Are you a Canadian between the ages of 20 and 36 and therefore a member of the so-called Millennial generation? If so, then you might be happiest calling Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto or Ottawa home, at least according to a new ranking of the best cities in the world for young people to live.
Nestpick, a Berlin, Germany-based startup that helps students and expats find furnished apartments abroad, compiled a list of 100 cities around the world that might be considered dream destinations, from the truly iconic — think New York, Paris and Los Angeles — to offbeat hubs for cultural immersion like Medellin, Colombia, Cape Town, South Africa and Porto, Portugal. They then assigned each city a score out of 10 for each of 16 different factors deemed to be most important to Millennials’ quality of life, from basics like employment opportunities, availability and affordability of housing, health care and transportation to social considerations like tolerance for immigrants and LGBT people. Each city was also scored on its nightlife, festival scene, food … and beer.
The city with the best overall score was Amsterdam, which was rated particularly high for its startup-friendly culture, social inclusivity and nightlife. European cities made up the bulk of the top 10, with the exception of number 10: Vancouver. Canada’s third-biggest city scored well virtually across the board, except in the categories of housing and, surprisingly, nightlife (care to weigh in, Vancouverites?).
Coming it at number 15, Montreal boasted a high nightlife score, but fell short in the area of employment opportunities. Toronto, at number 24, also lost points in the housing department, but got high marks for its tolerance of diversity.
And what about the nation’s capital? Ottawa, ranked 36th out of 100, scored reasonably well in housing, employment, tolerance, food and festivals, but received the worst nightlife score of all the Canadian cities — less than one point out of 10. (None of the Canadian cities scored particularly well in the beer category.)
What do you think of the rankings? Explore the full list and let us know!