http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/29/cities-quality-idUSL5E7MT27120111129

VIENNA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Vienna's excellent
infrastructure, safe streets and good public health service make
it the nicest place to live in the world, consulting group
Mercer said in a global survey which put Baghdad firmly in last
place.	
    German and Swiss cities also performed especially well in
the quality of living rankings, with Zurich, Munich,
Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva and Bern in the top 10.	
    The Austrian capital, with its ornate buildings, public
parks and extensive bicycle network recently reduced the cost of
its annual public transport ticket to 1 euro a day.	
    Serious crime is rare and the city of around 1.7 million
inhabitants regularly tops global quality of life surveys.	
    But Mercer warned that top-ranking European cities could not
take their position for granted in the survey, which assessed
more than 200 cities.	
    "They are not immune to any decrease of living standards
should this (economic) turmoil persist," Mercer's senior
researcher Slagin Parakatil said on the company's website.	
    Mercer, which also ranked cities according to personal
safety, gave Athens a poor score because of clashes between
demonstrators and police and political instability.	
    "In 2011 Athens is ranked in Europe among the lowest in the
personal safety ranking," Parakatil said.	
    Oslo also fell to 24th place in the separate safety survey
because of Anders Breivik's mass killings in July. It would
usually be in the top 15, Mercer said.	
    Baghdad's political turmoil, poor security enforcement and
attacks on local people and foreigners made it the worst place
to live in 2011, both in terms of life quality and safety,
Mercer said.	
    Political and economic unrest in Africa and the Middle East
also pushed down scores in those regions.	
    "Many countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen have
seen their quality of living levels drop considerably,"
Parakatil said.	
    "Political and economic reconstruction in these countries,
combined with funding to serve basic human needs, will
undoubtedly boost the region."	
    He said that while the outlook is uncertain for most of the
world because of economic and political turmoil, cities in
Asia-Pacific look set to benefit thanks to political stability
and solid growth.	
    Auckland, Sydney, Wellington, Melbourne and Perth made it
into the top 20 for quality of life in 2011 while Singapore was
the highest-ranking Asian city in 25th place.	

    Top 10 in Mercer Quality of Living survey 	
 1  Vienna          Austria
 2  Zurich          Switzerland
 3  Auckland        New Zealand
 4  Munich          Germany
 5  Duesseldorf     Germany
 5  Vancouver       Canada
 7  Frankfurt       Germany
 8  Geneva          Switzerland
 9  Bern            Switzerland
 9  Copenhagen      Denmark

here#city-rankings	

no. 7 Frankfurt ????????????? this is a joke, right? what means "quality of life"?

i visited a lot of cties worldwide - from bangkok to paris, from miami to kairo, from london to berlin - all great cities, BUT ... frankfurt is nothing near a fantastic place to live - fuck NO!!

That is really interesting. And pretty telling that not a single US city is on there.

US cities have great qualities, but they all have terrible qualities too. At least I live close to the highest ranking US city--San Francisco #30-something

I saw that on Yahoo!

The top 50 cities:

trickster said:

no. 7 Frankfurt ????????????? this is a joke, right? what means "quality of life"?

i visited a lot of cties worldwide - from bangkok to paris, from miami to kairo, from london to berlin - all great cities, BUT ... frankfurt is nothing near a fantastic place to live - fuck NO!!

Frankfurt is not a beautiful city in my opinion, but that's not what this survey is about.

^^^ Seems like that "Alpine" part of Europe (Austria/Germany/Switzerland) is the place to BE.

So when can I move to Vienna, Martina?

There is no way that overall NY is better than Seattle. (The only thing NY has got going on is more art/concerts/theatre/food). Not that we don't have that here. Just not as much.

kewlschool said:

There is no way that overall NY is better than Seattle. (The only thing NY has got going on is more art/concerts/theatre/food). Not that we don't have that here. Just not as much.

PurpleJedi said:

^^^ Seems like that "Alpine" part of Europe (Austria/Germany/Switzerland) is the place to BE.

The Alps are really beautiful, but Vienna, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg or Berlin are not exactly situated in the Alps .

Ugh, these studies always miss the point of quality of life. Yes, the cities listed have a low crime rate. Yes, they won't let you die in the street if you get sick. Yes, the trains don't usually run late. But none of that is on the plus side, it's just a lack of minus.

Same thing goes for my city (Stockholm). You're perfectly safe, everything works, the streets are clean, yadda yadda yadda. But where's the spice of life? Where's the fun? Who measures the things that actually elevate life to a higher level, as opposed to just eliminate its perils? If those things were taken into account I bet a lot of the so-called unsafe cities of the world would rank a lot higher.

sextonseven said:

So when can I move to Vienna, Martina?

Whenever you want to, you are always welcome and you know that !

Vienna sure isn't a bad city to live in, but I would not choose it if I wasn't born here. For me other things count a lot like the people who live in a city and the vibe a city has. Ever since I fully noticed how xenophobic people here in Austria are I don't really feel at home here anymore .

I am actually surprised it's at the number 1 spot in the world. And even for a second time in a row.

sextonseven said:

kewlschool said:

There is no way that overall NY is better than Seattle. (The only thing NY has got going on is more art/concerts/theatre/food). Not that we don't have that here. Just not as much.

Serious said:

Vienna sure isn't a bad city to live in, but I would not choose it if I wasn't born here. For me other things count a lot like the people who live in a city and the vibe a city has. Ever since I fully noticed how xenophobic people here in Austria are I don't really feel at home here anymore .

I am actually surprised it's at the number 1 spot in the world. And even for a second time in a row.

But it makes sense when you read the criteria. It's not the "funnest" "wildest" "most amazing" "wealthiest, "most beautiful" "most important" etc. city but there is a high quality of life

infrastructure, safe streets and good public health service

Serious said:

sextonseven said:

So when can I move to Vienna, Martina?

Whenever you want to, you are always welcome and you know that !

Isn't it required that I learn German before I can live there?

NDRU said:

Serious said:

Vienna sure isn't a bad city to live in, but I would not choose it if I wasn't born here. For me other things count a lot like the people who live in a city and the vibe a city has. Ever since I fully noticed how xenophobic people here in Austria are I don't really feel at home here anymore .

I am actually surprised it's at the number 1 spot in the world. And even for a second time in a row.

But it makes sense when you read the criteria. It's not the "funnest" "wildest" "most amazing" "wealthiest, "most beautiful" "most important" etc. city but there is a high quality of life

infrastructure, safe streets and good public health service

Yeah I guess you are right. I just found out today that the hospital close to where I live where George Michael is treated at the moment is the biggest one in Europe with 1600 doctors working there.

sextonseven said:

Serious said:

Whenever you want to, you are always welcome and you know that !

Isn't it required that I learn German before I can live there?

Don't remind me of that new xenophobic shit .

I will teach you !

retina said:

Ugh, these studies always miss the point of quality of life. Yes, the cities listed have a low crime rate. Yes, they won't let you die in the street if you get sick. Yes, the trains don't usually run late. But none of that is on the plus side, it's just a lack of minus.

Same thing goes for my city (Stockholm). You're perfectly safe, everything works, the streets are clean, yadda yadda yadda. But where's the spice of life? Where's the fun? Who measures the things that actually elevate life to a higher level, as opposed to just eliminate its perils? If those things were taken into account I bet a lot of the so-called unsafe cities of the world would rank a lot higher.

So what would be your choices?

retina said:

Ugh, these studies always miss the point of quality of life. Yes, the cities listed have a low crime rate. Yes, they won't let you die in the street if you get sick. Yes, the trains don't usually run late. But none of that is on the plus side, it's just a lack of minus.

Same thing goes for my city (Stockholm). You're perfectly safe, everything works, the streets are clean, yadda yadda yadda. But where's the spice of life? Where's the fun? Who measures the things that actually elevate life to a higher level, as opposed to just eliminate its perils? If those things were taken into account I bet a lot of the so-called unsafe cities of the world would rank a lot higher.

That's true, but I think a lot of people in America definitely forsake the plusses in favor of the lack of minuses, particularly when they start to have kids.

Serious said:

sextonseven said:

Isn't it required that I learn German before I can live there?

Don't remind me of that new xenophobic shit .

I will teach you !

I think it will be best if I stay with you at your place while you teach me.

Serious said:

retina said:

Ugh, these studies always miss the point of quality of life. Yes, the cities listed have a low crime rate. Yes, they won't let you die in the street if you get sick. Yes, the trains don't usually run late. But none of that is on the plus side, it's just a lack of minus.

Same thing goes for my city (Stockholm). You're perfectly safe, everything works, the streets are clean, yadda yadda yadda. But where's the spice of life? Where's the fun? Who measures the things that actually elevate life to a higher level, as opposed to just eliminate its perils? If those things were taken into account I bet a lot of the so-called unsafe cities of the world would rank a lot higher.

So what would be your choices?

Vancouver, Paris and Barcelona are probably the only ones on that list that I agree with. I would add all kinds of other cities and towns like Udaipur, Kyoto, Yangshuo (all with great natural beauty and interesting people), Saigon, Shanghai, New York (all with lots of stuff to do 24 hrs a day), Dar Es Salaam, Addis Ababa, Jakarta (all with adventure and excitement!), Dawson City, Geilo, Sechelt (all peaceful havens of harmony).

Just to name a few.

Oops, I just noticed that New York indeed is on the list. But it's way down.

[Edited 11/29/11 14:49pm]

sextonseven said:

Serious said:

Don't remind me of that new xenophobic shit .

I will teach you !

I think it will be best if I stay with you at your place while you teach me.

I think so too .

You could already start by watching this video:

NDRU said:

retina said:

Ugh, these studies always miss the point of quality of life. Yes, the cities listed have a low crime rate. Yes, they won't let you die in the street if you get sick. Yes, the trains don't usually run late. But none of that is on the plus side, it's just a lack of minus.

Same thing goes for my city (Stockholm). You're perfectly safe, everything works, the streets are clean, yadda yadda yadda. But where's the spice of life? Where's the fun? Who measures the things that actually elevate life to a higher level, as opposed to just eliminate its perils? If those things were taken into account I bet a lot of the so-called unsafe cities of the world would rank a lot higher.

That's true, but I think a lot of people in America definitely forsake the plusses in favor of the lack of minuses, particularly when they start to have kids.

That's perfectly fine. I can definitely see how many people at certain stages of their lives would enjoy life in Stockholm for example. I just wouldn't recommend living there for 30+ years like i have. The experience has taught me that there's a whoooole lot more to quality of life than lack of minuses, lol.

retina said:

NDRU said:

That's true, but I think a lot of people in America definitely forsake the plusses in favor of the lack of minuses, particularly when they start to have kids.

That's perfectly fine. I can definitely see how many people at certain stages of their lives would enjoy life in Stockholm for example. I just wouldn't recommend living there for 30+ years like i have. The experience has taught me that there's a whoooole lot more to quality of life than lack of minuses, lol.

Something like good health care or having the chance to use the underground all night long on weekends is a plus and not just a lack of a minus.

On the other hand Capetown for example is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And yes that's true, but when I saw the poverty and still existing racism there I couldn't really enjoy it that much.

Serious said:

sextonseven said:

I think it will be best if I stay with you at your place while you teach me.

I think so too .

You could already start by watching this video:

It's all so clear now! Much better than using Rosetta Stone.

Serious said:

retina said:

That's perfectly fine. I can definitely see how many people at certain stages of their lives would enjoy life in Stockholm for example. I just wouldn't recommend living there for 30+ years like i have. The experience has taught me that there's a whoooole lot more to quality of life than lack of minuses, lol.

Something like good health care or having the chance to use the underground all night long on weekends is a plus and not just a lack of a minus.

On the other hand Capetown for example is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And yes that's true, but when I saw the poverty and still existing racism there I couldn't really enjoy it that much.

I disagree that good health care and infrastructure are plusses. They are just things that keep us alive and not-sick and transport us from point A to point B. Existence-sustaining stuff. From there you need to add things to make life worth living. It really depresses me to see our old folks sit in their perfectly run care homes and wither away while Japanese and American seniors are out and about living their lives until they die.

As for the Capetown example I agree that there are minuses as well as plusses, and it might well be that they cancel each other out, at least for you. My problem is just that the studies like the one mentioned above (and a lot of people's attitudes) don't take its plusses into account at all.

retina said:

Serious said:

Something like good health care or having the chance to use the underground all night long on weekends is a plus and not just a lack of a minus.

On the other hand Capetown for example is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And yes that's true, but when I saw the poverty and still existing racism there I couldn't really enjoy it that much.

I disagree that good health care and infrastructure are plusses. They are just things that keep us alive and not-sick and transport us from point A to point B. Existence-sustaining stuff. From there you need to add things to make life worth living. It really depresses me to see our old folks sit in their perfectly run care homes and wither away while Japanese and American seniors are out and about living their lives until they die.

As for the Capetown example I agree that there are minuses as well as plusses, and it might well be that they cancel each other out, at least for you. My problem is just that the studies like the one mentioned above (and a lot of people's attitudes) don't take its plusses into account at all.

But they transport me to places that I can enjoy !

And the thing with old folks is that the families here usually don't take care of old relatives anymore and that's a different thing all together.

sextonseven said:

Serious said:

I think so too .

You could already start by watching this video:

It's all so clear now! Much better than using Rosetta Stone.

Glad I could help !