Family Life

06.09.09 | FL News Team

Vancouver, British Columbia is the easiest city in the world to live in.  That's according to a new survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.  The liveability poll ranked 140 cities on a scale from a perfect 100 to a miserable zero based on five factors: health care, stability, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.  Canada's strong infrastructure helped Vancouver score a near-perfect 98.  Vienna, Austria came in second on the list, followed by Melbourne, Australia.  In fact, all the cities in the top ten were in Canada, Australia or Western Europe.  The other end of the scale was mostly dominated by places in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East where survey authors say civil instability and poor infrastructure pose huge daily challenges to most residents' quality of life.  Cities like Tehran; Mumbai, India; and Dhaka, Bangladesh fell near the bottom of the list.  At dead last was the Zimbabwean capital of Harare.  U.S. cities were grouped near the middle of the survey, with Washington, DC taking 35th place and Los Angeles, California coming in at 48th.