Yes, I spend time there occasionally, as my daughter is attending grad school there and has moved between two neighborhoods.
I fully agree with your summary and didn’t mean any slight by not calling it a “Metropolis”, vis-a-vis NYC or London (edited & rephrased my original post).
Yes, the “in” areas are elsewhere than downtown – but as you said, there are indeed plenty. My daughter found a very active social scene, representing diverse interests, easy to make many friends outside university.