According to AFP, Vancouver is the softest city in the world
…and Harare is the hardest city in the world.
The rating system ranged from “zero (intolerable) to 100 percent (ideal).” Vancouver got 98 percent (the best), and Harare got 37.5 (the worst). However, the Harare in my memory (I have not been there since 1993) was not bad at all. It had its magic and moments. The Harare of today (the Harare that got such low marks) must be the zombie of the Harare in my memory. That Harare was much closer to Salisbury.
The photo of Vancouver is by photo Po Yang; the photo of Harare is by ctsnow.
Oh good, so the Downtown Eastside is no longer a hotbed of drugs and unreported muggings and murders? Vancouver works fast on cleaning that stuff up– last time they had a string of “suspicious deaths”(murder that is not listed as a crime stat) was, what, January?
I bet it’s a beautiful gentrified slice of heaven now.
Harare is worse than Mogadishu? Or Rangoon? Or Pyongyang? Yikes.
How can a city with one of the highest costs of living in the world simultaneously be the easiest city in which to live? A living wage for a person working 40 hours a week here is $16.75. I make $14.50, and I find living here exceptionally difficult.
Also, Vancouver is just generally lame.
You’re linking to AFP content via Breitbart.com? Andrew Breitbart.com? Really? Let me help you out
what was Harare called when Zimbabwe was Rhodesia?
I’d have to agree.
Oh, and Jocelyn, you forgot one thing …. you have health care there even if you are working part time.
Way less stressful, unless you choose to live in a fancy neighborhood you can’t afford or are a drug user.
But hey, those are flaws that will make your life hard regardless of where you live.
@3- Yeah, Vancouver is freakishly expensive for rent. Other things, not so much- food is pretty cheap still. I’m looking for an apartment right now close to UBC and $1200/month is a steal. Ughgh. There are basement suites in Kerrisdale renting for $1200 a month now. (I’m on student loans)
But, all in all, I love living in Vancouver. The ocean, the mountains, the transit system. The public parks are clean and plentiful (much better than vienna). I go to VanDusen a couple times a week- life is good.
The mental health services are Ok, if you’re young and not too antisocial. They need to be improved, with lots more inpatient space, for the homeless. Addictions centres and detox centres need to be expanded. We’ve got our problems, but if you take advantage of what we have, and try to ignore the entirety of kitsilano/yaletown, you have a good shot at happiness.
This survey only analyzes 5 factors and really seems to be glossing over a hell of a lot, in terms of Vancouver’s liveability.
6 – There are no affordable neighborhoods in Vancouver. In order to live in an affordable neighborhood, one has to move to the suburbs (only some of which have efficient public transit to the city). There has also been huge cuts in social housing, which has lead, among other things, to a huge increase in homelessness.
Also, BC healthcare costs $50/month. If you made less than $28,000 in the last tax year (far below the living wage in Vancouver), you can get some assistance. If you made less than $18,000, you can get it for free. Other than that, though, it’s still $50/month, which is kind of a lot. Not that I don’t see the vast difference between that and the American system. But in Montreal, for example, housing is significantly more affordable and healthcare is paid fully through people’s taxes.
That said, Vancouver seems to have been hit much less hard by the current economic situation (thusfar). A year ago, there were more jobs than people. At this point, it’s pretty much evened out. That said, a lot of those jobs are for $8.00/hour, which a person cannot possibly survive on.
7 – I find food pretty expensive, particularly since I live in the downtown core (my building is a delapitated island of cheapness surrounded by expensive high-rises). There are some cheaper grocery stores, but you kind of have to travel to get to them.
I think Kitsilano and Yaletown are, on the whole, a lot cooler than Coal Harbour. But you’re right, Vancouver does have lots of good qualities. I’m just kind of cynical and homesick for Chicago.
Oh, and 7 – good luck on your apartment search! You might want to broaden your search further down Broadway. The 99 doesn’t take too long to get to UBC, and you can sometimes find a one-bedroom for closer to $900 in Mount Pleasant.
Affordable neighborhoods and you’re looking in upscale Kits? man, no wonder you have a hard time.
Use the Skytrain plus the bus like everyone else does.
11 – Do you know where UBC is in relation to the Skytrain as opposed to where it is in relation to Kits?
Will @11, then you’re living in fucking Burnaby or, god help you, Surrey. Or, yeah, Mount Pleasant, as Jocelyn pointed out. I’m not sure that it’s changed much since I lived there — hookers and drug addicts. I left after I was attacked one night getting off the bus. No thank you.
Jocelyn, you have my sympathies. Get out into the mountains as much as you can.
LLOLOLOLOMOCON.
CHARLES MUDDY THE WATER TRUSTS SOME RATING MORR THAN HIS OWN MEMORY. AFTER ALL THAT TALK ABOUT MEMORIESSSS???? YOU ARE A TEABAG TRAY (IN THE DIRTY WAY) FOR CAPITALIST PIGS: ‘YES SIRRAH, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?’
@12 – yes, I used to ride Skytrain from New West and Burnaby to hop on the bus to Kits. You know where the VFF is? Look at the nice tan building across from the park where everyone has shiny uniforms …
@13 – dudes, in terms of risk factor, there are maybe 10 blocks in the entire GVRD that are unsafe.
Well, except for pig farmers.
15/16 and all:
“i’m from another city but i feel confident commenting on your city!” ie: fnarfisms
fuck, slog stinks.
15 – Jesus Shit Christ that’s a long ride.
But I have to agree. If there’s one thing Vancouver is not, that’s unsafe (generally). Even when I lived in Strathcona – a block away from Hastings – and had to take the Hastings bus ever morning before the sun came up, I did not feel in danger of anything more than discomfort. I do find it really creepy, however, that when you wait for a bus on East Hastings, passers-by assume you are a hooker and try to get you to get into their cars. Ew. As if.
17 – “I’m one of the nine trillion unregistered commenters who only comment to mention how much Slog commenters suck.”
Will used to live here apparently. He’s entitled to an opinion. Suck a fuck.
@10- Thanks-yeah, I think I may have to broaden my search east.
I go to produce stands, import shops, and then supermarkets only for milk/meat. It’s a lot easier to find cheap food if you live in a poorer neighbourhood.
I don’t think I’ve ever even been to coal harbour! I rag on kits, but it can be fun. I find that if I spend time in the more affluent neighbourhoods, I start wanting more stuff (clothes, yoga mats, organic soap) that I can’t afford. It’s better for me to stay away from all of that.
And yes, Vancouver feels very safe. I used to have to catch the bus at Main/Hastings every night, and never had a problem.
The only time I’ve ever been physically assaulted was by the RCMP, so there you go.
20, 21 – Yeah the RCMP and Vancouver Police are terrorists, and I do not mean that sarcastically.
Also, there’s really no reason to go to Coal Harbour. Especially now that they’ve gotten rid of the upside-down church on the seawall (by popular demand), which was the only cool thing in my neighborhood.
@11- I’m in an extremely intense program, and simply cannot spend 3 hours a day on transit. It is the difference between passing and failing for me, so I pay more and go deeper into debt. It’s a trade-off, right? Lots of people choose to live in the city, and just have crappier/smaller apartments. It depends on what’s important to you.
If you look at these two cities in the context of wealth disparity, their livibility ratings, and those of other cities at the top and bottom of the list, support the idea that countries with a smaller gap between the rich and poor have the highest standard of living, and countries with the largest wealth disparities leave the multitudes in such squalor that even basic amenities such as water and electricity are considered luxuries. America is closer to the bottom of the list near Uruguay. Canada is closer to the top near Spain – (Sweden wins, Stockholm was rated in the top ten). At the bottom of the list (sorted for Gini coefficient) are the countries that produce all of our oil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cou…
Calgary is up on the list too. The mountains are nice and there’s pretty young-ish people everywhere thanks to 15-20 years of economic boom (i.e. oil patch) but it’s also an urban sprawled, ugly, souless nightmare. And it has the most expensive beer in Canada. Fact!
And the commentor who mentioned Van’s lower eastside is dead-on.
This might be a really, really stupid list.