City places first in Canada in international survey
Wency Leung
Sun
BEST CITIES IN WHICH TO LIVE (SEVERAL CITIES TIED) 1. Zurich, Switzerland 2. Geneva, Switzerland 3. Vancouver, Canada 4. Vienna, Austria 5. Auckland, New Zealand 6. Dusseldorf, Germany 7. Frankfurt, Germany 8. Munich, Germany 9. Bern, Switzerland 9. Sydney, Australia
WORST CITIES IN WHICH TO LIVE: 1. Baghdad, Iraq 2. Brazzaville, Congo 3. Bangui, Central African Republic 4. Khartoum, Sudan 5. Pointe Noire, Congo 6. Ndjamena, Chad 7. Sanaa, Yemen Arab Republic 7. Port Harcourt, Nigeria 7. Nouakchott, Mauritania 8. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Vancouver is the best city in Canada in which to live, and the third-best place in the world, according to an annual quality of life survey.
Of 215 cities polled, Vancouver came behind only the Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva, Mercer Human Resource Consulting said in its annual Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.
Vancouver kept the same ranking as last year, while Toronto edged up one spot to 15th and Ottawa climbed three spots to 18th place. Montreal ranked 22nd and Calgary 25th.
Mercer consultant Rebecca Powers said Vancouver topped the other Canadian cities due to its natural environment and recreational sites.
“It’s the relative nearness of the mountains, skiing, the ocean . . . as well as the moderate climate relative to the rest of the country,” Powers said by telephone from San Francisco.
But, she added: “The rest of Canada shouldn’t feel that slighted [by Vancouver’s high ranking]. The difference . . . in the scheme of things, isn’t that large.”
The survey is tailored to help governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments.
It is based on 39 indicators, including political, social, economic factors, personal safety, and health, education, transportation and public services. It also examines environmental factors, such as climate and each city’s record of natural disasters.
While the survey did not directly factor in the cost of housing, it does consider the availability and quality of housing.
Canadian cities scored higher than all U.S. cities included in the survey.
New York City, which was used as a base against which all other cities were compared, rated 46th.
Honolulu, the top city in the U.S., dropped two positions to 27th, while San Francisco remained at 28th.
“Overall, U.S. cities continue to slip slightly or remain stable in the rankings, except Chicago, which has moved up 11 places due to decreased crime rates,” Mercer stated in a report accompanying the survey results.
It noted that declines south of the border have often been the result of increased air pollution, crime, natural disasters or terrorism.
Canada‘s natural environment is seen as better than the U.S., while crime in the U.S. is generally considered a bigger issue, Powers said.
Baghdad scored the worst place in the world for expatriates to live, unchanged from last year. Congo’s capital of Brazzaville was the second-worst.
Broadening instability in the Middle East also affected Cairo’s rating, causing it to plummet nine places to 131st position.
Rankings for most of Western Europe either improved or remained unchanged, but Dublin fell two places to 24th, mostly due to traffic congestion.
The quality of living in Eastern European cities showed gradual improvement, as did scores for Asia-Pacific cities.
Mercer anticipated Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai will see higher quality of living scores in the next few years due to increased foreign investment, while India would also benefit from improved political relations with other countries.
Shanghai placed 103rd, the highest rank in China, and Mumbai ranked 150th.
Source: 2006 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting
© The Vancouver Sun 2006