On a quiet day, the drive across the bridge from Vancouver’s bustling downtown to North Vancouver’s mountainous terrain takes only a few minutes.

Despite their closeness, there’s a palpable difference between the two cities. Residents of the aptly named North Shore will tell you it’s because their community collectively adopts a slower pace of life and prioritizes being outdoors.

They will also tell you that given the choice; they’ll stay on their side of the bridge for as long as possible. “Everything you need is on the North Shore, except for Costco,” said Janine Ridge, 68, who has lived in North Vancouver with her husband since 1988.

The region spans from its southern shore, which houses its most densely populated area, to its northern limits, which dissipate into the uninhabited backcountry, to the Capilano River in the west and the Indian Arm in the east. Residents of North Vancouver live on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Over the years, Ms. Ridge said she and her husband, Peter Ridge, 75, have watched the region develop and grow from their home in Edgemont Village, which lies close to the border with West Vancouver.

But their driving reason for moving to North Vancouver decades ago is the same reason 33-year-old Lizzie Lee, a recent immigrant to Canada from Britain, moved there just three and a half years ago: The city’s access to nature is unparalleled. “It’s having the balance between nature right on your doorstep and everything else as well. I can go for a fantastic hike in the mountains and come to a really nice bar in the same day,” said Ms. Lee, co-owner of Helicon Books in North Vancouver.

The North Shore is one of the few places in Canada where you can go skiing in the mountains and kayaking in the ocean in the same day. “You can look south and see the water. You can look north and see the mountains, and you’re literally 10 to 15 minutes away from being on one or the other,” said Linda Buchanan, mayor of the City of North Vancouver.

This is one of the many reasons Meg Holden, a professor of urban studies and resource and environmental management at Simon Fraser University, said the North Shore often ranks so high in terms of quality of life, urban sustainability and sense of belonging among community members.

Other reasons include its proximity to a major urban centre and its gateway to the recreational haven that extends further north in places such as Squamish and Whistler, she said.

It comes as no surprise, then, to Ms. Holden that North Vancouver ranked first in a comprehensive data analysis by The Globe and Mail, in partnership with Environics Analytics Group Ltd., to find Canada’s most livable city.

The Globe looked at 10 different categories to rank the most desirable places to live out of 448 Canadian cities. While North Vancouver didn’t rank first in any of the categories, it placed in the top 50 within seven of the 10 categories, making its well-roundedness one of its most valuable assets.

For example, North Vancouver’s best score was in community, where it ranked 14th overall, due to a large percentage of the population volunteering, a high number of community centres per capita and a strong sense of belonging among residents. In education, it ranked 15th overall due to the percentage of the population with a postsecondary education and the proximity of the region’s homes to primary or secondary schools. Amenities was the city’s third-best-performing category, placing 23rd overall for the closeness to homes of essentials such as groceries, parks and child care, and a high density of recreational facilities.

To understand the region’s performance within the context of this analysis, it’s important to note that the City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver – two separate, neighbouring municipalities – were combined into one. While Statistics Canada identifies them as two distinct regions, the general public perceives them as a unified area and therefore, The Globe merged them for the purposes of this analysis.

However, Ms. Holden said their differing municipal governments are an important distinction to keep in mind when addressing North Vancouver’s biggest weakness: housing affordability. Generally, she said the steep prices of homes in the region reflect its desirability. But when it comes to lowering this cost barrier, the city and district have taken very different approaches. Together, North Vancouver’s population has grown 10.9 per cent over the past five years – 2.2 percentage points higher than the Canadian average. However, Ms. Holden said the majority of the work being done to encourage that growth and build more housing stock is by the City of North Vancouver and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. For example, the nation and the city both have multistorey affordable rental housing projects under way.

Meanwhile, Ms. Holden said the District of North Vancouver is less likely to approve higher density housing. Part of the reason for this could come from the district’s desire to protect its livability on steep, potentially dangerous terrain, she said. “It’s not entirely unreasonable for them to be taking the approach that they’re taking. We can’t really justify towers in the District of North Vancouver because of the risk of flooding and landslides,” she said.

Mike Little, mayor of the District of North Vancouver, called the high demand for housing on the North Shore, “symptomatic of a good thing.” He added the region’s high scores in so many categories are part of the reason why its cost of living is so high.

But for those who can afford it, the complaints are minimal. Ms. Lee, who lives in an apartment in Lynn Valley with her partner, said they got lucky and were able to buy their home thanks to an inheritance her partner received. “The housing stock seems to be pretty good. But, yeah, the prices are quite mad,” she said.

Her only complaint is with the transit system – another low-scoring category for North Vancouver – which she said can be patchy between neighbourhoods. Mayor Buchanan called transportation a “key pinch point” that the city is currently working on, but for now, the consensus among residents seems to be that life is easier with a car.

Nolan Osborne, 34, said this comes with the caveat that you don’t try to cross the bridge into Vancouver between 3 p.m. until late, when traffic slows to a snail’s pace.

Mr. Osborne lives in Lower Lonsdale, which lies within the City of North Vancouver, with his partner, Nic Wayara, and their newborn baby. They’ve lived in a rented apartment there for six years and are excited to raise their child in a place that they adore for its peace and quiet. “It’s nice because Lower Lonsdale, especially the Lonsdale area, there’s a lot of young families. So, it feels like the right place to be,” Ms. Wayara said.

Until their two-bedroom apartment starts bursting at the seams, she said they plan to stay exactly where they are. The only other place she could imagine living? “Further into the North Shore,” she said.