Vancouver has been named one of the world’s most livable cities, but another Canadian city has outperformed it compared to last year.
An Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report places Vancouver at number seven, while Calgary moves up to number five. The two cities have now swapped spots, as Vancouver was ranked number five last year while Calgary was number seven.
The ranking looks at overall stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
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Vancouver joins other top-ranked cities like Melbourne and Sydney, which, as the report states, have “fallen backwards” even though they’re still in the top 10.
The report blames “an acute housing crisis,” which has pulled down infrastructure scores.
Calgary scored higher than Vancouver in several EIU metrics, including stability and infrastructure. They tied in the other categories, with the exception of culture and environment, where Vancouver scored higher.
Vancouver and Calgary were the only two North American cities in the top 10. Vienna repeats at number one for the third year in a row.
EIU
Digging a little bit deeper into the infrastructure category, which also includes “availability of good quality housing,” the cost of shelter works in Calgary’s favour over Vancouver. Looking at just the most recent national rent report, you can get a one-bedroom unit in Calgary for $1,733, compared to $2,671 in Vancouver when looking at the average asking rent through Rentals.ca.
Purchasing a home also works in Calgary’s favour. According to recent data from the CREA, the average sold price for a detached house in Vancouver was $2,225,682 in May. In Calgary, that number was $822,873.
Vancouver performs strongly in culture and environment, including humidity and temperature, tourists’ discomfort with the climate, the level of corruption, social or religious restrictions, censorship, and the food and drink industry.
According to the EIU, despite being overtaken by Calgary in the rankings, Vancouver still performs very well globally in every metric.
If you have experience in both cities, do you agree that Calgary is the more livable Canadian city? Let us know in the comments.
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