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

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by SkydivePilot

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.

Personally I find the amount of wind far more relevant than the level of humidity. Which is probably why wind chill is so often used in weather forecasting, but it doesn't seem to be part of the weather stats in the official records. And although there's absolutely no "rules" here in terms of the weather, it's often fairly still when it's at its coldest (I suspect because when it's clear it's coldest due to lack of cloud cover holding in heat from the ocean, and when it's clear it's often due areas of high pressure which are usually less windy than low pressure.

I have no idea how it works in the prairies though.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Personally I find the amount of wind far more relevant than the level of humidity. Which is probably why wind chill is so often used in weather forecasting, but it doesn't seem to be part of the weather stats in the official records.

The wind chill is estimated based on temperature and wind speed, so you can figure out what the wind child was from official records. It's meant to measure things like how quickly you'll get frostbite if you have exposed skin (there are different models but it's empirically validated, not arbitrary).

EC has a table here: http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=5FBF816A-1#X-201501151120261

The wind chill gets much worse at lower temperatures. 10 km/h wind drops the perceived temperature by 3 degrees at 0 but by 13 degrees at -50.

There is no such metric for (relative) humidity at cold temperatures because it's been studied and the impact is negligible. Air doesn't hold much water around 0 degrees or lower, so there isn't much water to affect the amount of heat transfer. If you do a double blind study with a human in a cold chamber and different levels of relative humidity, they will not be able to tell you accurately which environment was more or less humid.

[Bcasey25raptor]

1) Victoria, hands down best weather and prettiest city in Canada
2) Vancouver, same as above but big
3) Quebec, historical bliss
4) Montreal, probably the best city in Canada in terms of culture
5) Halifax, love the east coast

Honourable mentions.
St. john's. NL, seriously beautiful and culturally rich atlantic city.

Calgary Alberta, Very pretty city, extremely underrated, the mountains are very close.

[rbt]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Yet another thread regressing to discussions about the weather.

I find it comforting that weather is the only thing separating Canadian cities from the perspective of these forums. Any resident could transplant to any other city and be welcome and comfortable; aside from weather preferences of course.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Calgary Alberta, extremely underrated

Except on SSP...

[Harrij]

^ in real life too. Calgary has had a deserved good reputation for some while now. Winnipeg or Edmonton would better qualify for 'extremely underrated' because public opinion generally treats them like frozen wastelands.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by Harrij

^ in real life too. Calgary has had a deserved good reputation for some while now. Winnipeg or Edmonton would better qualify for 'extremely underrated' because public opinion generally treats them like frozen wastelands.

They pretty much are. I've seen pictures of both and they both look rather ugly. Personal opinion.

[Metro-One]

Calgary does look far more polished IMO than Edmonton and Winnipeg, and has a better winter climate.

That being said, Winnipeg has a lot of character and the best (most stable) summer climate of the three cities.

Edmonton is kind of middle of the road for most aspects between the three big prairie cities.

This may be changing now though with a lot of their new proposals / projects.

[Bcasey25raptor]

I rank cities very much by location. If Vancouver was in Saskatchewan, I'd consider it —.

[ciudad_del_norte]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

They pretty much are. I've seen pictures of both and they both look rather ugly. Personal opinion.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

They pretty much are. I've seen pictures of both and they both look rather ugly. Personal opinion.

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that your visit to Calgary was during the summer then? All 3 cities are like night and day appearance wise if you compare summer to winter. Winnipeg probably has the biggest difference, but is also the greenest in the summer.

[lio45]

The Exchange District in Wpg has some nice early 20th mid-/high-rise commercial buildings, IIRC. I think it beats everything else on the Prairies for that type of architecture...

[SignalHillHiker]

Exchange and older residential areas of Winnipeg (which cover a wide area) are nicer than the equivalent in other cities. But the core... Calgary's was way better. Going there on business while living in Winnipeg was like going from the third to first world. The difference in wealth and atmosphere was striking. It'd be a bit like going from St. John's to Quebec City.

[ssiguy]

Winnipeg has the one thing that seems to be somewhat lacking in all other Western cities, a soul.

There are many lovely cities in the West with Victoria being the most but I wouldn't say the place has a lot of character. Of course all cities do have things that are interesting and unique to them which is why so many Western cities are worth the visit and are worth exploring.

A city with a soul and character however doesn't feel the need to constantly compare themselves to other places because they have a confidence in what their city is and have no desire to reinvent themselves every generation. They don't feel the need to give their city's heart a blood transfusion whenever someone points out a flaw.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by niwell

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that your visit to Calgary was during the summer then? All 3 cities are like night and day appearance wise if you compare summer to winter. Winnipeg probably has the biggest difference, but is also the greenest in the summer.

I've been to Calgary in both summer and winter. The city is still prettier due to the rocky mountains being easily seen on the horizon. Also the city itself is very hilly and has ample greenery and park space.

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

They pretty much are. I've seen pictures of both and they both look rather ugly. Personal opinion.

Opinions are like A-holes, everybody has one

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

I rank cities very much by location. If Vancouver was in Saskatchewan, I'd consider it —.

This statement right here tells me that we really shouldn't even think twice about what you have to say regarding other cities.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by Pinus

This statement right here tells me that we really shouldn't even think twice about what you have to say regarding other cities.

Landscape and climate matter a great deal when it comes to liveability.

Places that are coastal or mountainous generally see a much higher ranking from me. Areas that are flat are pretty unliveable as far as I'm concerned.

This doesn't mean Winnipeg or Edmonton — or aren't pretty in their own ways, but I've never been attracted to the prairies for the very reason that it's extremely flat.

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Landscape and climate matter a great deal when it comes to liveability.

Places that are coastal or mountainous generally see a much higher ranking from me. Areas that are flat are pretty unliveable as far as I'm concerned.

This doesn't mean Winnipeg or Edmonton — or aren't pretty in their own ways, but I've never been attracted to the prairies for the very reason that it's extremely flat.

You suffer from what is known as the "BC Bubble Syndrome". Someone who thinks only mountains matter and that nowhere else is livablel they physically cannot leave their mountain "bubble" geographical area. I have no idea if it is curable, but there are lots of people I know who suffer from it.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by Pinus

You suffer from what is known as the "BC Bubble Syndrome". Someone who thinks only mountains matter and that nowhere else is livablel they physically cannot leave their mountain "bubble" geographical area. I have no idea if it is curable, but there are lots of people I know who suffer from it.

You seem shockingly upset with my personal opinion.

I listed my 5 above and only 2 are in BC. I know what I look for in a city and area to live in and no, the prairies outside of Calgary don't interest me.

If you love it, thats great, fantastic, happy for you. But I still don't consider them liveable. 90% of Canada is unliveable climate wise anyways. Outside of coastal and southern interior BC and southern Ontario, the country is FAR too cold to offer anything close to a good quality of life.

Again, thats my opinion and NO, it is not a BC bubble as you so call it. Just so happens BC is mountainous.

Edit: my main issue with the prairies is not a lack of mountains, it's a lack of oceans. If you notice my top 5 list, 4 of the cities are coastal or at least semi coastal (quebec city).