Vancouver loses top spot on world's most livable cities list

[FlameOn]

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit survey, Vancouver is no longer the top city in the world to live in after nearly a decade dominating that spot and it may fall further if "further unrest" occurs.
Melbourne has now taken it's place.

Calgary is also apparently in the top 10. Kinda surprised by this one. Nice to see a lot of Canadian cities on the list though. Funny that Tripoli, Libya in it's war torn state is still more livable than Harare, Zimbabwe
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2146892/

[troutman]

But, but, Calgary is a City to eventually "get out of"?

[Sainters7]

But what about all those pretentious "Best place on Earth" commercials?? Just what're they gonna do now??

[Regulator75]

Cue a spirited pro Wancouver rant from Vanflamesfan.

[Weiser Wonder]

If any Canadian doesn't know how lucky they are, take this survey to heart. To live in Canada is to live in one of the most functional, safe, prosperous countries in human history.

[FlamesAddiction]

I have to agree with Vienna.

Surprised not to see any Swiss cities on there though.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Cue a spirited pro Wancouver rant from Vanflamesfan.

Should I just copy and paste my last one?

[topfiverecords]

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Gawd, those things look like ass.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by troutman

But, but, Calgary is a City to eventually "get out of"?

For some, yes. One factor may be Calgary's weather compared to other cities in the top 10 (sans Toronto) is atrocious. Another is infrastructure and sprawl. These are factors of lifestyle that affect people's decisions to leave Calgary.

Although Calgary has a lot going for it, it's not for everybody.

[GirlySports]

The riot should have cemented it's #1 spot.

[Bunk]

The weird thing is the Economist cited some highway that was closed on Vancouver Island as the reason it lost a couple of points and went from 1st to 3rd. Odd.

Calgary and 5th is great. I think Calgary, if it keeps improving, can attain that top spot and stay right at the top. Access to health, transportation, environment are all important factors in rankings like this. I could see the completion of projects like the new South Hospital, WLRT and eventually things like the Ring Road and SELRT, really helping the city's ranking - along with continued revitalization of the downtown (which is really what propelled Vancouver's rankings over last 15-20 years).

These types of rankings are a bit ridiculous, but being known as one of the most liveable cities in the world certainly isn't bad for business.

[united]

Noting that the June riots in Vancouver came too late in the year to lower its score on the current survey, the EIU cautioned that the city’s overall score could see further downward revisions as a result, and “further unrest may affect scores for the city in the future.”

I wonder what Vancouver will be down to next survey, partially as a result.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Bunk

The weird thing is the Economist cited some highway that was closed on Vancouver Island as the reason it lost a couple of points and went from 1st to 3rd. Odd.

They must be confusing the Malahat highway with East Hastings. That street alone should be considered a war zone.

[Bertuzzied]

Calgary would be number 1 in the world if they stopped building out and started building up. Like seriously we are already one of the world's largest city area wise. We need to stop building out into the boonies.

[Bonded]

Yeah, the problem is until we are forced to build up there will always be people who prefer to be away from the city centre (because that is where the criminals live .

I have to say I am surprised how high Calgary is on that list, we must have some high scores to overcome the climate, that alone I figured would relegate us to the twenty to teen range

[Coach]

Is the climate really that bad here though? Yeah it can get cold in the winter sometimes. But the summers are generally very nice and compared to places that generally have very nice weather we have very few natural disasters that can affect the city. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, no tsunamis, no tiny deadly insects that can silently kill you. We get the (very)odd tornado and maybe a small flood here and there are all we have to deal with.

[burn_this_city]

Probably weighed down by the d-bags per person rating of 0.8

[Vulcan]

Vancouver's #1 rating has probably been one of the reasons their real estate is so over priced.

[Muta]

I feel very comfortable in Calgary, but this list is just opinion-based (even though I do like it as a whole and do listen to the research behind the list). I guess different people have different views of different cities.

For me, personally, I'd have New York City way up there, but that's just me. I'd also have Tokyo way up there too. Everyone has their own preferences for their 'top 10' cities to live in.