Once in a while, we can read that *** has been chosen as the best city to live and work. Every time I check out the full list, I feel like an alien because I wouldn´t live in most of them. So, I decided to find how these rankings are made and which one is more trustful.
One of the most famous is The Economist´s World's Most Liveable Cities. This year they have decided that the list is leaded by Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Sidney, Helsinki, Perth, Adelaide, and Auckland. Incredible. Most of these places are awfully cold and very expensive!! I contacted them and they told me they don´t take into account climate or the cost of living as a factor in livability. It´s amazing: these are probably some of the major factors to choose a place to live. Besides: there is more world beyond the English speaking one.
The Mercer list doesn´t do any better. See 2010 ranking: Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Auckland, Vancouver, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Bern, and Sidney. Again very cold and expensive (try to buy anything in Switzerland at USDCHF=0.9).
Monocle magazine, however, created a slightly better list some years ago based on safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, public transportation, tolerance, environmental issues, business conditions, and medical care. No cost of living is taking into account, which is understandable for a wealthy-reader-targeted magazine. They choose cities which are more fun (Berlin in Germany) and sunny (Madrid).
I guess we need to have our own personalized list.
One of the most famous is The Economist´s World's Most Liveable Cities. This year they have decided that the list is leaded by Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Sidney, Helsinki, Perth, Adelaide, and Auckland. Incredible. Most of these places are awfully cold and very expensive!! I contacted them and they told me they don´t take into account climate or the cost of living as a factor in livability. It´s amazing: these are probably some of the major factors to choose a place to live. Besides: there is more world beyond the English speaking one.
The Mercer list doesn´t do any better. See 2010 ranking: Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Auckland, Vancouver, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Bern, and Sidney. Again very cold and expensive (try to buy anything in Switzerland at USDCHF=0.9).
Monocle magazine, however, created a slightly better list some years ago based on safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, public transportation, tolerance, environmental issues, business conditions, and medical care. No cost of living is taking into account, which is understandable for a wealthy-reader-targeted magazine. They choose cities which are more fun (Berlin in Germany) and sunny (Madrid).
I guess we need to have our own personalized list.
