Port Moody has lived up to its name as a city of the arts, beating out hundreds of other Canadian communities to fall within the top 20 in the country.
At least that’s according to MacLean’s Magazine, which recently ranked Port Moody 17th in ‘culture and community’ — a combination of arts, culture, recreation and community involvement — as part of its tally of Canada’s best communities.
The magazine pitted 415 of the country’s communities against each other based on such indicators as crime, affordability, taxes, commute, amenities and health.
Communities in B.C. and Ontario dominated the top 50 with Ontario accounting for 28 of the spots while 16 others were from B.C.
Maclean’s said the two provinces have an advantage because of their strong economies and good weather compared to the rest of the country. Ontario also has Canada’s lowest health care wait times and its small towns have the least crime in the country, while B.C. benefits from low income and sales taxes.
The top three communities were Burlington, Grimsby and Ottawa, all in Ontario.
Salmon Arm was the lone B.C. city to crack into the top 10 at number six.
And while Port Moody shot up within the top 20 in the arts category and reached the top 50 when it came to amenities and average household income (37th at $1,193,348), it was pulled down as the 32nd least affordable community.
Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam landed even further down the list on the affordability index, taking 15th and 18th place among Canada’s least affordable communities.
Overall, Port Moody came in 119th, Coquitlam 142nd and Port Coquitlam 214th.
As a region, Metro Vancouver placed near the bottom on affordability, but near the top on amenities, and led all but six Canadian communities when it came to population growth. Coquitlam also ranked among the country’s burgeoning communities, and according to the magazine, is the 59th fastest growing community in Canada, one spot above Surrey.
Another category where the Tri-Cities did well was in welcoming new immigrants. Port Moody was ranked as the 39th best place for new immigrants, whereas Coquitlam ranked 45th and Port Coquitlam 94th, still enviable spots when you consider the field of over 400 communities.
According to its methodology, McLean’s did not weight each category evenly, and put the most emphasis on ‘affordability’ and ‘wealth and economy.’
— With files from The Delta Optimist
