THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011 5} orld, became the planet’s third-worst-dressed city, and the hits keep coming. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION ycally-based retailer lululemon athletica’s popular line of yoga pants. Livability ranking unreliable, says city councilor Economist Magazine’s credibility will suffer By DANIEL PALMER S*ancouver’s 10-year reign as the world’s ‘most livable city is over, but the fall from : yp spot to number three is leaving some city officials crying foul. The Economist Intelligence Unit Liveability Ranking cited “recent intermittent closures of the key Malahat highway” as a reason for a 0.7 per cent decrease in the city’s infrastructure ranking, dropping Vancouver below Melbourne and Vienna. The ranking considered five categories — sta- bility, healthcare, culture & environment, educa- tion and infrastructure. The reference to a highway on Vancouver Is- land led to some initial confusion from media and city officials. “T think it made The Economist look like a bit of a laughing stock,” said City of Vancouver Councilor Geoff Meggs. “Rather than under- mine Vancouver’s reputation, it undermined the credibility of The Economist.” Tourism Vancouver spokesperson Amber Sessions said, “It seems to us this is a bit of a glaring error,” adding the top three cities are separated by a mere 0.2 of a percentage point. Langara students are equally puzzled by the survey’s example of a distant highway. “T think that’s really surprising. I don’t think that’s a legitimate reason to downgrade us,” Ihe Worst of Vancouver 2011 list called Best of Vancouver, which enumerates the top spots to dine, drink and recreate. But l our city recently, we polled 24 Langara students to learn what they hate about the place ‘st restaurant Worst mall Worst politician around Gordon Campbell Worst way to get TRANS/ LINK said Matthew Lachica, a 19-year-old English stu- dent. “The riot would be more of a reason. Van- couver may be a tad sensitive when it comes to sports. You may not want to be here when we lose a hockey game,” he said. Arts student James Farrell, 19, said his home- town is still the best in the world. “I don’t really care what those people’s opinions are. A survey means nothing,” said Ferrell. Liveability Ranking Author John Copestake was surprised by the reaction and said the infra- structure rating is based on scores submitted by a sole Vancouver correspondent whose identity cannot be revealed. “If we were to concern ourselves with the statements of persons with vested interests, it would undermine our credibility,” said Copestake. Copestake said no one disputed the lower in- frastructure score, but many did take issue with the proximity of the Malahat to Vancouver. “It’s probably a bad example given the geo- graphical distance from downtown Vancouver — but it was the strongest example we had of road closures in the region.” Copestake said the Stanley Cup riot would not decrease Vancouver’s ranking unless it was re- peated. “We would require a more sustained pe- riod or incidences of unrest to change the indi- cator,” said Copestake. The next rankings will be published February 2012. Top worst thing