Friday, August 3, 2018

Prince Rupert makes moves in latest Moneysense Best Places to Live list



Those that compile the annual ranking of Canadian towns and cities for Moneysense magazine have found some positive trends for Prince Rupert, with this years entry in the financial publication's listings putting Prince Rupert at 262nd place overall, a significant jump of 28 spots from the findings of a year ago.

This year finds Prince Rupert making some strong progress from the days when the North Coast was flirting with the 300 mark, listed at 290 in 2017.

When it comes to just reviewing the findings for British Columbia we find Prince Rupert in 39th spot this year, one spot below Terrace which is marked at 38th in the province, 258th for all of Canada.

This years rankings however make for a major shift in fortunes for Terrace, which has tumbled 81 spots from last years placement of 177 overall in Canada.

Prince Rupert and Terrace make for the only two communities from the Northwest to be included in the Moneysense listings, while the largest community in the North, Prince George is ranked at 13th in BC,  132nd for the full list of Canada.

Fort St. John however is the go to place in the province, topping the British Columbia listings at Number One, placed fifteenth overall in Canada.

This years Moneysense survey examined 415 communities across the nation, reviewing 10 key categories to make their assessment.

On the checklist for this year were:

Wealth and economy, affordability, population growth, taxes, commute, crime, weather, access to health care, amenities and culture

Of those elements, Prince Rupert fared best in four, Affordability, Taxes, Commute and Amenities.

The Moneysense data for Prince Rupert
(click to enlarge)

Affordability


An Average household income of $92,842, Discretionary Income of $51,095 and Home Price to Income ratio of 3:1 gained the city the first of its four check marks

Taxes

Prince Rupert gained notice with a 22/100 placement when it comes to Low Taxes based on an average property tax bill of $1,609.12 and last years property tax rate of 1.47%

Commute

A compact city with close to nine percent of the population walking to work, 1 per cent who bike and 4 percent who take public transit gained Prince Rupert some marks when it comes to commuting.

Amenities

A college campus,  movie theatre, restaurant and bars all contributed to success in the Amenities section of this years survey.

On the Down side of the review and areas that are holding the region back from forward momentum were some familiar themes.

North Coast Weather had some impact on the findings, with Prince Rupert's consistent flow of precipitation bringing down our ranking, as did the Crime Stats overview from the survey.

Health Care options both in Terrace and Prince Rupert also proved to be areas where the Moneysense survey deducted a few check marks in the overall score for 2018.


Prince Rupert's full snapshot can be reviewed below:




At 258 out of 415, Terrace received points for Affordability, Taxes and Commuting distance, while many of the same areas that cost Prince Rupert check marks also were prominent in the Terrace review.

A look at the Terrace overview can be found below:



You can review the methodology that Moneysense used for this years list here,  while an Overview of the annual report can be examined here.

The complete list for 2018 can be found here, click on the plus sign to access further data from whichever community you wish to explore.

A look at some of the past Moneysense reviews can be found below:

2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012


Cross posted from the North Coast Review

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