Wich Canadians Metro Areas (over 100 000) are offering the best quality of life ?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

The Most X Days stats are fascinating.

Most Cold Days at or below -20C
Winnipeg: 57.49 days/year
Saskatoon: 52.06
Regina: 47.74
Quebec: 31.05
Edmonton: 28.09
Calgary: 25.99
Montreal: 17.75
Moncton: 16.26
Charlottetown: 8.33
Toronto: 5.23
Halifax: 1.70
St. John's: 0.96
Victoria/Vancouver: 0.00

Most Freezing Days at or below 0C
Regina: 199.63 days/year
Saskatoon: 198.89
Calgary: 195.95
Winnipeg: 194.03
Edmonton: 178.56
Moncton: 178.02
Quebec: 175.88
St. John's: 173.97
Charlottetown: 165.79
Montreal: 154.96
Toronto: 146.21
Halifax: 141.70
Victoria: 52.61
Vancouver: 45.89

Comparing the two really does demonstrate how comparatively mild but long our winter is. We rarely get cold but are middle of the pack in terms of number of days below zero. A lot of that difference is probably when it's spring everywhere else.

Certainly paints a picture why Vancouver and Victoria are so expensive. If you want mild, that's as good as it gets in Canada.

[Hali87]

I always thought London, ON seemed like the quintessential "nice place to live" for the average person. Maybe Kamloops as well.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I always thought London, ON seemed like the quintessential "nice place to live" for the average person. Maybe Kamloops as well.

Very. Both are rather boring places to visit (the former more than the latter, but I did live in the Okanagan twice in my life, and I have lived in London for 11 years), but rather decent places to live (cost of living, amenities, proximity to major urban centres, etc., etc.).

[ssiguy]

London is one of those rare cities that you would never want to visit but would like to live.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Maybe Kamloops as well.

I'd say Kelowna is a nicer on the whole, but Kamloops is a bit more affordable and doesn't have anywhere near the traffic.

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Certainly paints a picture why Vancouver and Victoria are so expensive. If you want mild, that's as good as it gets in Canada.

The thing that always strikes me is the difference between Edmonton/Calgary and Saskatoon/Regina in terms of the below 20C days.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Definitely using Canadian definitions.

Agreed on the fixation on winter. Atlantic Canada and BC, for example, have the best summers in the country, I think. Less humid than the sweaty/suffocating July/August weather in Central Canada, but without the parched dryness of the prairies. Cools off somewhat in the evenings, but stays warm enough to linger on patios, etc, late into the night, which isn't always the case in AB/SK.

I would take "parched dryness" of the prairies over coastal/Great Lake regions. +35C temperatures when it's dry is far more tolerable than +35C temps with high humidity conditions.

Conversely, during winter, a -35C, very low R.H. day, is just as tolerable as -15C temps with high humidity conditions of, such as, coastal/Great Lake regions.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Conversely, during winter, a -35C, very low R.H. day, is just as tolerable as -15C temps with high humidity conditions of, such as, coastal/Great Lake regions.

Keep telling yourself that lol,

[someone123]

I find the dryness the hardest thing to deal with as far as Prairie winter conditions go. After a day or two in Alberta I start to get nosebleeds and just generally feel miserable.

We had a "cold snap" in Vancouver about a week ago and it was pretty similar. I much prefer the humid weather we are having right now.

I like foggy days too. I wouldn't want every single day to be socked in but from time to time they're nice.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I wonder how much time people actually spend outdoors during the winter months in each city; this might have something to do with it as well. -10 is fine if you only spend a minute or two each day walking to or from the car or taking out the trash, and maybe doing winter activities at one's own discretion. I would guess that shoveling/snow clearance is probably the biggest "nuisance" for many.

I don't have a car though, so last year I'd commute 2-3k to school on foot (ideally transit, but the system was pretty much broken last year and I was always late for class when I took the bus) and generally spent about 1-2 hours per day, on average, outside.

Yes, lifestyle probably has a big impact on what you perceive as good or bad weather. The climate you are used to influences your lifestyle too so that leads to a different impression of what's good or bad in different areas. There isn't such a thing as a purely objective measure of what's a good or bad climate.

I'm not into winter sports. I don't like driving or sitting in traffic and prefer to walk or bike as much as possible. As temperatures dip much below about 5 degrees (or get above about 25) this rapidly becomes less and less pleasant. I wonder too if extreme temperatures tend to push a city toward car culture. Canada has a bunch of cities that are cold enough to make walking outside unpleasant for a good chunk of the year. Similarly a lot of sunbelt cities in the US have unpleasant summers and people in those places tend to sit in their air conditioned cars rather than walk around.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by someone123

I find the dryness the hardest thing to deal with as far as Prairie winter conditions go. After a day or two in Alberta I start to get nosebleeds and just generally feel miserable.

We had a "cold snap" in Vancouver about a week ago and it was pretty similar. I much prefer the humid weather we are having right now.

I like foggy days too. I wouldn't want every single day to be socked in but from time to time they're nice.

The problem with fog in Vancouver is that it usually happens during inversions in the winter. So out of the fog it will be 10-15 degrees and sunny in November or January, but if you are still stuck in the fog it will be 5-8 degrees cooler. It's always disappointing if you are somewhere that doesn't break through the fog.

[softee]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

Conversely, during winter, a -35C, very low R.H. day, is just as tolerable as -15C temps with high humidity conditions of, such as, coastal/Great Lake regions.

The perceptible difference in relative humidity when the temperature is below -10C is next to nothing, once you get below a certain temperature it just feels cold, and -35 will always feel colder than -15.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by csbvan

The problem with fog in Vancouver is that it usually happens during inversions in the winter. So out of the fog it will be 10-15 degrees and sunny in November or January, but if you are still stuck in the fog it will be 5-8 degrees cooler. It's always disappointing if you are somewhere that doesn't break through the fog.

Yeah, often when it's foggy around downtown Vancouver it's sunny and cold. It is frustrating when it's February or so and downtown is socked in while the weather is great to the east.

In Halifax it's the opposite. It can be foggy on warm summer nights and when it's foggy in the winter it's usually calm and mild. The warm days tend to be humid (Atlantic weather systems from the south) and the cold days tend to be clear (continental weather systems from the west).

[SignalHillHiker]

For us, fog can happen any time. In summer it keeps things cool, generally below 15C. And in winter it's the same as Halifax - generally means it's above freezing. Sun = "cold" here too. If the sky is clear, it's definitely below freezing.

[SignalHillHiker]

McGill University is trying to figure out what makes us so happy. They have a few researchers here now.

A paper published in the scientific journal ‘Chronic Diseases in Canada’ compared the mental health of people living in Canada’s 10 Provinces. The authors conclude that ‘Among the few consistent provincial differences was the good mental health in Newfoundland where respondents reported among the highest sense of coherence, most happiness and least amount of depression and distress.'

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mental-health-newfoundland-1.3361419

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

For us, fog can happen any time. In summer it keeps things cool, generally below 15C. And in winter it's the same as Halifax - generally means it's above freezing. Sun = "cold" here too. If the sky is clear, it's definitely below freezing.

Also if it's unseasonably warm you can guarantee the winds are probably blowing over 60 km/h

[SignalHillHiker]

Yeah, light breeze those days.

It's a dry wind.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Yeah, light breeze those days.

It's a dry wind.

Here in K-W, we don't get all that much wind (referring to the weather, not the effects of eating schmecky food!), but when we do it tends to be windy. Sometimes wet and windy, unless of course it's sunny in which case it can be windy and dry.

[SkydivePilot]

Originally Posted by north 42

Keep telling yourself that lol,

Yeeesss, I sure do; subjectivism is bliss. ( . . and I've been to every region of Canada and experienced each of their respective seasons.)

[MolsonExport]

Yet another thread regressing to discussions about the weather.