Three Alberta cities - including the Edmonton bedroom community of St. Albert - are better places to live than Vancouver, according to MoneySense magazine. Vancouver, constantly touted as one of the world's most-liveable cities, didn't even make the magazine's top 10 list of best Canadian cities to live in.
The list examines such factors as:
• employment;
• housing prices;
• crime;
• weather; and
• household income.
The only B.C. locale to make the top 10 is Saanich.
Calgary tops the list for the first time, nudging out three-time winner Ottawa.
Vancouverites who were asked to comment agreed that Calgary should make the list, but some questioned the choice of St. Albert, which has a population of 61,000 and is known for its dominant single-family suburban houses and an average winter temperature of -15 C.
"Sounds boring," sighed one Kitsilano Starbucks customer.
According to MoneySense, the 10 best places to live in Canada are:
1. Calgary;
2. St. Albert, Alberta;
3. Burlington, Ontario;
4. Strathcona County, Alberta;
5. Oakville, Ontario;
6. Ottawa;
7. Saanich, B.C.;
8. Lacombe, Alberta;
9. Lethbridge, Alberta; and
10. Newmarket, Ontario.
When factoring in population size, Vancouver ranks last for the top 10 large cities.
from Western Investor May 2013
