About the Blog:

Guelph Politico is locally sourced and dedicated to covering the political and cultural scene in the City of Guelph. Est. 2008.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

We're Number... Seven?

At least in a couple of categories according to Richard Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, in his latest book, Who’s Your City? Below you'll find how Guelph ranks amongst other cities in Canada, in five categories, in this convenient chart form:

BEST PLACES IN CANADIAN PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES (*)

OVERALL

SINGLES

MID-CAREER

FAMILIES

EMPTY-
NESTERS

RETIREES

1

Calgary

Ottawa-Gatineau

Ottawa-Gatineau

Toronto

Ottawa-
Gatineau

2

Iqaluit

Calgary

Toronto

Ottawa-
Gatineau

Toronto

3

Ottawa-Gatineau

Whitehorse

Calgary

Calgary

Calgary

4

Victoria

Yellowknife

Fredericton

Victoria

Victoria

5

Yellowknife

Iqaluit

Yellowknife

Canmore

Montreal

6

Edmonton

Edmonton

Guelph

Charlottetown

Vancouver

7

Guelph

Guelph

Quebec City

Vancouver

Kingston

8

Canmore

Victoria

Kingston

Montreal

Quebec City

9

Whitehorse

Toronto

Hamilton

Parksville

Guelph

10

Montreal

Montreal

Montreal

Kingston

Halifax



(*) From Who’s Your City? by Richard Florida (Appendix C, p. 326).

But who is this dude? Here's his bio from the City press release: "Richard Florida is one of the world’s leading public intellectuals on economic competitiveness, demographic trends, and cultural and technological innovation. He is a regular columnist for The Globe and Mail and has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Economist, The Harvard Business Review, and The Atlantic Monthly."

Also from the press release: "The revised Canadian edition of Florida’s international bestseller used a number of important factors to determine each city’s ranking; the percentage of the city’s population that fits a particular life stage, underlying economic conditions (regional economic growth and a measure of creativity, talent and tolerance), amenities and quality of life factors (arts and culture), and specific cost of living."

So there you go, so if you're single, in mid-career, have a family, or are retired, you've got it made in the shade here in the Royal City. Sorry, Empty-Nesters.

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