When it comes to good living, MacLeans magazine thinks the Windsor area has it pretty good.
The latest ranking of the best communities in Canada puts Tecumseh in 10th spot out of 415 cities across Canada, and Lasalle in 16th. Essex was the next closest local municipality at number 65, Kingsville was 77th, Amherstburg was 95th, Leamington finished at 104, Lakeshore was 113, and Windsor placed 125th.
MacLeans cites low crime and good weather as reasons for most of the local municipalities doing well in the rankings. The crime category was based on the five-year average of the crime severity index for the police service covering each community.
All municipalities in Windsor-Essex also ranked in the top 15 for good weather.
"Mild winters are the most important factor in our ranking of the cities with the best weather, with seven out of 10 points in the category dedicated to the number of days above 0°C," the magazine said. "We also reward communities with dry climates, with two points dedicated to the number of days per year without rain or snow. Finally, we considered warm summers, giving one point for lots of days above 20 C.
Lasalle ranked second for best place in Canada to raise a family, while Tecumseh placed 16th.
As far as the best Canadian places to retire, Tecumseh had the best local ranking at 19, while Leamington was 31, Kingsville was 47, and Windsor placed 53rd.
None of the local municipalities ranked in the top 100 for either fastest-growing or richest communities.
Toronto placed 19th on the MacLeans list of Canada's best communities, while London finished in 88th place, and Chatham-Kent placed 126th.
Burlington topped the list, while Mountain View County, Alberta finished dead last in 415th spot.