CALGARY – We all know how the story goes: a home grown singer or performer struggles in obscurity in the Canadian music scene – until she’s discovered in the United States. When she skyrockets to international super-stardom, we finally notice her. And then we proudly say … “She’s Canadian!”
Maybe it’s part of our national DNA, but all too often we need some affirmation from the rest of the world to really realize how talented we are. We are truly modest to a fault. The same goes for our cities. We live in some of the best, most liveable, and most desirable places on Earth, but sometimes we don’t realize it until someone else says it first.
A group called Numbeo, the world’s largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries, calculates a quality of life index based on statistical information. Much to the surprise of some Albertans, our cities did exceptionally well in the recently released 2012 global rankings: Edmonton placed third, and Calgary placed fifth. Not in the country, but in the world!
These rankings aren’t just based on sentiment or popularity contests – there is some legitimate science behind them. An index number is calculated based on seven statistical criteria: purchasing price index, crime, health care, inflation, housing prices, traffic commute times, and pollution. Other criteria (such as weather, arts and culture, sporting events, outdoor amenities, etc.) would certainly have their place in rating cities by personal preferences. But these are difficult to quantify and compare in a meaningful way. What is a pleasant climate to some would be unbearable to others.
Berlin, Germany took the top spot this year, followed by Zurich, Switzerland. Other Canadian cities cracking the top 20 were Montreal (No. 9), Toronto (No. 11) and Vancouver (No. 16).
For Edmontonians, it may not matter if they are no. 3 or no. 1,269 – just as long as they beat their rival Calgary by two rankings, they’d be happy. But in fact, they didn’t just beat Calgary. They beat every other city in the world except two – and that is a statistic to be proud of. There are certainly economic benefits for Alberta cities’ high rankings. Increasingly, our knowledge-based industries need to attract workers not just from Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, but from around the globe. Being able to offer one of the highest qualities of life on the planet is a tremendous tool for recruiters in attracting and retaining the best and brightest talent in the world.
But the rankings go beyond a helpful marketing tool for recruiters. There is an implication for every Albertan. We each need to realize two things: 1) how fortunate we are to live here, and; 2) we are ambassadors of our cities when we travel or host international visitors, so let’s start talking like we know our cities are amazing.
How often have we all caught ourselves needlessly “dissing” our cities? “It’s dull here. There’s nothing to do. The weather is miserable. Our streets are ugly.” What’s worse, we usually don’t even know how negative we are being about our cities. This is important, because our negative attitudes will be noticed. The world is watching Canada with keen interest lately – and for the most part, they like what they’re seeing. For the first time in a long time, we are rising in prominence on the international stage, so everything we say or do will be under more scrutiny. That means we need to be more mindful of what great cities we have – and to talk them up, rather than down.
There are, of course, plenty of improvements to be made. Both Calgary and Edmonton have their flaws, and there is nothing wrong with looking to other cities for examples and lessons in how to make our own cities better. We do need to pay attention to our public spaces and our architecture. We can’t be satisfied with ugly, cheap buildings. Design and aesthetics matter!
But needlessly comparing ourselves to other places and assuming that we are second rate is not only damaging, it is also plain wrong. The world is telling us we have some of the best cities in the world. Now let’s start talking like we believe them.
Troy Media Business Columnist Todd Hirsch is Senior Economist with ATB Financial.
