Toronto Places 15th in Ranking of World’s Best Cities – The Toronto Observer

Toronto is the 15th best city in the world, according to a recent ranking. And no, the list wasn’t out of 15.

Resonance Consulting, a Vancouver-based firm, has released their annual list of the world’s best cities, and Toronto placed 15th. 

The requirement for consideration included having a population of over a million, with Resonance then looking at such factors as social infrastructure, education, health care, tree cover, economic development and more. 

Toronto placed directly above Seoul and directly behind Los Angeles, with London taking the win for the tenth year in a row. 

Torontonians, accustomed to gridlock traffic, $20 cocktails and bleak winter weather may be skeptical of their home city’s place on the list, but what about an outsider’s perspective?

Delphine Rapenne, a French native who has returned to Toronto multiple times as a tourist, thought that the city’s placing was spot-on. 

“I mean I have not been to every city on this earth, but from all the ones I have been to, it remains one of my favourite. I think it deserves its ranking because it is very walkable, it has beaches and plenty of little parks.

“It’s not just a sterile concrete metropole like many big cities nowadays. I have not had any bad experiences with people I encountered there, and I generally felt safe walking alone as a woman.”

Toronto: Love it, but can’t afford it

Though locals may tire of seeing — and being inconvenienced by — ubiquitous construction, the Resonance listing actually saw that as a positive. Describing the skyline as “buzzing with development,” Resonance viewed the hundreds of cranes scattered across downtown as a sign of revitalization and economic growth. 

Rapenne, who hails from a city in Northeastern France called Nancy, says that though she loves Toronto, she wouldn’t move here.

The reason? “It’s affordability! That is to me the major problem with it. Food, services and housing are very pricey, and it makes it complicated to do a lot of things there when you have to keep an eye on your budget.” 

Rapenne also said she would miss the historic nature of her home. “It has an extremely varied panel of architecture, with buildings dating back to the 1400s! I love old buildings, and it makes me feel safe to know that people have been living there for a great period of time and that the people after them have taken great care of their edifices. Not to mention we have the prettiest square in the world, the Place Stanislas.” 

Toronto, unlike Nancy, is not as big on its historic edifices. Thankfully for us, neither is Resonance.     

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