Local residents may want to keep Squamish's awesomeness a secret, but it could be too late, now that it has easily beaten Vancouver in a national set of livability rankings.
Squamish was ranked 49th out of 415 cities across Canada, in the latest annual ‘best Canadian cities to live’ rankings by financial magazine MoneySense.
For comparison, North Vancouver came in 64th place, West Vancouver in 87th, Vancouver in 88th, Richmond in 129th and Burnaby in 182nd. However, Squamish was bested by Whistler, in 20th spot.
Oakville, Ontario was considered the top spot in the country to set up home, scoring high for a strong economy, great amenities and low crime. The top three were all Ontario cities, with Ottawa in second place and Russell in third. (We're sure it's a coincidence that MoneySense is based on Ontario.)
Squamish's ranking looks even better when the results are isolated by B.C. cities only, placing third out of 60 B.C. cities.
The top B.C. city to live was Fort St. John, followed by Whistler, Squamish, Delta, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Vancouver in seventh. However, even Fort St. John was only 15th overall, with no B.C. cities making it into the national top 10.
MoneySense’s rankings offer a cool interactive feature, in which you can create your own livability rankings depending on what matters most to you.
For example, Vancouver shoots up to the nation’s #1 spot if you prioritize a strong economy/wealth and great amenities, and de-prioritize housing affordability and low crime. No surprises there, then.
You can also delve deeper into a range of other rankings, from the best city for weather, to best for retirees, for young families, new Canadians and so on. Check them out here.
