MoneySense magazine says the national capital is the best place in the country to live, at least for this year, Helen Morris reports.
Helen Morris, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
It may have freezing, long winters and a quiet nightlife, but it seems the nation's capital is the place to live in Canada. According to a MoneySense survey released yesterday, Ottawa is above average on most things, but excellent in nothing. "It was to some degree a triumph of mediocrity, but it was consistent mediocrity," said Ian McGugan, editor of MoneySense magazine.
The survey of 154 communities across the country looked at a number of issues including the weather, crime, the number of doctors, income levels and whether residents could afford to buy their own home.
Ottawa failed to make it into the top 10 for any of the categories, but the city was above average in everything, finishing well ahead of second-place Victoria, and third-place Fredericton.
Victoria scored high for warm weather and lots of doctors, but very low for affordable housing and discretionary income. Fredericton scored extremely high for affordable housing and discretionary income, but low on doctors and weather.
"It does reflect the fact that Ottawa benefits from a major employer that's never going to go out of business: the federal government," Mr. McGugan said. "Household income is quite high, housing is very affordable, crime is low, lots of doctors there compared to the rest of the country, low unemployment rate and so on."
The country's financial capital didn't fare quite so well. Toronto plummeted to 51st place in 2008, having been a respectable 12th in 2007. For the first time, Statistics Canada provided MoneySense with separate figures for the City of Toronto, Mississauga, Mark-ham and so on, instead of providing one overall figure for the greaater Toronto area. "When you take away the prosperous suburbs ... essentially what you have is a city where housing is largely unaffordable," Mr. McGugan said. "Where there's a fair amount of violent crime and there are air quality issues."
Ottawa resident Maria-Lucia Castillo has just completed a master's degree and is about to head to Toronto in search of employment and to be with her husband. She is reluctant to leave the city that has been her home for the past five years. "I will definitely miss the outdoors here in Ottawa, even just the quality of the air," Ms. Castillo said. "When I go to Toronto in the summer, you can see and feel the smog."
The survey said the average house price in Ottawa was $250,123, and for Toronto it was $404,070. People earning the average income would need 2.93 times their annual salaries to cover the sticker prices of homes in the nation's capital, while Toronto buyers would need 4.94 times the average annual income. "I'm not looking forward to the living expenses in Toronto," Ms. Castillo said. "Rent is very expensive. I know I will never find housing like the one I have here in Ottawa for the same price in Toronto."
Freelance illustrator Mark Julien left his expensive shared accommodation in downtown Toronto to share an apartment with his partner in Kingston, the fourth-best place to live, according to the study. However, while living expenses are cheaper, he needed some time to become accustomed to the small-town feel. "We don't have a really big gay scene here in Kingston," Mr. Julien said. "When I was coming out, Toronto was nice because you had a little anonymity. There was a certain power in being able to walk up and down Church Street and hold my partner's hand, which I don't necessarily feel that I have here."
Graduate student Andrea Hunter moved from Ottawa to Kingston, but she doesn't believe her quality of life has declined. "If anything, it's gotten better," she said. "I'd say that anything you can get in Ottawa, you can get in Kingston. If you're concerned with shopping, services, medical care, etc. ... except for Ikea. But, since I'm not a fan of Ikea -- except for those delicious Swedish meatballs -- this doesn't affect my life at all."
MoneySense Top 10 1. Ottawa 2. Victoria 3. Fredericton 4. Kingston 5. Lévis, Que. 6. Moncton, N.B. 7. Winnipeg 8. Burlington, Ont. 9. Halifax 10. Vancouver
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