Vancouver Tops Quality-of-Life List

The Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto, and Auckland, New Zealand, have the highest quality of life for major world cities, according to a business survey.

Cities at the bottom of the survey’s rankings for quality of life were Brazzaville, Congo; Baghdad; and the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.

Monday’s report by the Corporate Resources Group examined 192 cities worldwide for 42 factors, including political stability, economic outlook, culture, health and education resources as well as public transport. It’s aimed at corporate managers setting allowances for expatriate staff.

In North America, Canadian cities generally were at the top of the list, with Mexican cities ranked at the bottom.

Vancouver was voted No. 1 in North America and the world, with Toronto No. 3. The report said Atlanta--ranked 26th--had the highest quality of life for any city in the United States, followed by San Francisco (ranked 27th) and Honolulu (31st). The report said U.S. cities scored low on personal safety.

Despite crime problems, Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa were the best African cities in which to live, followed by Tunis, Tunisia, and Harare, Zimbabwe. Luanda, Angola; Conakry, Guinea; and Brazzaville were at the bottom; Brazzaville was listed the least livable city in the world.

In Latin America, the report said Buenos Aires; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Panama City had the highest quality of living, while San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Port-Au-Prince, Haiti; and Havana had the lowest.

In Asia, Australia’s Melbourne and Sydney trailed Auckland as the most livable cities. Hanoi; Rangoon, Myanmar; and Phnom Penh in Cambodia were ranked the worst three cities in the region.

In the Middle East, Tel Aviv came in tops, although only No. 87 in the world list, with Baghdad at the bottom of the regional list and the second-worst city in the world in which to live.

In Europe, Switzerland’s Zurich and Geneva, and Helsinki, Finland, were rated the top cities.

Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev all ranked low on political stability, personal safety and health issues.