It appears that doing nothing can be the best way to achieve results. Owen Sound proved it with the March 2013 MoneySense magazine’s annual list of the 200 best Canadian cities to live. Using the high risk ‘do nothing’ approach, the city’s gamble paid off improving its ranking by 166% in just one year.
To achieve this vaulted position of 50th among the cities in this survey, Owen Sound ranked as follows:
- Here’s another way to look at it. If this survey was a report card the city earned 5F’s, 3D’s, 2C’s, 1B and 1A. Most children would hide this report card and themselves from their parents Ability to bike/walk to work (127th)
- Average house price (115th)
- Average household income (146th)
- Number of new cars per capita (93rd)
- Population growth (63rd)
- Crime severity (130th)
- The number of physicians per 1,000 population (17th)
- Number of rain days (57th)
- Number of days above freezing (44th)
- Lowest property tax (82nd)
- Lowest jobless rate as a percentage of the population (102nd)
- Employment in arts and culture as a percentage of the population (82nd)
This earned 50th position? Here’s another way to look at it. If this survey was a report card the city earned 5F’s, 3D’s, 2C’s, 1B and 1A. Most children would hide this report card and themselves from their parents, but Mayor Haswell is positively gloating. She generously shared credit for this lofty achievement in the Owen Sound Sun Times stating, “I am pleased that the efforts and the energy of everybody in the city has brought us from 133rd position to 50th.”
Confused? Don’t be. Since there was no significant change in Owen Sound in the previous 12 months to justify this dramatic improvement, including the opening of the Regional Recreation Centre, the city needs to support the Mayor by increasing its ‘efforts’ and ‘energy’ to do more of nothing to achieve even better results in next year’s survey. So far we’re off to a good start.
Peter Reesor
red/white innovative marketing
Owen Sound
