According to a financial magazine’s ranking of 219 Canadian cities – St. Albert remained in the top five for a second year in a row, while Alberta’s two major cities dropped in the standings.
MoneySense Magazine released their Best Places to Live list for 2016, and while there were some changes in the top five, one city stayed in the exact same spot: St. Albert maintained its place in number four on the list.
Low crime rates, quick access to health care, and an average household income more than $50,000 higher than Edmonton contributed to St. Albert’s high ranking.
“You are close to Edmonton, we have a beautiful downtown centre, we’ve got, basically everything,” Maddie Hoffman, who works in St. Albert, said.
The city, which boasts a population of about 60,000 was only beaten by Ottawa, Burlington, and Oakville.
Meanwhile, Edmonton slid 15 places to 48th on the list – but Calgary had the biggest fall, after making it into the top 20 in 2015, it came in at 66 this year.
It’s believed that decline echoes the city’s economic struggles.
St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse said the economic changes aren’t quite as acute.
“Our highs aren’t as high, and our lows aren’t as low,” Crouse said. “You’d see that in many categories, we’re really kind of immune from that based on the type of community we are.”
Crouse called St. Albert a ‘bedroom community’ as about 65 percent of residents commute into Edmonton for work, but he said proximity to the capital doesn’t guarantee success.
“If Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Stoney Plain, Beaumont were all in that ranking, clustered together, you could say that,” Crouse said. “Certainly, what St. Albert has done is separate itself from that average.”
“While the bragging rights are the bragging rights to some degree, we’re still a great region regardless of where you choose to live,” Crouse said.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
