The City of White Rock is the 236th best place to live in Canada, according Maclean’s Magazine.
Out of the cities in Metro Vancouver, Maclean‘s annual report put White Rock near the bottom of the list.
Other nearby communities placed as follows: Delta (59); Vancouver (112); Surrey (140); Richmond (175); Maple Ridge (192); Langley Township (201); Port Coquitlam (214); and Langley City (366).
In B.C. only Salmon Arm cracked the top 10, landing at number 6.
According to Maclean‘s, the quality of life test ranks communities based on wealth and economy (20 points); affordability (20 points); demographics (6 points); taxes (7 points); commute (10 points); crime (7 points); weather (10 points); health (11 points); amenities (2.5 points); culture and community (5 points).
READ MORE: White Rock included on Maclean’s ‘most dangerous places’ listing
There are a number of sub-ranking categories that give points to a community based on suitability for families; best place to retire and best for new Canadians.
Information provided by Maclean‘s on White Rock’s positioning notes that 4.2 per cent of the population walks to work; 0.4 per cent of people bike to work and 3.5 per cent of the population takes transit.
Under the weather factors, White Rock has an average of 157 days per year with rain over snow; 344 days where the temperature is above 0C and 64 days with the temperature above 20C.
The city has 32 doctors’ offices, and 3.1 per cent of the population is employed in arts and recreation.
Economically, approximately 4.9 per cent of the city’s 20,794 population is unemployed, the median household income is about $70,882; and the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,280.
The top-ranked communities in order of ranking, are: Burlington (ON), Grimsby (ON), Ottawa (ON), Oakville (ON), New Tecumseth (ON), Salmon Arm (B.C.), Brant (ON), Niagara-on-the-Lake (ON), Russell (ON) and Tecumseh (ON).
The website allows users to rerank communities by placing more or less emphasis than the magazine did on individual criteria.
The magazine also released its list of Canada’s 100 richest communities, with White Rock sitting at number 40, with an average household net worth of $1,179,025. Surrey placed 49th at $1.08 million.
Topping the list was West Vancouver at $4.45 million. Among communities south of the Fraser, the Township of Langley is ranked 21st, at $1.4 million and Delta sits in 29th place at $1.26 million.
Property values remain the driving force behind a household’s net worth, the article notes.
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