Vancouver - the most livable city in Canada and around the World

Yes, that’s right! Vancouver did it again this year and we have been ranked No. 4 among 215 cities around the world in the Mercer “Worldwide Quality of Living Survey”. I am very proud to be living in this city and specially knowing we are one of the best cities to live in around the world.

Most people don’t realize the great environment that we are living in. I think most of the residents in Vancouver don’t appreciate as much to the beautiful Mother Nature that’s surrounding us. When was the last time you had free time and went for a walk around the sea wall? Most people are just too busy these days with work or spending time with family and friends. Trying to find time to go out for a walk or hit the gym is so hard that it seems impossible sometimes.

We should all really learn to relax and just get out there! Let’s take this advantage and be proud to living in this wonderful city.

Article from The Province

A handful of new studies has given glowing reviews to Vancouver’s quality of life, ranking it among the top cities in the world in which to live. The second annual MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index ranks Vancouver as the world’s “most livable city.”

Toronto and Montreal also make the list of top-20 cities for livability. Evaluation criteria included personal freedom, climate, leisure activities and other quality-of-life factors. Vancouver is ranked No. 4 among 215 cities around the world in the Mercer “Worldwide Quality of Living Survey,” released today.

That study considered political, social, economic and environmental factors, as well as personal safety and health, education, transportation and public services.

Vancouver also is ranked No. 8 by London-based Monacle magazine on its list of best cities for quality of life. Copenhagen is No. 1 on that list, replacing Munich, which held the top spot last year. Monocle’s criteria went “beyond the usual metrics that only look at housing costs and schools” and considered such things esthetics and where one can get a good drink.
Vancouver also made the Food & Wine magazine list of top-10 restaurant cities in the world, coming in at No. 10 amid company such as New York, Paris and No. 1 city Tokyo. Vancouver is the only Canadian city to make the list.

“These accolades play a big role in attracting international media attention,” said Emily Armstrong, manager of travel media relations with Tourism Vancouver.

“I think Vancouverites have a lot of pride in their city, but it’s always neat to see that we’re getting the recognition abroad. Being seen as one of the most livable cities is a nice feeling when you’re living here.”

Source: Joe Couture, The Province

Richmond Nightmarket Food

The Richmond Summer Nightmarket has opened recently. Having been at the center of debates lately regarding whether it will be here this year, the Richmond Nightmarket is back but with some major offsets.

The tents and vendors are there but the “market” has not measured up to last year yet because half the strip is still vacant.

It was interesting to see that the parking remains at $5 when the market is 1/3 capacity. For the time being, I recommend finding free parking until the market is up and running like last year.

Especially disappointing is that the food stands are not there yet. However, according to CBC News, the food stands should be back some where from mid June to late June.

Summer Night Market 2008 (Richmond) is a go!

The Night Market 2008 has been approved by the City Council of Richmond.

The location of Night Market remains the same as last years - near Bridgeport road.

This land will be used for the night market site for the following two years.

So far, more than 160 tents have been registered!

This post here in Canada.com pretty much summarizes everything a vancouverite’s inquiries of Night Market 2008.

Entertainment Book

I had just received my entertainment book after ordering it online a few days ago. For those who don’t know, the entertainment book is jam packed with coupons on local entertainment, dining, services, and other goods.

At the moment, the book is around $15 CDN (shipping included). Originally, the book is valued at $40 dollars. Regardless of the price, I believe that you would easily recover your cost after spending two to three coupons. Many of the coupons are 2 for 1 deals like buy one get one free.

All of the book’s coupons are valid until November 2008. And since the summer just started there will be plenty of time to go through the book and save.

For more information on what is included or order online, check out their website here.

If you are looking for ideas for dates this one book will give you plenty of ideas while saving your wallet.

Pictures of Vancouver

I find myself very busy lately with studying of midterm and trying to balance my social life at the same time. Some people say men are bad at mult-tasking and I am actually starting to believe that it is true.

Over the past few days, I been working on a picture slideshow of all the best photos that I took in the past year. I would love to share this with everyone. This video also includes some of the recent picture I took around downtown Vancouver. Please visit my flickr page for additional photos @ www.flickr.com/yangsphotography/