11 Cities Beat Toronto for Best Place to Live in Canada
My criteria for best city in Canada has more to do with getting amazing Vietnamese food at 3 in the morning than health care, traffic and average income. But until I write that list of best cities (which we obviously top), we'll have to be content with 12th place.
We've been beaten out by Ottawa (yeah, sleepy Ottawa?) that placed first in a list of best places to live in Canada according to MoneySense magazine.
Despite not breaking the top ten, our ranking was pretty high for a city of our size. We lose out because of how big and populated we are - expensive housing and traffic just aren't major issues if you live in 7th place Moncton.
Where did we do well? On average, we get paid a lot more (we have the fifth highest income level in the country), but we loose out in unemployment and high housing prices. Keep in mind that this is coming from a business mag, so economic criteria like new cars and income were looked at (though weather, health care and traffic were also taken into consideration).
I am a complete urbanite, and the bigger the city the better. So I was surprised at the top 10 list, especially because I doubt I'd live in more than one or two of those places). Like a lot of people who choose to live here, I'm cool with trading the problems (traffic, noise, that weird guy sitting on the newspaper box) for that Vietnamese food at 3 in the morning.
See the whole list here.
photo: Image from myker from the blogTO flickr pool.
Comments (10)
I've spent some time in Gander. You simply couldn't pay me enough to live there.
My wife, whose family is from there, contends that the low crime rate (a big reason it ranks so high) is due to the fact that everyone in Gander is related to one another. This may be a plus, but it's short-lived; clearly Gander will eventually descend into a Godfather-style war of the Four Families.
I've been to all but two on the list that beat Toronto (highest to lowest): Ottawa-Gatineau, Halifax, Québec, Guelph, Fredericton, Kingston, Moncton, London, Victoria, Gander, Collingwood. You have to be freaking kidding!
Ottawa-Gatineau: civil-servants do not fun make. Halifax: I'd drink with Ricky, Julian or Bubbles, but they're from the other side of the harbour. Québec: small, but yes it is interesting. Guelph: there was not enough for me to do there as a high-school student (and drugs were expensive)! Fredericton, Kingston, London: not worth dignifying with a comment. Victoria, Gander: never been, wouldn't go out of my way. Moncton: main attraction is a 'tidal-BORE'. Collingwood: least scenic part of Georgian Bay, over-run ski hill (I can't afford to ski at Osler).
Toronto ain't Tokyo, London or Paris, but thank God it's nothing in the first eleven on the list, either.
i actually like this list, even if we rated a little low. The reason I like it is because we are ranked higher than Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary. Take that you second-tier cities!
"Guelph: there was not enough for me to do there as a high-school student"
Well that has been changing with the Community Youth Strategy and new Youth Centre.
Guelph is a growing city that is located in a good location. It isn't Toronto, but it does have stuff to do and, yes has places where you can get Vietnamese food at 3 in the morning!
i spent 4 long years in london and couldn't get out fast enough! that city is horribly conservative (at the time, the mayor refused to endorse gay pride day, citing "religions reasons".. and then she disappeared for several months during the mayoral election campaign due to criticism.. and then still got re-elected! wtf? also, london was a popular hub for white power types.. yay), you can walk across the dying downtown (set to become a ghost town) in about 10 minutes, there was not much else but strip malls in most other parts of town, it was hard to find a job there, and there was little to do..
so how the hell did it get in the top 10?!
let those people go to the 11 other cities..we don't need more people to drive up the cost of living in toronto
I think we need to look no further than the 'Comic Book Guy' to rate this...
Repeat after me, holding a soft-shell taco in hand,
"Worst - list - ever!"
The Southern Interior of BC is by far and away the best part of Canada. Mild, dry, sunny and scenic. Four season outdoor recreation and vineyards to boot. From Kamloops to Vernon, Kelowna Penticton to Osoyoos there is simply no comparison.
Toronto is great if you like garbage, rats, homeless people, and traffic. Sure you can get all kinds of food at any hour of the day, but you also have to put up with people pissing outside of the restaurant. Unless you have a ton of money, Toronto is one of the worst cities to live in Canada.
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