Vancouver third best city in the world

Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary also in the top 25

Vancouver is the third best city in the world in which to live, only slightly behind Swiss cities Zurich and Geneva, according to a new report.

Vancouver could have been the top city out of the 215 ranked by Mercer Human Resources' Quality of Living index if not for its crime rate, said a Mercer spokesperson.

"Crime rates in North America tend to be slightly higher than in Europe in general and this holds true when you compare locations like Zurich and Geneva to Vancouver," said Danielle Bushen, a principal at Mercer in Toronto.

All five Canadian cities that made the list — Vancouver (3), Toronto (15), Ottawa (18), Montreal (22) and Calgary (24) — beat out the American cities. The highest ranking U.S. city was Honolulu at 27.

The index is based on 39 quality of life determinants, including politics, environment, sanitation, infrastructure, personal safety and social factors. Western European cities dominated the top 30 spots, with Milan and Seattle (tied for 49) rounding out the top 50.

All five Canadian cities also made Mercer's top 25 ranking for health and sanitation, with Calgary being the top ranked city in the world. This index was based on the quality and availability of hospital and medical supplies and levels of air pollution and infectious diseases.

One of this year's biggest improvements has been in Osaka, rising 8 places to 42 from 51. Improvement was also seen in Oslo, which climbed five places from 31 to 26.

The lowest ranked city was Baghdad, with a score of only 14.5. Other cities that didn't make the top 50 list included Brazzaville in Congo (29.6), Bangui in the Central African Republic (30.6) and Khartoum in Sudan (31).

Rank 2007Rank 2006CityCountryIndex 2007
11ZURICHSwitzerland108.1
22GENEVASwitzerland108.0
33VANCOUVERCanada107.7
34VIENNAAustria107.7
55AUCKLANDNew Zealand107.3
56DUSSELDORFGermany107.3
77FRANKFURTGermany107.1
88MUNICHGermany106.9
99BERNSwitzerland106.5
99SYDNEYAustralia106.5
1111COPENHAGENDenmark106.2
1212WELLINGTONNew Zealand105.8
1313AMSTERDAMThe Netherlands105.7
1414BRUSSELSBelgium105.6
1515TORONTOCanada105.4
1616BERLINGermany105.2
1717MELBOURNEAustralia105.0
1818LUXEMBOURGLuxembourg104.8
1818OTTAWACanada104.8
2020STOCKHOLMSweden104.7
2121PERTHAustralia104.5
2222MONTREALCanada104.3
2323NURNBERGGermany104.2
2425CALGARYCanada103.6
2426HAMBURGGermany103.6
2631OSLONorway103.5
2724DUBLINIreland103.3
2727HONOLULU, HIUnited States103.3
2928SAN FRANCISCO, CAUnited States103.2
3029ADELAIDEAustralia103.1
3029HELSINKIFinland103.1
3231BRISBANEAustralia102.8
3333PARISFrance102.7
3434SINGAPORESingapore102.5
3535TOKYOJapan102.3
3637LYONFrance101.9
3636BOSTON, MAUnited States101.9
3837YOKOHAMAJapan101.7
3939LONDONUnited Kingdom101.2
4040KOBEJapan101.0
4144BARCELONASpain100.6
4245MADRIDSpain100.5
4251OSAKAJapan100.5
4441WASHINGTON, DCUnited States100.4
4441CHICAGO, ILUnited States100.4
4643PORTLAND, ORUnited States100.3
4753LISBONPortugal100.1
4846NEW YORK CITY, NYUnited States100.0
4951MILANItaly99.9
4947SEATTLE, WAUnited States99.9

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