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Take Simi Valley in California for instance. It is constantly ranked one of the safest cities. But has never made one of these lists.
Then they also add politicking with factors like health care. Is that based on the most health care available for free or the best medical care for people that can afford it?
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Heck every major city I've been to has been filthy, felt unsafe, are noisy and I never cared for the culture. While some of the unknown places trumped them on all counts.
Yeah I don't understand either. Especially since not a single U.S. city was mentioned. But if healthcare is one of the considerations then I could understand. Canada has on of the best healthcare systems in the world as well as some of the most advanced healthcare facilities in the world. And as much as most foreigners believe it is free to us, do not kid yourself, we pay through our taxes for this benefit.
I think what brings the US cities down is the uncertain economic climate of late, which is widening the gap between the poor and the rich. And - American cities are not safe, compared to the rest of the industrialized world. The 'safest' American city still has more violent crime (per capita) than the Canada's most dangerous city. And Canada itself doesn't rank high on global scale.
About health care. I don't think they are measuring the
cost of health care, I think they are measuring the
access to health care. We Canadians may pay for it through taxes, but virtually every Canadian is guaranteed (in theory, if not in always in practice) full and complete access to primary health care which includes having a family doctor, getting tests done, being admitted to hospital, having procedures done, etc. All of this with no or minimal extra cost.
Between the Health Care and Safety issues, US cities will have a hard time ranking higher in this particular list.
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I will also note that this is one of the 1st times in a decade that Vancouver didn't top this list.