Revitalized waterfront, public spaces make T.O. world’s most livable city: U.S. magazine

Hey Toronto, you are a world-class city – and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Metropolis Magazine, an architecture publication, has ranked Toronto as the most livable city in the world, ahead of Tokyo and Helsinki.

“Toronto is in the midst of a transformation that will make one of the most livable cities on earth even more attractive,” the author writes.

The magazine praises Toronto’s efforts to modernize high-rise, residential towers and for Waterfront Toronto, the initiative to revitalize the city’s harbour area.

According to the magazine, the city has spacious public spaces like Nathan Phillips Square, which is home to many festivals and demonstrations. During the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, residents and tourists have gathered at the colourful 3D Toronto sign to take selfies, socialize and, of course, to celebrate the Games.

 

Although the Union Pearson Express – which connects Union Station to Toronto Pearson International Airport – opened just this year, the magazine said transit still remains a “huge issue.”

 

“Toronto has not kept up with demand, but that’s changing in a flurry of projects that will extend the subway to suburban municipalities north of the city.”

Yet the city has been plagued with delays with such projects, including the Leslie streetcar tracks, which was expected to be completed last fall. And the new TTC streetcars to be built by Bombardier are still not yet ready.

The magazine also lauds Kensington Market as one of city’s most “successful mixed-use neighborhoods” for its lively arts and food scene and mixed traffic. Pedestrian Sundays is also one of the highlights of the eclectic neighbourhood.

 

On Twitter, one person said Queen Street East and Woodbine Avenue is the most livable neighbourhood in Toronto, while others said Bloor West Village, Yorkville, The Junction, and Mimico.

 

Earlier this year, the city placed eighth overall on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s “Safe Cities Index,” behind a host of cities including Tokyo, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Sydney, but ahead of New York.

The index looked at several factors, including digital security, health security, infrastructure safety, and personal safety.

But, Toronto finished 15th in the 2015 Mercer Quality of Living survey, which measured the political, social and health environments, medical and health, schools and education, consumer goods, and housing.