Tuesday, August 30, 2011

We're Number Three!

Shame:
The Australian city of Melbourne has beaten Canada's Vancouver to the title of world's most liveable city for the first time in almost a decade.

Vancouver has topped the annual Global Liveability Survey since 2002, but this year fell to third behind Vienna.

Overall, Australian and Canadian cities did well, capturing seven of the top ten spots.

Harare, Port Moresby and Dhaka occupied the bottom of the table.

The cities were assessed in five categories - stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Vancouver missed out on the top spot because its infrastructure score had fallen due to periodic closures of a key motorway.
Periodic not-having-a-summer may also play a role, but yes, we shoulda just not repaired that road.

IT-GETS-BETTER UPDATE

The crack team of the Economist's Intelligence Unit at work:
The change in score is, in part, “reflecting recent intermittent closures of the key Malahat Highway,” the magazine said.

The thing is, the Malahat is on Vancouver Island. To get there, someone from Vancouver would need to spend 90 minutes on a ferry and at least that much time driving and waiting in a car.
I blame Vancouver's lowered rating on Seattle's proximity.

26 comments:

Jennifer said...

#3?? Hmmmf. I shan't be back.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Columbus is rated highly for being fat and drunk.
~

Substance McGravitas said...

My mother moved here from Calgary recently. A quote: "It's like there's something to do every day!"

mikey said...

Wow! Look how much I have in common with Columbus. Except I didn't bring smallpox to the new world, or anything like that.

Nonetheless, this failed focus on maintaining their position at the top of this prestigious list may explain why Canada has worked so hard to keep me from living there. Apparently, I'M why we can't have nice things.

So you'll have to forgive me is I indulge in a small frisson of schadenfreude at Vancouver's freefall towards the wretched ranks of Port Moresby...

W/V calls our attention to the book containing the inerrant word of the lord of skin care products: keran

Dragon-King Wangchuck said...

The free fall is worse than you might imagine. Having dropped all the way down to third, Vancouver is now just one spot (0.2 percentage points) above LEAFS SUCK. You guys better start not repairing any roads!

M. Bouffant said...

Overall, Australian and Canadian cities did well, capturing seven of the top ten spots.

Seems skewed to the "English-speaking peoples."

Figures.

Substance McGravitas said...

There are other languages?

mikey said...

Так. Я маю на увазі, зрештою, в Україну у нас є прекрасні ковбаси.

fish said...

I seem to recall Australia having sun.

Substance McGravitas said...

Obviously they stole it.

Smut Clyde said...

Australia also has Australians, which would have thought would cost them points.

Substance McGravitas said...

It's a cultural and environmental issue!

Hamish Mack said...

It seems that Auckland has usurped Wellington in the placings of new Zild cities. I detect the hand of The Illuminati, your grace.

Smut Clyde said...

Seems skewed to the "English-speaking peoples."

The "infrastructure" part of the scoring handicaps small, non-sprawling, non-car-choked cities that don't need so much of a train network because people can bike around. E.g., Copenhagen.

The presence of Auckland and Sydney kind of brings the whole list into disrepute.

Substance McGravitas said...

Vancouver is not much of a great city unless you live right in the middle of it. Large swaths are big box homes with access to very little inside ambitious walking distance. Some sort of aggregate walk score is probably a better marker for the proles.

Obviously if you're docking points because a roadway is being worked on that's kind of nutty in itself, but it speaks to the nature of the people the report is for: rich folks who drive or have others drive for them. Cheap information to follow up on.

Substance McGravitas said...

You can see that in typing "homes" instead of "houses" The Man has gotten into my brain.

Substance McGravitas said...

Amusement:

The change in score is, in part, “reflecting recent intermittent closures of the key Malahat Highway,” the magazine said.

The thing is, the Malahat is on Vancouver Island. To get there, someone from Vancouver would need to spend 90 minutes on a ferry and at least that much time driving and waiting in a car.

Smut Clyde said...

“It’s probably a bad example given the geographical distance from downtown Vancouver — but it was the strongest example we had of road closures in the region.”

So the 'strongest example' they had was 'probably a bad example'?
You go in to lower Vancouver's ratings using the excuses you have, not the excuses you'd like to have.

Substance McGravitas said...

Really, getting to Seattle is easier and takes about as long, so talk about the traffic on the I-5 instead. IT SUCKS.

tigris said...

I think they lowered Vancouver because they finally got around to visiting other cities. When they visit more than the two you'll be in big trouble.

Substance McGravitas said...

Yes, but those cities have culture and we'll grow some new awesome culture any decade now.

Smut Clyde said...

Do they actually *visit* the cities they rate? Even Harare?

Substance McGravitas said...

For the one-issue price of $3150 you'd hope it would be better than Lonely Planet.

Smut Clyde said...

But the whole point of their 5-category scoring system is that it's all objective and can all be quantified by information on the WWW.

Also, Helsinki? "Culture and environment"? Have you ever tried to buy a beer there?

we'll grow some new awesome culture any decade now.

But you have the Biodiversity Museum!

Substance McGravitas said...

Those are mostly preserved cultures.

M. Bouffant said...

You can see that in typing "homes" instead of "houses" The Man has gotten into my brain.

Hate that. At this end of the 5 we are always hearing of how many "homes" are threatened by wildfires. Someone theorized that "houses" makes prudes think of cathouses, thus "homes."

And the 5 SUCKS at this end too.