We've Done It Again...

Vancouver has once again been picked as the fourth best city in the world in which to live, according to the Mercer Quality of Living report. Well, of course. The top four cities -- in order -- are Vienna, Austria; Zurich, Switzerland; Geneva, Switzerland and Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand tied for fourth place. Interestingly enough, the top five cities in North America were all in Canada – Vancouver 4th, Toronto 15th, Ottawa 16th, Montreal 22nd and Calgary 26th. Honolulu was the top city in the US at 29th, and San Francisco was 30th. You can check out where your city stands by logging onto this website. Baghdad remains the lowest, at 215. Paris, France was 33rd, London, England was 38th and New York City was 49th.

Like any city, Vancouver is not without its problems, of course. In the past few years we have had an increasing incidence of gang warfare, and the justice system has failed to deal with it sufficiently. These gangs are thugs -- plain and simple -- with no regard for human life, including innocent bystanders who have been caught in the crossfire. And we are dealing with a justice system that regards the perpetrators as "victims", but that approach hasn't worked so far. Apart from that, Vancouver is an extraordinary city.

My favorite thing about Vancouver is the restaurants. We have some of the best restaurants in the world here. Because we have so many people from all over the world, we have a really wide variety of food. I like Indian food the best, and my second favorite is Japanese. And no, Japanese food isn't just sushi. One of my favorite restaurants in CinCin, (pictured here) where you will get the best Italian food outside of Italy. Just be sure not to wear slippery shoes on the tile floor -- like someone I know (who shall remain nameless) -- and I she almost broke her ankle.

Next year we are hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, so perhaps some of you might get a chance to pay us a visit and discover Vancouver.