I mostly agree with this entire post. The typical 'condo' look is not my favourite, and there are many cookie cutter designs. That said, I don't think they're 1970s apartment / condo levels of terrible; These buildings plague many major North American cities, including our own. Most of the new condos, including the ones going up around me are uninspired, but they're not ugly.
And to the first point, there has to be better planning with development. The four buildings that have gone up near my apartment have zero retail space, and only two have office space. With all the townhouses, and condos in the area now, it's very sad that there's nothing to walk to in the area. At least downtown, there seems to be a better grasp.. or push.. for mixed development. That said, long time tenants of smaller shops will mostly be forced out of the space because of the increase in rent with the new condo.
Side note: I always found it amazing that landlords along Queen St W would rather have their offices sit empty for years on end, than lower the rent of a unit.
For sure, $600 per month with a roommate is easily doable around Chinatown. But you might want to look a bit further north into the Annex, with the student crowd. Lots of apartment buildings, and a lot of people looking for roommates. Viewit.ca has a bunch of listings for the area, and it's probably worth your time to just walk around and call up apartments (most of big signs with phone numbers in the front yard) you see.
