Whitby, Oshawa ranked high for renter quality of life in Ontario

Whitby and Oshawa have been named as hotspots for renter’s, with the two communities taking top honours in Ontario  hotspot for renters’ quality of life.

The report comes from real estate trend analysis company Point 2. They analyzed Canada’s 100 largest cities best on 24 criteria across three categories “Economy & Housing,” “Quality of Life” and “Community.”

In the quality of life category Oshawa and Whitby held the top two spots while Clarington came in at fifth place (after Sherbrooke and Quebec City). The Durham municipalities were the only from Ontario on the top ten list. Ajax and Pickering came in much lower at 74th and 84th respectively.

This category weighed seven categories; Life Satisfaction, Percieved Life Stress, Commute Time, Average Greenness, Walk Score, Air Quality and Crime Severity Index.

“It’s actually these factors that can make or break a city’s overall appeal and standard of living,” Point2 explained. Of note, Oshawa ranked as the third least stressed city in the category. However, low rankings in Economics (74) and Community (89) dragged down Oshawa’s overall score.

1. Greater Sudbury
2. Whitby
3. North Bay
4. Guelph
5. Ottawa
6. Niagara Falls
7. Kitchener
8. Welland
9. St. Catharines
10. Chatham-Kent

Nationally, however, no Ontario city even cracks the top ten, a list Quebec dominates:

1. St. John’s, Newfound and Labrador
2. Sherbrooke, Quebec
3. Quebec Citry, Quebec
4. Trois Riveries, Quebec
5. Saguenay, Quebec
6. Granby, Quebec
7. Fredericton, New Brunswick
8. St. John, New Brunswick
9. Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
10. Levis, Quebec

On the overall list, Whitby comes in 25th, Clarington at 24th, Oshawa at 70th, Ajax at 82nd Pickering at 95th.