Toronto is rated the best city in North America to live in

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and data-sharing company BuzzData had contestants devise data-based rankings of cities worldwide to determine which one is the best.

Toronto — the only North American city in the top 10 — was ranked eighth out of 70 cities around the world.

Toronto received the highest possible rating for green space and pollution, but its marks floundered in categories such as “cultural assets” and “sprawl.”

The survey is different than the Global City Liveability Index published by the London-based EIU, the research arm for the company that publishes the influential Economist magazine. In 2011, that ranking put Toronto fourth — one spot behind Vancouver and one above Calgary.