Toronto is the world’s eighth most livable city (if you don’t count Vancouver)

As the news cycle slows for the summer, reporters are leaning heavily on a pair of old standbys: polls and lists (a close cousin to polls). On that note, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recently ranked the world’s top cities in a livability survey, and Toronto came in a middling eighth, losing points for sprawl and limited “cultural assets.” Despite their city falling several places from its spot in previous livability rankings, Torontonians may not want to start with the usual self-deprecation—even the surveyors admitted the whole exercise was weird. Previously, the survey used 30 weighted indicators in five broad areas, including categories like infrastructure and culture. This year, the unit decided to shake things up by considering spatial qualities like isolation, pollution and sprawl instead, but they say the new features “may not have been applied in quite the right way” (for instance, pollution-plagued Hong Kong came in first). Plus, Vancouver wasn’t even considered, which is odd considering it usually scores well. If this list doesn’t help Toronto compare itself to its West Coast rival, then, really, what good is it? [The Economist]