Vancouver: Best English-Speaking City

One of the meanings for "Qole" (my Internet Name) is "Quality of Life Enjoyment/Enhancement." Well, it looks like I live in a place well suited for enjoying a high quality of life.

Looking at the Mercer 2007 World-wide quality of living survey, it is startling to realize that Vancouver is the most livable English-speaking city in the world. And if you want an English-speaking city with a comparable quality of life, you're going to have to go to Aukland, New Zealand or Sydney, Australia. Either that, or learn to speak German!

Even more startling is the fact that there are no other North American cities in the top 10, and the United States doesn't even enter the rankings until Honolulu, in lowly 27th place! San Francisco comes right behind Honolulu, and it is the first city in the continental USA on the list.

Another surprising thing is that Vancouver's close American neighbour, Seattle, was kicked to the curb, coming in at 49th place, just barely making the top 50. Portland, Oregon did a bit better, in 46th place. Note that both cities have slid down in the rankings since last year.