Ottawa No. 1 in top 10 places to live in Canada says MoneySence

se7en · #1 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

van not even in the top ten :oh: :oh: :oh: :oh:

TORONTO (CP) - Go west isn't good advice if what you want to do is wind up in most of Canada's top 10 places to live.

MoneySense magazine has come out with its second annual list of Canada's Best Places to Live. It ranked 123 Canadian communities with a population greater than 10,000, crunching the numbers on everything from the weather, real estate values, income levels and unemployment rates to discretionary income, crime rates and signs of prosperity.

The country's capital came out on top, with mid-sized and smaller cities filling out the top 10.

Ottawa was rated as Canada's best overall place to live, said MoneySense features editor Duncan Hood, because it didn't do poorly in any category, had high household incomes but the housing is still relatively affordable - leaving people with more discretionary income. He said MoneySense thinks that means a higher quality of life.

Rounding out the top 10 were Halifax, Quebec City, Guelph, Ont., Fredericton, N.B., Kingston, Ont., Moncton, N.B., London, Ont., Victoria and Gander, NL.

"The cities that seem to offer the best quality of life are the cities that allow you to have all the great things about living in a small town . . . that offer up workplaces that you can walk to or get to easily without sitting for hours on the highway. Places that offer you the opportunity to own your own home and have a decent-sized lawn. All those great things about smaller communities but they also offer you some of the great things about big cities like higher incomes and more amenities."

Hood said Ottawa would seem to be just sort of the perfect balance of the two things.

MoneySense also found east beats west - except for Victoria, no cities west of Ontario made the top 10.

"Where east really beat west was because our houses are cheaper. The housing is just so expensive in the west in general that that is consuming more and more people's incomes and it generally leaves them poorer. It leaves them with less discretionary income and we think that's the main reason that places out west didn't fare as well as the places out east."

Amazingly, a boomtown like Fort McMurray, Alta., was actually penalized. It has Canada's highest average household income at $135,000 a year. :sad2:

"When you looked at the city more carefully, we found actually the growth rates are too high there. The infrastructure is not keeping up and the housing prices are just unbelievable there."

Canada's biggest cities finished out of the top 10.

Among them, Toronto fared the best but came in at No, 12. Hood said Toronto rated well because it had high household incomes - the fifth highest in the country. Hood said the average household in Toronto makes $91,000 a year. But the big city was near the basement in the cost of housing, ranking 103 out of 123.

Among other big cities, Winnipeg came in at 13, Montreal finished at 23, Calgary was 28 and Edmonton was 31.

Finishing at the bottom of the barrel at 123 was Port Alberni, B.C., and Hood said it fared poorly because it had a high unemployment rate and fairly low household incomes.

dj_soo · #2 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

well duh - the magazine is entitled "Money Sense"

Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Cdn_Brdr · #3 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

This list applies only to poor people... it's judged mostly on the almighty dollar factor.

IF YOU'RE NOT POOR THEN VANCOUVER IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE.

WE DON'T WANT ALL YOU BROKE ASS BITCHES ANYWAYS!!

BongMan · #4 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

I'll still take Vancouver over any eastern BS anyday

cubed · #5 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

fuck I hate poor people.

dj_soo · #6 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

yea i have no idea why anyone would choose that lifestyle

NinjaBoy · #7 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

Quote:

Originally Posted by cubed

fuck I hate poor people.

The Vancouver poverty scale, by yearly income:

$100k-80k: Poor. You can barely afford your studio Yaletown apartment. You have to shop at Choices instead of Urban Fare. Your dog gets groomed at the budget Dog Shoppe. When you meet your friends for lunch, you're embarassed because you have to go back to work afterwards, while they go shopping.

$79k-60k: Abjectly poor. You can't even afford to live in Yaletown, but you lie and say your Howe St. apartment is in "West Yaletown". Safeway gets your grocery business, and you can't even afford the expensive european cheeses. You have a pet goldfish, but he doesn't eat too well.

$59-40k: Really fucking poor. You share your 1 bedroom West End apartment with a roommate you found on Craigslist. You've never even been to Urban Fare, and the security guard at SuperValu watches you suspiciously to make sure you don't steal a roast chicken as you leave. The only pet in your life is the heavy petting that you do down at Seymour and Davie for a little extra cash.

$39k and less. No one makes less than this. It's just not possible. You'd be dead by now. Or even worse, like living in Chilliwack.

(stolen from craigslist)

Séguin · #8 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

Ottawa used to be better, employment and incomewise. Since Kanata is Silicon Valley North. But after the whole Enron fiasco, its been a steady slide downhill. I'm shocked by the results of this test.
Weather wise even I'd rather be here. Ya sure theres a lot of rain... but you don't have to shovel rain.

Cdn_Brdr · #9 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

GOOD.... STAY THERE

se7en · #10 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

after reading the article again, i realized they didnt even mention vancouver, they could have at least shown were it ranked.

NinjaBoy · #11 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

Quote:

Originally Posted by F*r*a*

^ .... I think that means something...*scratches head*.....

It means that moneysense is published in toronto.

About Canadian Business Online

Cdn_Brdr · #12 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

My god you are such a fucking loser!

.....and what if I didn't???

It wasn't a fucking threat you fucking useless sack of flesh.... it was nothing more than a statement.

You create your own drama you fucktard.... hahahaha

NinjaBoy · #13 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

Quote:

Originally Posted by F*r*a*

What does that have to do with why vancouver wasnt listed in the article at all?
They did list a city in BC...

Or west of ontario.

dabbler · #14 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

like i would believe anything that even ranks victoria at all

#15 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

I think we need to hire these boys to take care of east hastings ppl and send them to Ottawa...

Séguin · #16 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

Homeless people won't go to Ottawa. Its too cold. They'd have to get a job.

DefJef · #17 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

Im not even going to read the thread, Im just gonna say Ontario sucks.

Having lived in every province west of, and including Ontario (except for Saskatchewan) my opinion is valid and this place is clearly the greatest place to live in Canada.

SEAN! · #18 (**permalink**) May 02, 07

this is a survey that is primarily aimed at wealth/job opportunities that exist in various canadian cities, it dose not measure how pleasant it is to live in certain cities.

If all you are concerned about is money, wealth and career advancement then all of those cities shouldnt be a consideration, if you want those things and dont mind trading off the quality of life Vancouver scores high on. Then leave Canada because on a global scale there is no where in this country that can compete, not even Toronto, it is nothing more then a third rate Chicago.

It always makes me laugh whenever Vancouver ranks highly in quality of life surveys and people point to its relative weakness in business terms to Calgary and Toronto. First of all the studies weren't measuring that, and even then Zurich and Geneva which usually tie with Vancouver are still far better places to make money/more important economically.

p.s heh now that ive actually read the article it seems more like a study into the least shitty places in canada to live in for cheap...who really gives a fuck about that? thats a stupid fuckin survey, obviously the most desirible/wealthiest places will put themselves out of contention because the demand to live there will make it exponentially more expensive place to live.

I guess its a study to comfort the people who dont live in very nice places that atleast they have a pretty good lifestlye to price ratio. like that matters when most people see these things in absolute terms.

radha · #19 (**permalink**) May 03, 07

also too, west of manitoba, the crime rate is rather low.

while BC has about 6000 incidents a year, the Yukon can get 10,000 in a bad year. Nunavut, like 15,000. though most of them in the territories are for other CC charges.

dui charges are also exceptionally high up north.

and according to the rates, it is still the Wild West out here.

i couldn't find any stats tho, to back up the claim that it's because of drugs.

though half of the 31 murder investigations the RCMP are investigating are gang-related.

i know of an acquaintance who claimed to work for Canada Customs at the Delta Superport. Dude died with two bags of coke on the street on July 19, 2005. while they only have two more guys to bust for the crime, i've also read that 5 guys who are dock workers at the port are Hells Angels associates.

oh, and deep-sea fishers know all about the Colombia-Vancouver drop-offs of cocaine.