Clear Full Forecast

We're Number 137

By 250 News

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 04:00 AM

Prince Gerge, B.C.- According to Money Sense Magazine, when it comes to the best places in Canada to live, Prince George does not make the top ten.
 
The number one city in Canada,  is Victoria. It bumped Ottawa out of the top spot, beating the Nation’s capital by one point.
 
Prince George ranked 137 out of 154 cities rated. 
 
MoneySense rates cities based on income, climate, and lifestyle. City’s get points for having minimal snow, the right amount of precipitation, moderate temps, low unemployment, high incomes, number of health professionals, a college or university, air quality,  overall crime, housing costs, public transit, and something called “Buzz” which equates to the % of population employed in culture arts and sports.
 
Here’s how some other B.C. communities ranked:
 
34.  Dawson Creek
38.  Fort St. John
81.   Kamloops
96.  Kelowna
132. Terrace
137.  Prince George
148.  Prince Rupert
152. Williams Lake
153.  Quesnel
 
The worst city in the country was New Glasgow Nova Scotia, which  finished in  the number 154 spot. 
 
The co-author of the report, Bob Gerlsbreck, will be a guest on "Meisner" this morning at 9:00 on CFIS FM ( 93.1) and  here on Opinion 250 through live streaming audio.
 

Prince George, B.C-
Average household income ($):
75,416
Discretionary income (%):
28.84
New cars (%):
14.62
Unemployment rate (%):
7.1
Provincial income tax:
2
Provincial sales tax:
3
 
 
 
 
Average House Price ($):
234,880
Time to Buy (in years):
3.11
 

Weather
 
 
 
Rain / Snow Days:
166
Precipitation (ml/year):
600.8
Days below 0C:
186.6
Particulate matter:
11
Ozone (parts per billion):
20
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lifestyle
Walk or bike to work (%):
6.7
Overall crimes (per 100,000):
20,331
Violent crimes (per 100,000):
2,397
Homicides (per 100,000):
1.2
Doctors (per 1,000):
2.22
Health professionals (% of pop.):
5.47
Population growth (% change '01-'06):
-2.1
Public transit use (%):
1.77
Hospital:
Y
College:
Y
University:
Y
Buzz (% of pop. employed in culture, arts and sports):
1.53
Zoocasa:
Zoocasa listing:
18

 

 


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Posted on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Comment Posted by: Lamb on April 28 2009 7:11 AM
You mentioned air quality in your write up. Surely a mistake??????????
Comment Posted by: diplomat on April 28 2009 7:30 AM
Relax...we are still number #1 in potholes! If one tries hard enough one can accomplish even the seemingly impossible!
Comment Posted by: gus on April 28 2009 7:47 AM
If one looks up the lifestyle list which includes
Crime - 2388
Walk/Bike % 6
Doctors/thousand 2.22
growth % (2.1)
transit % 1.56
college Y
university Y
capital N
sports N
casino N
other Y

The Prince Georger is 65th, ahead of the following

67 Kelowna
73 Dawson Creek
86 Toronto
95 Thunder Bay
102 Greater Sudbury
105 Williams Lake
117 Chilliwack
126 Abbotsford
129 Kitchener
130 Waterloo
135 Grande Prairie
137 Quesnel
141 Fort St John

http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/2008/lifestyle/Default.aspx?sub=n4&df=bestcities&sp2=1&sc1=4&d1=d

Goes to show how much air quality can pull you down.

How good is this report?????? Well ...... LOL ...

Just look at the 4th best place based on lifestyle ... Cowansville which they locate in BC rather than Quebec ......

Where are the other mistakes?

Why should this list be given any credibility?

First place in Canada for life style? Grand Falls Newfoundland

Second, Kingston Ontario, which I must admit is very nice.
Comment Posted by: gus on April 28 2009 8:16 AM
PG is 40th ... in terms of prosperity

Household income
Discretionary income
unemployment rate
new cars on the road

Vancouver is 35th
Abbotsford is 50th
Victoria is 51st
Kelowna is 58th
Kamloops is 71st

http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/2008/prosperity/Default.aspx?sub=n1&df=bestcities&sp2=2&sc1=2&d1=d

We are 107 with weather .. including air quality ... so that sinks us big time.

But hey, we really do not care do we?
Comment Posted by: diplomat on April 28 2009 9:29 AM
"PG is 40th ... in terms of prosperity."

That'll change once people get their wish that the pulpmills are shut down.
Comment Posted by: ShannanigansB on April 28 2009 9:42 AM
40th for prosperity is good, however most of the women I know have husbands who work out of town!

It would have been an interesting statistic to find out what percentage of the working population work out of town.
Comment Posted by: CheGie777 on April 28 2009 10:26 AM
How many people are wishing for the pulpmills to be shut down? They do directly employ approximately 1,000 people and indirectly keep many of the businesses in Prince George very busy. In addition, the household and discretionary income rating would be adversely affected while the unemployment rates would be going up, up, up. I think it is important for everyone to consider that the pulp mills are not the only industries that affect the air quality in Prince George - despite their size and presence.
Comment Posted by: caranmacil on April 28 2009 11:53 AM
WHO CARES!??? Sorry for the caps but either you are happy here, in which case it really doesnt matter where we rank, or you are not happy living here, in which case it doesnt matter where we rank. Get the point?
Comment Posted by: thereasonableman on April 28 2009 12:22 PM
Just another guy who can't hold a real job, trying to make a living off of something that didn't need to be done.

Try Victoria when the quake hits.
Try Victoria when war breaks out.

There are a few more things left off the list.
Comment Posted by: metalman on April 28 2009 12:32 PM
Who cares what those idiots think anyway!

If you need a magzine article to help you choose the city you live in, you probably would not like it here anyway, and we don't want you!
unless you're Mr. and Mrs. Bill Gates.
metalman.
Comment Posted by: hammmy on April 28 2009 1:59 PM
what the heck is zoocasa?
Comment Posted by: Born in BC on April 28 2009 2:32 PM
If you are independently wealthy you arent living in PG anyway unless you have roots here. 95% of residents live here because they dont have a choice and 5% live here because they have roots here. It all comes down to making the best of it. Anywhere you live you will make trade offs. That being said health is one hell of a thing to trade off.
Comment Posted by: Lamb on April 28 2009 5:56 PM
Roots are so important.
Comment Posted by: Hindsight on April 28 2009 7:35 PM
So is disposable income.
Comment Posted by: Palopu on April 29 2009 9:00 PM
The term Root in Austrailia is used to refer to the male penis. When they had the Olympics in Austrailia Canadians were walking around with Roots Canada hats. This brought smiles to the faces of the Austrailians.