Kelowna dips to No. 144 in city rankings

Wednesday, 21 March 2012 02:00 Kelowna Daily Courier

Think Kelowna is a great place to live? The editors of MoneySense magazine don't. A yearly ranking by the financial magazine has found Kelowna is one of Canada's worst cities to live - a lowly No. 144 on a list of 190 cities across the country. The list, which takes into account things like employment, crime, housing costs and the number of doctors, found Kelowna to be the least livable city in the Okanagan. Vernon made No. 127, while Penticton grabbed No. 132. Ottawa was deemed the best place to live in Canada. "While we can't gauge many of the elements that people enjoy in their cities, the nearness of family, the friendliness of neighbours or even great sunsets, we have measured what can be measured and compared what can be compared from towns and cities across our provinces and territories," said Moneysense in an article explaining the rankings. MoneySense said it relies on "hard measurable data," such as economic statistics, climate and crime rates, in compiling its rankings. Kelowna has been steadily falling down the list. It was 121st last year and 110th in 2010. Canada's biggest cities were not among the top-ranked places to live, according to this assessment. Vancouver's ranking was 56th, down from 29th last year, as MoneySense noted the high cost of housing in the city. Toronto was 47th, while Montreal was 149th. MoneySense started several new lists this year - none of which placed Kelowna in a good light. The city was No. 170 on the list of best cities to raise kids, and it was No. 111 on the list of best places to retire. Vernon and Penticton fared better on list of retirement spots, with Vernon taking 17th place and Penticton at 25th. However, Penticton was only nine spots up from the bottom of the list of best cities to raise kids at 181st. Vernon was No. 175. MoneySense also ranked cities for jobs. Kelowna was 110th, Vernon was 142nd and Penticton was 143rd.
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http://list.moneysense.ca/rankings/best-places-to-live/2012/Default.aspx?sp2=1&sc1=0&d1=a

Best Places to Live compiles municipal data and information from Statistic Canada and other sources. Numbers below represent rankings out of 190 cities. Where statistics are only available by province, provincial rankings are shown. Some cities have the same ranks because they are tied. For full methodology, click here. All data and calculations are on this downloadable spreadsheet.