Windsor ranks as one of nation's best places to live -- really!

Windsor ranks as one of nation's best places to live -- really!
'You're obviously in the top 15 per cent'

Dalson Chen, The Windsor Star
Published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Cheer up, Windsor residents -- MoneySense magazine still considers the city among the best places to live in the country.

Every year, the Canadian financial magazine compiles data on communities across the nation to create rankings that it describes as "the fairest, most unbiased guide you can find to Canadian communities."

In the latest edition of the list, found in the May issue of MoneySense, Windsor places 21st out of 154 surveyed communities.

"You're obviously in the top 15 per cent. I would imagine most people would say that'd be good," said MoneySense editor Ian McGugan.

"It all depends on what your expectations are. I've got angry letters from Victoria, B.C., which finished No. 2, saying 'Why the hell aren't we No. 1?'"

How well a city ranks depends on a variety of numerical factors, worked into a point system with a maximum score of 100.

Among the criteria: weather and air quality, housing, income, unemployment, crime and amenities.

Windsor's best numbers were in the time it takes to save up enough money to make a down payment on a house (2.05 years) and in the amount of sub-zero temperature days we have to endure (122.8, among the fewest in the country).

"Outside of the pollution, you guys have some of the best weather in Canada," McGugan said.

"Your housing affordability is great. You compare that to Toronto or Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, where people are paying obscene amounts for a house and taking on 40-year mortgages for half a million dollars or more."

Windsor did well in terms of average house price ($162,400), the number of new cars on our streets (15 per cent are 2004 models or newer), and our average household income ($79,135).

"If you look at some of the underlying numbers, Windsor has a lot more to be proud of than I think people realize," McGugan said.

"There's an image of Windsor being economically downtrodden. But in terms of household income, you guys are not that far behind Ottawa.... There's a fair bit of money in the city that I think is not apparent to people at first glance."

Our worst scores were in the categories of: unemployment (9.3 per cent), air quality (10 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter), medical professionals (only 1.4 doctors per 1,000 residents), and the amount of people who walk or bike to work (a paltry 5.7 per cent of the workforce).

Windsor's rank of 21st this year is actually lower than our showing in 2007, when we placed 18th. But McGugan pointed out that only 123 communities were ranked in last year's list, compared to 154 this year.

Multiple official sources -- including StatsCan, Environment Canada, and the Canadian Medical Association -- were gleaned for the data used to create the annual list, which is now in its third year.

According to McGugan, the MoneySense ranking is very fair because it relies on numbers, not intangibles, which means factors like Victoria's spectacular scenery isn't as important as its pricey real estate.

"The whole point of the ranking ... was to do it purely by the numbers. There's no subjective opinion involved," McGugan said.

Ottawa was ranked number one on this year's list. The small city of Port Alberni, B.C., placed dead last.

McGugan wasn't surprised to learn that some Windsorites might not have expected the city to do so well on the list. "I think people often tend to believe in the image they've created, or the image that's been created for them," he said.

"People in Windsor have been told for years now, 'You live in a decaying industrial city. You're polluted, you're tied to the fortunes of an industry that's in decline.' And I think, after a while, people begin to believe it and not look at some of the quite positive factors."

Where's Leamington now?

Leamington fared even better than Windsor on the list, reaching 15th place. However, that's still well below Leamington's performance in 2006, the first year the list came out -- when Leamington was ranked number one.

McGugan said Leamington's sudden drop was likely a result of the refinement of the methodology used to create the list. The categories of air quality and medical professionals weren't a part of the 2006 list, and both factors have hurt Leamington's overall score.