Ottawa moves up in quality of life rankings
By Leo Valiquette, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Mon, Mar 3, 2003 2:00 PM EST
Ottawa moved up five spots to place 20th in the latest quality of life ranking of 215 world cities by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The strong showing of the nation's capital compares to a ranking of 107 for Washington D.C. The U.S. capital was also named the most dangerous city in North America.
Meanwhile, Vancouver finished second for the second year in a row, while Toronto moved up six spots to 12th.
Other Canadian cities to rank include Montreal, up to 23rd from 25th, and Calgary, up to 26th from 31st.
First place in the global rankings went for the second year in a row to the Swiss city of Zurich.
Two years ago Vancouver ranked first but lost ground to Zurich due to its problems with traffic congestion.
The study takes into account public safety, political stability, economics, culture, personal freedom, schools, transit and other public services.
On public safety alone, Canada's cities are the safest in North America, "due to strict law enforcement and low crime rates," the report said.
All five Canadian cities tied for 25th in the world on this measure.
In the U.S. the safest cities were Honolulu, Houston and San Francisco.
Some of the upward movement for Canadian cities stemmed from the decline of several Scandinavian cities that have traditionally ranked high.
For example, Helsinki dropped to 26th from sixth, while Oslo sank from 15th to 31st.
Mercer said the Scandinavian cities were re-evaluated to take into account the impact on health of the short days and long nights characteristic of their position far to the north. Prolonged periods with little daylight are known to cause a series of problems collectively known as seasonal affective disorders. Symptoms include depression, anxiety and a lack of energy.
Many popular tourist locations ranked far from the top.
Paris ranked 31st, while London came 39th. New York placed 44th.
At the bottom of the scale was Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, at 215th.
The Iraqi capital of Baghdad ranked in 213th place. Mercer warned it could slip to the bottom of the list if war breaks out.
Luxembourg ranked as the safest city in the world. Bangui, in the Central African Republic, was deemed the most dangerous.
By Leo Valiquette, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Mon, Mar 3, 2003 2:00 PM EST
Ottawa moved up five spots to place 20th in the latest quality of life ranking of 215 world cities by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
The strong showing of the nation's capital compares to a ranking of 107 for Washington D.C. The U.S. capital was also named the most dangerous city in North America.
Meanwhile, Vancouver finished second for the second year in a row, while Toronto moved up six spots to 12th.
Other Canadian cities to rank include Montreal, up to 23rd from 25th, and Calgary, up to 26th from 31st.
First place in the global rankings went for the second year in a row to the Swiss city of Zurich.
Two years ago Vancouver ranked first but lost ground to Zurich due to its problems with traffic congestion.
The study takes into account public safety, political stability, economics, culture, personal freedom, schools, transit and other public services.
On public safety alone, Canada's cities are the safest in North America, "due to strict law enforcement and low crime rates," the report said.
All five Canadian cities tied for 25th in the world on this measure.
In the U.S. the safest cities were Honolulu, Houston and San Francisco.
Some of the upward movement for Canadian cities stemmed from the decline of several Scandinavian cities that have traditionally ranked high.
For example, Helsinki dropped to 26th from sixth, while Oslo sank from 15th to 31st.
Mercer said the Scandinavian cities were re-evaluated to take into account the impact on health of the short days and long nights characteristic of their position far to the north. Prolonged periods with little daylight are known to cause a series of problems collectively known as seasonal affective disorders. Symptoms include depression, anxiety and a lack of energy.
Many popular tourist locations ranked far from the top.
Paris ranked 31st, while London came 39th. New York placed 44th.
At the bottom of the scale was Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, at 215th.
The Iraqi capital of Baghdad ranked in 213th place. Mercer warned it could slip to the bottom of the list if war breaks out.
Luxembourg ranked as the safest city in the world. Bangui, in the Central African Republic, was deemed the most dangerous.
