MasterCard has ranked Vancouver as the world's "most livable city."
Here are the top 10 in 2008 MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index
94.38 Vancouver
93.88 Dusseldorf
93.44 San Francisco
93.38 Frankfurt
93.38 Vienna
93.18 Munich
92.81 Zurich
92.69 Tokyo
92.63 Copenhagen
Monday, June 09, 2008
VANCOUVER - Several new studies have given glowing reviews to Vancouver's quality of life, ranking it among the top cities in the world in which to live.
The second annual MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index has ranked Vancouver as the world's "most livable city."
Toronto and Montreal also made the list of top 20 cities for livability, evaluation criteria for which included personal freedom, climate, leisure activities and other quality-of-life factors.
Vancouver was ranked No. 4 among 215 cities around the world in the Mercer "Worldwide Quality of Living Survey," released Tuesday.
That study considered political, social, economic and environmental factors, as well as personal safety and health, education, transportation and public services.
Vancouver also was ranked No. 8 by London-based Monacle magazine on its list of best cities for quality of life.
Copenhagen was No. 1 on that list, replacing Munich, which held the top spot last year. Monocle's criteria went "beyond the usual metrics that only look at housing costs and schools" and considered such things aesthetics and where one can get a good drink.
Vancouver also made the Food & Wine magazine list of top 10 restaurant cities in the world, coming in at No. 10 among company such as New York, Paris and No. 1 city Tokyo.
Vancouver was the only Canadian city to make the list.
"These accolades play a big role in attracting international media attention," said Emily Armstrong, manager of travel media relations with Tourism Vancouver. "I think Vancouverites have a lot of pride in their city, but it's always nice to see that we're getting the recognition abroad. Being seen as one of the most livable cities is a nice feeling when you're living here."
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