World's most livable cities
The World's Most Livable Cities for 2006. Props to Switzerland for securing the top 2. So... does anybody here live in either of those cities, or near them? Who else on this board lives in the top ten or twenty? Got your own personal comments/opinions on your stomping grounds (perhaps ones that contrast what this publication would say?)
Quote:
A new Mercer study hat-tips Zurich and other European, North American, and Asian cities for delivering a stellar quality of life for expatriate executives
Considering the target audience of the study, as well as Swiss tax laws for high income expatriates, I'm not really surprised to find two Swiss cities on the top of the list... [wink]
Personally I find it laughable how they ranked Detroit and Washington DC... as well as a number of other entries.
Quote:Original post by Salsa
Personally I find it laughable how they ranked Detroit and Washington DC... as well as a number of other entries.
Seriously, St. Louis, MO, the highest murder rate in the country, #64. Washington DC, second highest murder rate in the country, #44. WTF. Did they even consider crime? Considering they have all of the other crime centers on the list, I'm suprised Baltimore isn't there.
Los Angeles, CA, and New York City, NY, San Francisco, CA, the highest costs of living of any cities in the country, 55, 46, and 28.
I can't imagine Zurick and Geneva are inexpensive to live, either. Basically, this is a list of places where money can shield you from the riff-raff, even if the riff-raff is still there. Maybe that's why Baghdad is dead last, they can't figure out a way to make bank notes stop bullets yet.
I call shenanigans.
Anyway, if I find time tonight, I might work up a thematic map of each country's average (if they have more than one city listed) rating. There are a number of ways the data presented could be used, and I think it might be interesting to see both absolute and relative values in a meaningful context.
Given that they put San Francisco in the top 30, my guess is that affordability wasn't a large factor in their determinations.
Quote:Original post by LessBread
Given that they put San Francisco in the top 30, my guess is that affordability wasn't a large factor in their determinations.
I don't think they considered crime rate, either. In fact, if I had to guess, I would say it were something like (mean(PropertyValue) - stdev(PropertyValue) + max(PropertyValue)) / (sqrt(Taxes) * sum(BrownPeople)).
That is to say, meaningless garbage based on perceived property value
I live in Vienna, which apparently tied for third. It's a very safe place, although there are a couple of places that are best avoided, most to do with drug trafficking. I live close to downtown, and although there's a small park outside my windows, I am worried for this planet if Vienna is supposed to be one of the greenest cities globally. Sure, we've got lots of parks and tree-lined four-lane roads, but the average side-street does not see all that much green. It's much better out in the northwestern sleeping districts, but those are decently pricey.
Cars are a big problem. Finding parking is hard. Rush hour grinds traffic on the main roads to a halt. We've got a very advanced public transportation system to compensate, consisting of buses, trams, metro, and fast city-trains.
I'm also a student at a major local university. The quality is not all that bad, but it can't compare to a private college in the States. Entry-level classes are anywhere from 200 to 500 students, and for a long time you are essentially nothing but a number in the system. Even the exams for first year are almost all machine-scored. A couple of years ago, the average waiting time for exam grades at another one of our universities here was five months -_-; Student protest parades about various issues are common. It does get better later on though - after failing 60-70% of the students in the first year, they take care to keep the ones that survived on board :D
Easily the best thing about Vienna though is how relaxed it can be. This may seem like an absurd concept, but time passes slower here. I've been to New York a couple of times and it always feels very hectic and rushed. Maybe it's because my home is here, though.
Vienna is also quite expensive to live in, so I don't think either that was taken into account much in these statistics. They do say that this is biased towards quality of life for "expatriate executives and their families". And it's in BusinessWeek, so it's not very surprising.
Cars are a big problem. Finding parking is hard. Rush hour grinds traffic on the main roads to a halt. We've got a very advanced public transportation system to compensate, consisting of buses, trams, metro, and fast city-trains.
I'm also a student at a major local university. The quality is not all that bad, but it can't compare to a private college in the States. Entry-level classes are anywhere from 200 to 500 students, and for a long time you are essentially nothing but a number in the system. Even the exams for first year are almost all machine-scored. A couple of years ago, the average waiting time for exam grades at another one of our universities here was five months -_-; Student protest parades about various issues are common. It does get better later on though - after failing 60-70% of the students in the first year, they take care to keep the ones that survived on board :D
Easily the best thing about Vienna though is how relaxed it can be. This may seem like an absurd concept, but time passes slower here. I've been to New York a couple of times and it always feels very hectic and rushed. Maybe it's because my home is here, though.
Vienna is also quite expensive to live in, so I don't think either that was taken into account much in these statistics. They do say that this is biased towards quality of life for "expatriate executives and their families". And it's in BusinessWeek, so it's not very surprising.
Glasgow? WTF?
Glasgow is terrible, it's just inaccessible, overcrowded and poorly planned, nothing but traffic and a piss-poor public transport system (seriously, who needs a subway system which goes round in two concentric circles in the city centre, in opposite directions). And what "world-class" city drives two 3-lane motorways right through the city centre?
Not only that, the East End of Glasgow is officially the poorest place in the UK. Glasgow has one of the highest murder and robbery rates in the UK, and housing is of poor quality and expensive. A great deal of the population suffer from heart disease and diabetes due to the poor diet, and most smoke. Drug dealing also.
You get gangs of youths causing trouble and assaulting/mugging people wherever you go, and there's professional organised criminals operating, often using "legitimate" businesses as a front, such as security firms, taxi companies and the infamous Ice Cream Wars from the 1980s. Most of these criminals carry firearms on a daily basis.
Not just bias from an Edinburgh man, Glasgow is just filthy and unsafe. Parts of it are like Detroit. What a total joke. I'm not saying they should have picked Edinburgh as well/instead, because it's just as bad in many respects.
Birmingham? The same problem, except with ethnic minorities literally gunning each other down in drive-by shootings, more drug dealing and more murders.
London? Birmingham, on a much grander scale.
Whatever these people were smoking to come out with such brilliant ideas, I'd like some.
Glasgow is terrible, it's just inaccessible, overcrowded and poorly planned, nothing but traffic and a piss-poor public transport system (seriously, who needs a subway system which goes round in two concentric circles in the city centre, in opposite directions). And what "world-class" city drives two 3-lane motorways right through the city centre?
Not only that, the East End of Glasgow is officially the poorest place in the UK. Glasgow has one of the highest murder and robbery rates in the UK, and housing is of poor quality and expensive. A great deal of the population suffer from heart disease and diabetes due to the poor diet, and most smoke. Drug dealing also.
You get gangs of youths causing trouble and assaulting/mugging people wherever you go, and there's professional organised criminals operating, often using "legitimate" businesses as a front, such as security firms, taxi companies and the infamous Ice Cream Wars from the 1980s. Most of these criminals carry firearms on a daily basis.
Not just bias from an Edinburgh man, Glasgow is just filthy and unsafe. Parts of it are like Detroit. What a total joke. I'm not saying they should have picked Edinburgh as well/instead, because it's just as bad in many respects.
Birmingham? The same problem, except with ethnic minorities literally gunning each other down in drive-by shootings, more drug dealing and more murders.
London? Birmingham, on a much grander scale.
Whatever these people were smoking to come out with such brilliant ideas, I'd like some.
It looks like I'd be fine in the German speaking part of Europe if I wanted to go.
That's fine by me :P
That's fine by me :P
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