Vancouver - the most livable North American city?

April 10, 2006 - Zurich, the financial capital of Switzerland, was named the most livable city in the world yesterday in a report that ranked 215 cities based on the highest quality of living.

Another Swiss city, Geneva, was named second. Vancouver was ranked third. Not surprisingly, Baghdad was ranked last.

The survey was conducted by a company called Mecer Human Resource Consulting, which looked at 39 criteria for quality of living, including personal safety, health, transportation, education, political stability, and environmental factors.

Vancouver has consistently been ranked as the top North American city (last year, it was also ranked #3) - that's not really surprising: Vancouver's natural beauty and its excellent planning system make it one of the most attractive cities on this side of the Atlantic, especially compared to the U.S. cities.

So how did Toronto do? Not too bad - at #15. We're still way ahead of the larger American cities. The top U.S. city is Honolulu at #27.

Here's a list of the top 10 cities, click here for the full list

1. Zurich, Switzerland
2. Geneva, Switzerland
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Vienna, Austria
5. Auckland, New Zealand
6. Dusseldorf, Germany
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Munich, Germany
9. Bern, Switzerland
9. Sydney, Australia

On a side note, it's nice to know that I could be visiting 4 out of the 10 cities this fall!