Experiencing Livability

This blog has been severely neglected, due in part to being busy doing everything I possibly can in this amazing city and province, and also sometimes doing nothing!

I have fallen in love with the place and really enjoy the lifestyle here. Last year Vancouver was given the title of the most liveable city in the world by the annual Economist Quality of Living  Survey. Dropping to 3^rd place behind this year, to Melbourne(1^st) and  Vienna (2^nd), the survey of living conditions was designed primarily for companies to decide how much to pay employees and where to open businesses. The surveys have also drawn the attention of media around the world and have become topics for discussion. The Economist use some data from Mercer who also carry out the survey, taking into account  factors such as the widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk and an effective infrastructure. Whilst living in Vancouver, I have been thinking about what liveability means, and how the combination of living conditions affects people’s wellbeing. It is made clear by Mercer that there is a difference between quality of living and quality of life, the first being basic individual needs that are met in a certain situation and the second being a more subjective and about someone’s personal and emotional wellbeing. Someone could be living in a place with high livability ratings but personal circumstances could lead them to a poor quality of life. Mercer claims to have designed an objective way to measure quality of living, based on factors that people say are representative of quality of living, and assessing 10 key categories. The survey has been criticized for being too western-centric, and also doesn’t take into account cost of living when looking at livability.

Whilst thinking about the people who live in Vancouver, I wondered if everyone’s representations of quality of living are the same; one man’s punch may be another man’s poison. Would all agree that this is the top 3 most livable cities in the world and experience the livability factors? For example, for a homeless woman in downtown eastside Vancouver, the poorest postcode in Canada with high crime, drug and violence rates, her safety being jeopardized daily and her choices being extremely limited, would she agree with the high livability ratings? Or a recent immigrant from rural Mexico, coming from a tight community and now trying to find a community and employment opportunities in the city, would he agree? Having said this, the surveys do make it clear they are only using objective measures to determine livability, relating to a broad population rather than to individual quality of life.

I will be learning more about these livability surveys and their uses in my MSc in Wellbeing and Human Development starting soon, so hopefully some of these ramblings can be advanced! I think it is about a combination of many factors including basic survival needs, to choices, freedom, health care, community and more. Whether Vancouver can be rightfully be given a shiny badge for being a very livable place through these surveys or not, I am going to give it my own shiny badge for being such a damn fine place which I feel so grateful to have experienced. My reasons are below (in no particular order), and if you are thinking of where you could go for your next holiday, consider this……..

§  Connection with nature; the city is very green and leafy, with massive old trees lining the streets, supplying fresh oxygen and a feast for the eyes.  Green spaces are used very well. People take good care of their gardens and areas in front of their houses, and there are community allotments even in center of the city

§  The vista; from almost anywhere in the city you can see the crisp snowcapped mountains, or the horizon out to sea, making you feel more connected to the earth!

§  Proximity to mountains/ beach/ forests/ lakes, all within reasonable distance and all of incredible beauty and colour

§  Aesthetically pleasing houses and other architecture and so varied, from Hong Kong style high rises downtown, to wooden, colourful 2 tone houses on wide streets

§  Cleanliness and people taking responsibility for the city, including good recycling awareness and systems (Greenpeace was formed here, no wonder)

§  The openness…People talk to each other in the street; generally that is only done in the countryside at home! Also people chat on public transport; I actually had to adjust to this when first arriving, with an initial feeling of English awkwardness when people first talk but it didn't take me long to get well into chatting to strangers- you learn allsorts! Some people don’t want to talk, but if eyes meet there is generally an exchange of smiles

§  Liberally minded people and no fear of people expressing themselves; anything goes and differences are celebrated. The positive, quirky attitude of Vancouverites is uplifting

§  Loads going on but without the feel of too much and not rushed

§  Efficient public transport with pleasant bus drivers who go out of their way to help you enjoy your trip and find your way… refreshing!

§  A multi-cultural city that is reflected in the huge variety of music, theatre, and food (mmm the food, so delicious, generous helpings and veggie friendly)

§  The love of animals….. dogs seem to be involved with everything and people love cats too. Kids are also part of everything with lots of young families, so there is just endless cuteness!

§  People are active in Vancouver with sports and outdoor activities. It would be possible to ski in the morning and sail in the afternoon- although people may not go this far, they get stuff done!