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Toronto named 8th 'Best City' in the world; Vancouver doesn't place

London, England took the top spot, finishing ahead of Sydney, Paris, New York, and Rome, which rounded out the top five.
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Toronto's CN Tower marks the skyline of the World's No. 8 Greatest City

Learn to play the world's smallest violin, Vancouverites...

Your city failed to garner a Top 10 rating in the latest "Best City" listing from Anholt-GfK, while your arch-nemesis Toronto stole No. 8, ratcheting up from its ranking of 13th in 2012.

Toronto was the only Canadian city to place in the Top 10, coming ahead of Vienna and Melbourne but falling to a host of international powerhouses, including L.A., Washington D.C., Rome, New York, Paris, Sydney, and London, which finished first overall.

The Anholt-GfK Brand Index measures cities according to the power and appeal of their brand image, according to six different "dimensions": Presence, Place, Pre-requisites, People, Pulse, and Potential.

"As for Toronto's No. 8 spot, Canadians should feel a mix of pride and resentment," wrote Trevor Melanson of Canadian Business.

"The ranking is the result of interviews with 5,144 people from 10 countries, but Canada wasn't included (while Australia, a notably smaller nation, was). On the other hand, this means Toronto was visible enough to soar into the top 10 without Canadians weighing in."

Toronto was voted the second-friendliest city in the world (behind only Sydney), the fourth-safest, and the fifth-best for culture. The city also recently became the third-largest in North America, according to Statistics Canada's controversial measurements, overtaking Chicago's broad shoulders.

The Anholt-GfK rankings are one in a long and increasing line of similar lists, with the most famous being The Economist's "World's Most Livable Cities" index, which Vancouver recently finished third in.

So, take that, Toronto.

(Although T-Dot did finish fourth.)

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*Compare the two cross-country (sorta) rivals with these videos below...

"Top 10 Things To Do in Toronto" by TorontoBackpacker

"Toronto's Hidden World with Malls and Subway" by Science Channel

Anthony Bourdain's "The Layover" in Toronto

"How To Be A Vancouverite" by IFHT

Tourism Vancouver's "Leisure Destination" Video

"Vancouver: The Most Livable City?" by Conde Nast Traveler