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The Sunshine City is the ninth best small city in Canada to live in, according to the 2012 edition of MoneySense Magazine’s best places to live.
Overall, Orillia ranked 79th out of the 190 Canadian cities surveyed, and we ranked No. 1 among communities in Simcoe County.
"This is great news for us," said Dan Landry, the city's manager of economic development. "There isn't a community out there that doesn't promote quality of life. Other communities may talk about quality of life; we live it."
MoneySense, a personal finance and lifestyle magazine, ranked 190 communities with populations of more than 10,000 in its seventh annual "best places to live" report.
Cities were rated in 17 different categories: the percentage of people who walk or bike to work; weather; air quality; population growth; unemployment; housing; household income; discretionary income; new cars as a percentage of total vehicles; income taxes; sales taxes; crime; the number of doctors per 1,000 people; percentage of people employed in health care; percentage of people using transit; amenities; and culture, which is based on the percentage of people employed in arts, culture, recreation and sports.
The tabulators then calculate those findings into a point system to determine the City’s overall ranking.
Orillia ranked above average in affordable housing, active transportation opportunities, discretionary income, availability of family doctors, employment and quality of life.
Orillia's scores are an indication of the balanced approach the City has been taking.
Opportunity for investment is one of the top criteria’s in the report. Orillia has been rated among the top three cities in Ontario and top 10 in Canada for real estate investment opportunities three of the past four years.
More than 800 jobs were regained or created in the City in 2011, many in the industrial sector, which has been contracting across Ontario and beyond.
A city imposed moratorium on industrial development charges has led to two industrial expansions since August of 2011.
Recent surveys indicate that nearly half of the businesses in Orillia are poised to expand in the next three years.
For more information on the rankings visit www.moneysense.ca.
