Vancouver and Montreal are compared based on their housing costs, and relative affordability.
Vancouver is classified by natural breaks, standard deviation, equal inerval, and manual breaks to observe how the different methods produce unique maps.
This is Vancouver’s housing costs, portrayed through the 4 different classification methods.
This is the affordability of Vancouver and Montreal, calculated using housing costs and annual income of residents. Classification of affordability is done by values given by the Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey of 2015.
The affordability is a ratio of the cost of houses by the annual income of residents. It is a better indicator of housing affordability than housing costs alone because if an expensive city’s median incomes are also high, then the ratio will reflect a lower affordability ratio, one similar to a less expensive city’s ratio with lower incomes.
Housing cost is an incomplete measure of affordability.
The housing affordability ratings, as defined by Dr. Schlomo Angel in his 11th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2015:
5.1 & Over: Severely Unaffordable
4.1-5.0: Seriously Unaffordable
3.1-4.0: Moderately Unaffordable
3.0 & Under: Affordable
The survey was developed by a professional in the NYU Urban Expansion Program. The information will be less biased than information from a real estate company, or city’s tourism bureau.
Affordability is a fair indicator of a city’s livability, but not complete. A city’s livability could also include the state of its infrastructure, cultural landmarks, environmental surroundings, and access to hospitals, daycare centers, schools, and parks. A city may be less expensive because there are no easily accessable amenities, so even with a lower housing cost its actual livability will not be high.
