little incentive to spend money on renovations, since business is good (due to the limited choices) regardless. Second, it's difficult and expensive to get a liquor license in Pennsylvania, making it harder for new bars to open and shake up the scene. Third, the Phila metro area is very spread out compared other older cities but the gayborhood and downtown in general is not auto-accommodating ... think of the thousands of gays in their 20s and 30s living out in the burbs, close to their suburban jobs, who might otherwise be living in the city and partaking in gay nightlife. Fourth, being between New York and DC means that Philly loses the possibility of being a regional center like Seattle, Atlanta, or Chicago.

However, it looks like some changes are already happening. Knock has already opened. And as someone else has mentioned, the owners of Triumph (a very nice Old City bar) are planning on opening a huge gay bar/club in the space of the former Signatures at 13th and Locust. I believe it will be called Evolve. There's also supposed to be another lounge-y type place opening on Locust, but I'm not sure of the details.