The Fifth Best City in the World

[Barnet Flame]

Vancouver has topped of a list of the world's best places to live for the fifth year in a row.



The list, compiled annually by The Economist Intelligence Unit, is based on a study of 140 cities around the world. It rates cities across five areas: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Vancouver managed to score 98 points out of 100 mainly thanks to its high standards in terms of healthcare and education. It is followed in the list by Melbourne in second place and Vienna in third place, while the rest of the top 10 is largely dominated by Canadian and Australian cities, just like last year.
The highest-ranked British city in the survey is Manchester, which comes up in 42nd place – three places higher than last year. It is followed by London, which is up one place at number 53.
Survey editor Jon Copestake commented that London "benefits from strong cultural and recreational activities, but scores less well on the perceived threat from crime or terror". He added: "With only 1.6 per cent separating them, London and Manchester have similar levels of liveability".
The survey is used by companies across the globe to calculate allowances for expatriate employees. The lowest ranked city on the list is Harare in Zimbabwe with 37.5 points.
Top 10 cities according to The Economist Intelligence Unit:
1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Perth, Australia
8. Adelaide, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

http://uk.travel.yahoo.com/p-promo-3360769

I've been to four of the cities on that list and I can't argue too much with the findings. I'm hoping to make it five cities if the Flames play in Helsinki.

I live in the 53rd best city.

[rubecube]

I find it kind of silly when they don't factor in cost of living into these rankings. Also, do they mean the Greater Vancouver Area of just Vancouver proper?

[TAPOUT]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I find it kind of silly when they don't factor in cost of living into these rankings. Also, do they mean the Greater Vancouver Area of just Vancouver proper?

Are you serious your splitting hares now

[starseed]

I cannot remember where I saw it, but a recent study put Vancouver #1 in Canada in terms of most expensive cities to live in, but 75th in the world.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by TAPOUT

Are you serious your splitting hares now

ouch, poor little bunnies.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by TAPOUT

Are you serious your splitting hares now

I think you mean hairs, but I digress. I think it's a legitimate question. The perceived crime and terror threats are probably much higher in places like Surrey and East Van. Also, culture and environment can vary if you go from say Coquitlam to Tsawwassen.

[GreenLantern]

In other news... Regina was ranked 13th but for some reason keeps bragging about being 12th...

[bizaro86]

I loved Melbourne. It's the only place I've ever considered moving to other than Calgary, and I've been to all the cities on the list except Helsinki. Great place.

Vancouver is ok too, I suppose. Too many Canucks fans for my liking. There should be a deduction of some kind for that.

[calgaryrocks]

not all that surprising, but obviously it won't factor everything in. also, i've been to 6 of those cities, cool

[GreenLantern]

http://www.crackshackormansion.com/

[peter12]

I am not convinced.

[Cheese]

Calgary behind Toronto and Wancouver?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Calgary behind Toronto and Wancouver?

Yeah, I don't really know why people like living in Toronto. However, I've considered moving to Vancouver quite a few times.

[Barnet Flame]

Melbourne is a beautiful city - I preferred it to Sydney by quite a margin. I get to go there every other year to visit my brother. Eating lunch outside on Boxing Day with a nice glass of wine at St Kilda = Heaven.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I loved Melbourne. It's the only place I've ever considered moving to other than Calgary, and I've been to all the cities on the list except Helsinki. Great place.

Vancouver is ok too, I suppose. Too many Canucks fans for my liking. There should be a deduction of some kind for that.

Melbourne is great, but there is a severe lack of water and heavy water use restrictions. By comparison, I remember a show about a year ago that had Calgarians using 3x as much water daily than Melbourne citizens.

I think about moving to Adelaide or Brisbane continually myself. Auckland is also damn close (lots of rain though).

[valo403]

6 of 10, not bad. I enjoyed all of those cities, but a common thread is certainly the cost of living. Seems that the nicest places to live are also expensive. Funny how that works.

I'd still take Sydney over anywhere else on that list. I think about moving back on a daily basis.

[Barnet Flame]

The water problem is being somewhat addressed this year if my brother's yapping about the weather is anything to go by.

But generally you're right - when I was there last Dec/Jan, the gardens were parched.

[TAPOUT]

Originally Posted by valo403

6 of 10, not bad. I enjoyed all of those cities, but a common thread is certainly the cost of living. Seems that the nicest places to live are also expensive. Funny how that works.

I'd still take Sydney over anywhere else on that list. I think about moving back on a daily basis.

Actually 6 out of 10 is only 60% which I think is a bit low for Calgary but at least were not Edmonton!!!!

[Cowboy89]

I find a lot of the time people mix up these rankings as meaning more than what they are. The Economic Intelligence Unit does this for client companies to calculate allowences for expatriot employees. Meaning the audience for such a ranking is not talking about average joe's trying to carve out a comfortable middle-class existence, but rather most likely high-end professionals.

If given the choice between Vancouver or Calgary, my personal choice is Calgary. Simply because my Vancouver counterpart, working a similar job, and living with the same living standards would find that they make 2/3rds the salary, get taxed much higher, and have to spend double in housing costs.

But then again if I was someone who had already made some serious net worth and depended less on my current income, I might just choose Vancouver to live.

[Lee of Red]

See it's things like marking London down on 'the perceived threat of crime and terror' that doesn't work for me. You've got far more chance of dying in a car crash on Deerfoot than you have of dying in a terrorist attack in London.