Just like in 2008, Vancouver proves the be the best city in the Western Hemisphere, as confirmed by recent Mercer’s study of quality of living in various cities.Every year the company rates 215 cities from around the world to help companies and governments to place their employees on international assignments.

There are 37 criteria in which the 215 cities are compared to New York, which was chosen as the base city with 100 points.The city with the highest quality of living is Vienna (108.6 points), Curych – last year’s no. one – finished second (108 points).By tradition the European cities scored the most. This year only three non-European were able to fit within the top 10: Vancouver and Auckland with 107.4 points shared 4th place and Sydney closing (10th) with 106.3 points.The competition among the top 50 is outstanding when you consider that 47 cities managed to fit between the top city Vienna with 108.6 points and the base city New York with 100 points.Even though Baghdad scored by 0.9 point more than last year, it still finished at the bottom of the list. The difference between Baghdad and the second worst Bangui is 15 outstanding points.

Canadian cities absolutely excelled in the top 50 – 4th Vancouver, 15th Toronto, 16th Ottawa, 22nd Montreal and 26th Calgary all ended before US cities (29th Honolulu, 30th San Francisco, 35th Boston, 42th Portland, both Washington DC and Chicago 44th.)

To me Vancouver has always seemed as one of the most beautiful cities not just in Canada, but world wide.Seeing Vancouver scored so high again only confirms what I have always believed.Should you consider moving to this wonderful city, this guide for buying real estate in Vancouver may help you a lot.