Five municipalities in Wellington County are ranked on MoneySense’s Best Places to Live in Canada.
The 14th edition of the list, released on July 4, included Centre Wellington, Erin, Guelph-Eramosa, Mapleton and Wellington North. The list compares municipalities and cities based on a number of factors including unemployment, taxes, population growth, crime, public transportation, weather and more.
“At MoneySense we are unwavering in our views about what makes one city better than another. It should be prosperous, but affordable. Safe, yet easy to get around. And it should have the type of weather that draws you outdoors,” the report stated.
This year, MoneySense studied 417 cities, towns and villages with communities with populations 9,000 and above. The new methodology added almost 200 communities to the list. Minto and Puslinch were not included as they have a population lower than 9,000.
Centre Wellington and Erin had ranked in previous years, but saw their position drop with the expansion of the list.
Guelph-Eramosa, Mapleton and Wellington North are new additions this year.
Centre Wellington was top ranked for Wellington County, placing 69th this year (34th last year). The township took a top 10 spot for its “strong arts and Sports community.” It was also in the top 25th percentile of all cities in the low unemployment, healthy population growth and low crime categories.
“One of the things we take a lot of pride in is our arts, culture and Sports activities here in (Centre Wellington),” said Mayor Kelly Linton.
“As locals we know that we have a good thing going, but it is nice to be recognized outside of our community for our quality of life.”
Guelph-Eramosa was new this year, placing 152nd. Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White was happy for the strong placement in the township’s first year on the list.
“Get out,” said White upon finding out the News.
“Just the fact that we’re on the list is pretty exciting,” he added. “I’m not really that surprised, I’m not surprised at all … it really is a great place to live.”
Erin ranked 150th (77th last year). Mapleton was 190th and Wellington North took 272nd place.
High taxes, lack of access to transit and affordable housing costs were contributors to lower rankings for municipalities across Wellington County.
