City liveability ranking: 2013

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Typhoon
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City liveability ranking: 2013

Post by Typhoon »

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Endovelico
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

Post by Endovelico »

On Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Worldwide Rankings, 2012, http://www.mercer.com/press-releases/qu ... eport-2012 Lisbon appears on 44th place together with New York City, Seattle and Tokyo. Not bad, but I would say - based on my own experience - that Lisbon should rank higher than some other cities on that survey. Personally, and having lived in quite a few other cities around the world, I wouldn't trade Lisbon for any other place to live and work. And I hope I'm not being chauvinistic when I say so.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Endovelico wrote:On Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Worldwide Rankings, 2012, http://www.mercer.com/press-releases/qu ... eport-2012 Lisbon appears on 44th place together with New York City, Seattle and Tokyo. Not bad, but I would say - based on my own experience - that Lisbon should rank higher than some other cities on that survey. Personally, and having lived in quite a few other cities around the world, I wouldn't trade Lisbon for any other place to live and work. And I hope I'm not being chauvinistic when I say so.
The large differences in rankings between the EIU and Mercer reports are interesting.
The former an algorithm, the latter a survey.

I've unfortunately never been to Lisbon, so I'm not in a position to agree or disagree. :wink:
Have heard good things though. Would like to travel there one day . . .

Most people love their home town: Cariocas love Rio de Janeiro, Paulistas love Sao Paulo, Philladelphians love Philladelphia etc., despite any and all problems.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Typhoon wrote:
Endovelico wrote:On Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Worldwide Rankings, 2012, http://www.mercer.com/press-releases/qu ... eport-2012 Lisbon appears on 44th place together with New York City, Seattle and Tokyo. Not bad, but I would say - based on my own experience - that Lisbon should rank higher than some other cities on that survey. Personally, and having lived in quite a few other cities around the world, I wouldn't trade Lisbon for any other place to live and work. And I hope I'm not being chauvinistic when I say so.
The large differences in rankings between the EIU and Mercer reports are interesting.
The former an algorithm, the latter a survey.

I've unfortunately never been to Lisbon, so I'm not in a position to agree or disagree. :wink:
Have heard good things though. Would like to travel there one day . . .

Most people love their home town: Cariocas love Rio de Janeiro, Paulistas love Sao Paulo, Philladelphians love Philladelphia etc., despite any and all problems.
If you do come to Lisbon, let me know. I may help you brushing up a bit on your Portuguese...
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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I'm not surprised that so many in the top ten are in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

I'm surprised that Washington came out ahead of New York.

I'd like to know more about 11-20. Surely Washington isn't the top city in the U.S.?

And Montreal is probably in the top 20, right? As well as other cities in Germany and northern Europe in general?

What about Singapore?
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Do you count Samuel Johnson amongst your ancestors? :wink:

Have to say that I prefer Paris to London, however, Washington ahead of NYC, in terms of livability, is a complete mystery.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Typhoon wrote:
Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Do you count Samuel Johnson amongst your ancestors? :wink:

Have to say that I prefer Paris to London, however, Washington ahead of NYC, in terms of livability, is a complete mystery.
You can be tired of London and still not tired of life, but I do like the place, despite its manifest drawbacks.

Paris is a great place to visit, but to live there is something else. Parisians are uptight and unwelcoming, much more so than Londoners (masses of whom are immigrants anyway).
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Washington is an order of magnitude more messed up than New York. It probably got that rating because it's relatively cheap for an international city. But there are parts of Washington with more than 25% unemployment. The violent crime rate exceeds that of New York.

There are also some other aspects of a city like New York that most people don't realize. It is literally dripping money. Like it may be hard to get your hands on enough cash to pay the exhorbitant rents, but if you have more time than money there are world class plays for free. You can see blockbuster films the week before they come out for free. You can go see DJs and Rock Bands for free. There are tons of cultural aspects that one can get involved with that are vibrant that can help one develop their community. If organizing theatrical events, politics or any of that is your scene you can become an insider and get invited to all the hot parties with their open bars just by putting in the sweat equity.
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Post by monster_gardener »

Enki wrote:
Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Washington is an order of magnitude more messed up than New York. It probably got that rating because it's relatively cheap for an international city. But there are parts of Washington with more than 25% unemployment. The violent crime rate exceeds that of New York.

There are also some other aspects of a city like New York that most people don't realize. It is literally dripping money. Like it may be hard to get your hands on enough cash to pay the exhorbitant rents, but if you have more time than money there are world class plays for free. You can see blockbuster films the week before they come out for free. You can go see DJs and Rock Bands for free. There are tons of cultural aspects that one can get involved with that are vibrant that can help one develop their community. If organizing theatrical events, politics or any of that is your scene you can become an insider and get invited to all the hot parties with their open bars just by putting in the sweat equity.
Thank You VERY Much for your post, Tinker Enki.
Washington is an order of magnitude more messed up than New York.
The violent crime rate exceeds that of New York.
That is the impression I have too....


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In fairness to WashingToon District of Criminals, there are worse cities..... Detroit is the first that comes to mind.......... But there are others.....
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Apart from the architecture and local manners, London and New York are remarkably similar places. Londoners are more polite on the surface, but less so underneath. Although New York is pretty cosmopolitan and unlike the rest of the US, it still has a trace of that American insularity, but then we all know that New Yorker cover pricture, the world ends at the Hudson, beyond is the "Mid west". Also both places have seen a rapid fall in crime in the past two decades - London later than NYC, but from a lower peak.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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For all it's troubles, real and imagined, I still prefer Chicago.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Torchwood wrote:
Typhoon wrote:
Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Do you count Samuel Johnson amongst your ancestors? :wink:

Have to say that I prefer Paris to London, however, Washington ahead of NYC, in terms of livability, is a complete mystery.
You can be tired of London and still not tired of life, but I do like the place, despite its manifest drawbacks.

Paris is a great place to visit, but to live there is something else. Parisians are uptight and unwelcoming, much more so than Londoners (masses of whom are immigrants anyway).
I must be the only person on the planet that found Parisians to be friendly.

I don't think it was a case of Paris Syndrome delusion . . .
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

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Enki wrote:
Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Washington is an order of magnitude more messed up than New York. It probably got that rating because it's relatively cheap for an international city. But there are parts of Washington with more than 25% unemployment. The violent crime rate exceeds that of New York.

There are also some other aspects of a city like New York that most people don't realize. It is literally dripping money. Like it may be hard to get your hands on enough cash to pay the exhorbitant rents, but if you have more time than money there are world class plays for free. You can see blockbuster films the week before they come out for free. You can go see DJs and Rock Bands for free. There are tons of cultural aspects that one can get involved with that are vibrant that can help one develop their community. If organizing theatrical events, politics or any of that is your scene you can become an insider and get invited to all the hot parties with their open bars just by putting in the sweat equity.
I don't think any of those things matter much for livability. Of course, that's a subjective term, but generally speaking, high quality of life implies a comfortable, healthy, stress-free, spacious, and aesthetically pleasing environment. Big cities like New York don't look favorable by those metrics.

My impression of New York having been here since April now is that it's a fantastic place to be right now but I'm not going to want to be here after 5 years. However, I wouldn't mind a bicoastal lifestyle, spending 4 months at a time in New York, and the rest somewhere like San Diego, Boulder, or even Silicon Valley. Best of both worlds.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

Post by Enki »

Zack Morris wrote:
Enki wrote:
Torchwood wrote:This list was probably compiled by an accountant, or someone who was Swiss. Aussie cities partly excepted (but they are too far from anywhere) a lot of the top cities are safe and boring. Paris way ahead of London, or Washington ahead of NYC? You must be joking. London and New York are messy, dirty, crowded, expensive - and exciting and vibrant, so half the world wants to live there.
Washington is an order of magnitude more messed up than New York. It probably got that rating because it's relatively cheap for an international city. But there are parts of Washington with more than 25% unemployment. The violent crime rate exceeds that of New York.

There are also some other aspects of a city like New York that most people don't realize. It is literally dripping money. Like it may be hard to get your hands on enough cash to pay the exhorbitant rents, but if you have more time than money there are world class plays for free. You can see blockbuster films the week before they come out for free. You can go see DJs and Rock Bands for free. There are tons of cultural aspects that one can get involved with that are vibrant that can help one develop their community. If organizing theatrical events, politics or any of that is your scene you can become an insider and get invited to all the hot parties with their open bars just by putting in the sweat equity.
I don't think any of those things matter much for livability. Of course, that's a subjective term, but generally speaking, high quality of life implies a comfortable, healthy, stress-free, spacious, and aesthetically pleasing environment. Big cities like New York don't look favorable by those metrics.

My impression of New York having been here since April now is that it's a fantastic place to be right now but I'm not going to want to be here after 5 years. However, I wouldn't mind a bicoastal lifestyle, spending 4 months at a time in New York, and the rest somewhere like San Diego, Boulder, or even Silicon Valley. Best of both worlds.
I hope that five years from now my choice of where I live will be independent of my ability to do business. Make enough money to afford to live off the beaten path and do my networking at conferences and travel.
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Re: City liveability ranking: 2013

Post by Ibrahim »

I quite like Washington. The only real problem is having to be around the people who live in Washington. The standard here is "livability" and not "most exciting." Naturally there is going to be some trade-off. I bet Cairo is damned exciting to live in right now, but on balance you'd rather be in Perth.
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