Picking Vancouver As Best City Ignores Nanaimo

"Study Ranks Vancouver As Most Liveable City"

Obviously They Didn't Consider Nanaimo!

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in their Livability Ranking and Overview February 2011 ranks the city of Vancouver as the most livable city in the world. Toronto and Calgary are also in the top ten, so the world clearly recognizes what our great country has to offer.

The full report which can be purchased for US $500, shows the findings of their study which assesses living conditions in 140 cities around the world. The rating of relative comfort for 30 indicators is assigned across five broad categories: stability; health care; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. The survey gives an overall rating of 0 - 100, where 1 is intolerable and 100 is ideal.

The top ten places on the planet to live are ranked as:

1. VANCOUVER, Canada
2. MELBOURNE, Australia
3. VIENNA, Austria
4. TORONTO, Canada
5. CALGARY, Canada
6. HELSINKI, Finland
7. SYDNEY, Australia
8. PERTH, Australia
9. ADELAIDE, Australia
10. AUCKLAND, New Zealand

Nanaimo Beats Vancouver Hands Down!

Clearly, the data gatherers at EIU never took the time to investigate Nanaimo! Perhaps they don't actually visit any of these cities, but rather just read what the various Tourist Bureaus and Chamber of Commerce's have to say about their community before completing their ranking.

Let's look at each of the five broad categories:

• Stability: obviously a major factor is the stability of the nation as a whole and not just a community, so clearly, Nanaimo is every bit as stable as Vancouver. If stability is measured in terms of trade / commerce and industry, admittedly Vancouver could have a 'slight' edge on Nanaimo, but that's just splitting hairs.
• Health care: Nanaimo doesn't take a backseat to Vancouver in that department either, since we all have access to the same provincial health care system. Our hospital is state of the art, and has and is expanding all the time. Our ambulance and first responders are certain to get to you quicker than their counterparts in Vancouver. We don't have traffic jams!
• Culture and Environment: It would be a little close on this one, but we do have the Port Theatre, a spanking new Conference Centre, local theatre, local art galleries, the Clippers, the T-Men and on and on the list goes. So what does Vancouver have that compares? And I didn't even mention the International Bathtub Races. Of course Vancouver did have the Olympics, but that was just a one shot wonder anyway.
• Education: They have a university, we have a university, they have elementary schools, we have elementary schools, they have private schools, we have private schools ..... so where's the contest?
• Infrastructure: They have indoor plumbing, we have indoor plumbing, they get their water from a tap, we can drink the water from our taps, they have paved roads, we have paved roads, they have telephone and the Internet, we have telephone and the Internet ..... so I repeat... where's the contest.

One thing Vancouver does have, that Nanaimo does not, and that is that thick yellow haze that hangs over the city on a hot summers day!

So, obviously the ratings are fixed and the authors must have property in Vancouver or something as any sane, fair person would rank Nanaimo as a more Livable city than Vancouver any day. In fact Nanaimo has the best of it all, if the business / work opportunities in Vancouver draw you to the big city, you can still commute from Nanaimo and after buying a home here, still have money left for a Starbucks triple latte!

In January of this year the average price of a house in Vancouver was $762,562 while the average price in Nanaimo was a mere $340,482 ...... make that two lattes and a big muffin, I mean Nanaimo Bar!

Nanaimo's Economic Development Committee, the Tourist Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce need to get really vocal about challenging the validity of this study as it is as clear as the nose on your face, that Nanaimo beats Vancouver hands down!