Toronto named world's best city to live: Economist magazine

Yahoo Canada News/Wikimedia Commons - Toronto skyline

If you ask any Torontonian, they’ll probably already tell you they live in the best city in the world, but thanks to a series of ego-inflating studies by The Economist, now there’s some validation.

The city was named the best overall place to live, after scoring highly on the U.K.-based magazine’s business environment, democracy, food security, safety and livability indices.

Montreal, the only other Canadian city in the rankings, clinched second in the shortlist of 25 cities. 

“Deciding where to live is a personal choice for many city residents. For some, safety will be paramount. Others will prioritise culture and creativity. Two neighbours may hold opposite views on democracy and the cost of living,” acknowledges the Economist’s Intelligence Unit in the report. “The average rankings for the 25 best-performing cities are set out below – Toronto in Canada is a consistent performer across the five other indexes, putting it top overall.”

While, Toronto placed fourth on both the Business Environment and Livability rankings, the city only scored eighth in the Safe Cities index, which was topped by Tokyo. Indicators include pedestrian friendliness, gun regulation and enforcement and drug use.

Toronto’s weakest ranking was in the cost of living category where it sat at 70, smack dab in the centre of 140 spots, behind cities like Tehran, Rio de Janeiro, Abu Dhabi and even San Francisco.

Surprisingly, Toronto’s bar-raising former mayor Rob Ford and billboard-dancing hip hop superstar Drake weren’t considered in the metrics.

Best overall place to live:

10. Chicago

9. Sydney

8. Washington, DC

7. Zurich

6. Melbourne

5. San Francisco

4. Amsterdam

3. Stockholm

2. Montreal

1. Toronto