WATCH: A columnist for “The Economist” magazine lumps Vancouver in with a group of cities he calls “mind-numbingly boring.” John Hua reports.
Vancouver may be a pleasant place to live, but where’s the fun in that, asks The Economist magazine.
A business travel column, written under the pen name Gulliver, states the more cities strive to be nice places to live, the less interesting they become.
Even New York has become too safe and has lost its dangerous edge, the article says.
The writer’s own hometown of London is a much nicer place than it was, but, he says, that is boring.
Vancouver rose to the top of the world’s most livable cities after measuring crime levels, transport efficiency and housing stock.
“Pleasant cities, yes, but mind-numbingly boring. What right-minded person would rank Vienna a better city than Rio, or Vancouver preferable to Paris?”
This writer says that while New York and London have not become Geneva or Vancouver, he would much rather spend time in a city with grime, danger and excitement, rather than a safe and sanitary city.
However, The Economist does not have the best track record when it comes to Vancouver. In 2011, Vancouver came in third on its list of most liveable cities, in part “reflecting recent intermittent closures of the key Malahat Highway.”
The thing is, the Malahat is on Vancouver Island. To get there, someone from Vancouver would need to spend 90 minutes on a ferry and at least that much time driving and waiting in a car.
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