Vancouver retains ranking as third most livable city in the world

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      Once again, Canada and Australia continue to dominate the top 10 most livable cities in the world while the U.S. remains behind. 

      The report by the Economic Intelligence Unit evaluated 140 cities in 30 categories in five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

      Melbourne, Australia, has held on its position at the top of the list for seven years. This year, it received a rating of 97.5, with Vienna, Austria, in second place at 97.4.

      Vancouver, which once topped the list until it sank to third place in 2011, has retained its ranking as the third most livable city with a 97.3 rating.

      Toronto followed closely behind with 97.2, then Calgary at 96.6, which tied with Adelaide, Australia.

      The top 10 was rounded out by Perth, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Helsinki, Finland; and Hamburg, Germany.

      Yet again, no U.S. cities appeared in the top 10. The top U.S. city was Honolulu, Hawaii, at number 17, followed by Washington, D.C., at number 30.

      According to the report, while a decade of overall decline has stabilized, several cities have experienced the "spreading perceived threat of terrorism".

      “Conflict is responsible for many of the lowest scores,” the report states. “This is not only because stability indicators have the highest single scores but also because factors defining stability spread to have an adverse effect on other categories.”

      Several cities fell sharply in their ratings, including Detroit, Kiev, Moscow, Tripoli, and Damascus.

      The cities deemed least livable are Tripoli, Libya; Lagos, Nigeria; and Damascus, Syria.

      In a survey released by U.S. News in March, Canada was deemed second best overall country in the world (for a second year in a row), following Switzerland and ahead of the United Kingdom. 

      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at @cinecraig or on Facebook

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