Being ranked 174th out of 190 cities isn't exactly where Abbotsford-Mission would like to be, especially when the subject is about the "best places to live in Canada."
But that's exactly where the magazine MoneySense put the census metropolitan area in their annual survey of Canadian cities, which ranks municipalities in a quality of life index score based on 11 categories.
Abbotsford-Mission scored 172nd in being able to walk/bike to work, 179th in new cars, 157th for affordable housing (which isn't bad considering Vancouver placed dead last and surrounding municipalities were runners-up), 153rd in available doctors per 1,000 people, 152nd for the jobless rate (the latest Statistics Canada numbers for Abby-Mission shows a 10.5 per cent unemployment rate, well above the 6.9 per cent provincial average), 134th in quality of weather (we're the fourth wettest out of 100 major cities in Canada, with 1,573.16 mm of combined rain and snow), and 128th in cultural offerings.
But it wasn't all bad news, placing 90th in household income, 56th in discretionary income, and a high 14th place in population growth.
Ottawa, Ont. ranked first place in Canada, while New Glasgow, N.S. took last place. Abbotsford-Mission wasn't last place in the province, however, as Chilliwack, Prince Rupert, Squamish, Campbell River, Port Alberni and Williams Lake all squeezed in after 174th place.
For more on the survey and other cities in Canada, see the rankings at www.moneysense.ca.