Toronto named most youthful city in the world, out-youthing New York, Paris and London

Since the Rob Ford crack scandal kicked off, many have been searching for a feel-good story that could counter the impression peddled by late-night talk-show hosts and Taiwanese viral videos that Toronto is the drunk-drivingest, crack-smokingest, Ford-electingest city on the planet. Such a story came out today, with the announcement that Toronto has a new superlative to add to its CV: most youthful city.

YouthfulCities, an organization that helps young people create better urban communities, collected data from 25 cities this past spring and ranked them according to criteria in 16 categories (diversity, safety, mental health, food, nightlife, etc.). The results put Toronto on top, beating out Berlin, New York, Paris, Chicago and LA. “Toronto has a lot of assets when it comes to youth,” Robert Barnard, co-founder of YouthfulCities, told the Toronto Star. “It’s the number one city when it comes to diversity.”

Despite topping the heap, the study says Toronto does have a few things to work on, such as civic participation and mental health. Transit, too, is a challenge. “One of the things we’re looking at is the bike rental program,” Barnard said. “If city council had cancelled Bixi . . . there is a possibility that Toronto would not have won.”

Here’s the full list, complete with scores:

Toronto: 843.85

Berlin: 836.44

New York: 831.98

Dallas: 784.06

Paris: 775.25

Chicago: 774.53

London, UK: 762.40

Los Angeles: 754.39

Tokyo: 735.91

Seoul: 723.59

Buenos Aires: 714.03

Mexico City: 674.24

Rome: 667.34

Johannesburg: 663.98

Lima: 655.44

Mumbai: 647.82

Sao Paulo: 646.97

Bogota: 623.41

Istanbul: 610.26

Shanghai: 583.84

Cairo: 579.57

Manila: 564.67

Lagos: 540.63

Nairobi: 434.34