Vancouver loses top spot in Economist's livability survey, thanks to geographical blunder

What Vancouver does best is what we have always done best.

Narcissism.

@ Rob Roy haha - no kidding! Possibly part of the same problem is Vancouver's amazing ability to take credit for stuff it has nothing to do with creating, such as weather and scenery, while ignoring everything it DOES have something to do with creating, such as homelessness, child poverty, gang warfare, horrible public transit, riots when our team wins, riots when our team loses, ignorance about any part of Canada east of Burnaby, helping elect loser governments one after another...I could go on, but my extra-skinny extra hot double espresso with a shot of vanilla is ready (I'm writing a novel in Starbuck's)...oops! There's my phone! By the way, where IS the Malahat Highway? Later.

I've always been confused by Vancouver constantly being so highly regarded in these livability studies. It's a great place to live of course, but I could think of dozens of cities in Europe that are much better places to live. Vancouver's high cost of living, its poor food quality, and the lack of public transport mean that it remains far behind European cities in terms of quality of life.

Melbourne is worthy of number one though....its like the best of Montreal's buildings, fashion and cafe culture, Toronto's urban villages and Vancouver's beautiful setting all in one. Amongst Aussie's cities its certainly tops.

@ John Simpson - What are you talking about? The transit in the city is fantastic. Getting out of the suburbs on public transit is a struggle, but in the city it's very convenient, especially with Canada Line in place. Poor food quality? The city is on the ocean with the world's largest salmon bearing river running through it surrounded by one of the world's most fertile valleys. The cost of living is obviously very high; but that's because so many people want to live here.

There are a lot of great places to live in the world and there is certainly no metric that is going to satisfy everyones preferences, but lets at least be realistic about what the city does have going for it.

is anyone @ the Economist going to apologize for this idiotic oversight??

Micah555, your points are valid only in a North American context. Yes, we have good public transport, as far as North American cities go. However, European cites virtually always have far better systems than we do. London, which somehow ranks 53 on this list, has such a vast networks of subways and buses that owning a car is pretty much unnecessary.

As for food, again, it's good by North American standards, but that isn't saying much. While we have a fertile valley for farming, most of our produce comes artificially ripened on trucks from Mexico and California. Industrial farming also means our meat has far less flavour (and more harmful additives) than in Europe. The vast majority of restaurants in Metro Vancouver still use processed ingredients for most dishes. There are some good restaurants here, but the average quality overall pales in comparison to European cities.

Again, I'm not saying Vancouver isn't a great place to live. It's just very hard to imagine how Vancouver beats many cities in Europe based on the study's stated criteria.

Victoria used to be on that list as well until city council left our Golden Gate bridge in the up position.

John Simpson makes an excellent point about the 'fertile valley' nearby. Without it, the quality and price of food here would be worse in every regard.

In fairness, it must be added that without Dave Barrett and the NDP almost 40 years ago, we would have no ALR. By creating the ALR, Barrett preserved the agricultural option in BC. Without the ALR, the Fraser Valley would today look like Surrey, from Hope to Vancouver -- unending sprawl, malls, and subdivisions.

Preserving farmland was one of the most far-sighted things any government has ever done -- and something of which Metro Vancouver can be very proud. Let's hope the Economist paid attention, and gave credit where it is due.

Although excoriated by the far right 40 years ago, the NDP did something wonderful for the future and sustainability of our province. Let's hope their current leadership has half as much courage and vision as did Barrett 40 years ago.

Credit where it's due...

I can't help but laugh reading many of the posts here lavishing praise on European cities. Being in the fortunate position to travel extensively both for pleasure and business I can say definitively that returning to Vancouver is and always will be refreshing. It is beautiful, unique and its increasingly, quietly confident urban buzz invites you to look beyond the pure aesthics and explore the myriad of wonderful enclaves, haunts and destinations. Many European cities are lovely, even moreso when on vacation, and so are countless other places in this great world, but for me at least, Vancouver is where my heart is.