Vancouver loses the top spot on The Economist’s livable cities list, with Toronto now nipping at its heels

The Economist Intelligence Unit updated its livability survey index today, dumping Vancouver from its exalted rank as the world’s most livable city for the first time in almost a decade. Toronto, on the other hand, held steady in the number four spot, which puts the city neck-and-neck with Vancouver (which fell to number three behind Melbourne and Vienna) for bronze. That said, it seems Vancouver could quite easily regain the top spot next time—apparently, the hit it took this time around was mostly the result of a major highway closure (which actually was on Vancouver Island, 120 kilometres away), something that isn’t expected to happen again any time soon. That means Toronto needs to either work on its livability (lower housing costs and transit times might help) or find a way to make life a little less lovely in the world’s more livable locales. For our part, we suggest sending Giorgio Mammoliti to Vienna. Read the entire report [The Economist Intelligence Unit] »