Plan B Forum

Oh Vienna....

The ten most liveable cities in 2018

1. Vienna, Austria

2. Melbourne, Australia

3. Osaka, Japan

4. Calgary, Canada

5. Sydney, Australia

6. Vancouver, Canada

7. Tokyo, Japan

8. Toronto, Canada

9. Copenhagen, Denmark

10. Adelaide, Australia



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45174600

Calgary? Adelaide??? Someone's pulling your leg.

Granted I have never been to Tokyo, but from what I have heard it is extremely overcrowded and congested, not to mention extremely expensive to live in. How this makes it among the most "livable" cities is beyond me. Now to be fair, many say that the city does "work" despite those drawbacks, so it might be among the most livable of overcrowded, congested cities, but that's something very different IMHO.

The worldwide league table ranks 140 cities on a range of factors, including political and social stability, crime, education and access to healthcare.

To understand the rankings you have to think big, like a worldwide league.

Sue U wrote:Calgary? Adelaide??? Someone's pulling your leg.

I've not been to Calgary, but Adelaide is very lovely.

the article wrote:The Austrian capital, Vienna, has beaten Australia's Melbourne to be named the world's most liveable city.

It's the first time a European city has topped the rankings of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) annual survey.

The worldwide league table ranks 140 cities on a range of factors, including political and social stability, crime, education and access to healthcare.

"... ranks 140 cities..." — so there's a lot of places that never were in the running in the first place.

"...on a range of factors, including political and social stability, crime, education and access to healthcare." — access to healthcare is significant to me, as is the ability to find and hold a job that pays enough to keep the wolf from the door.  Compared with those factors, 'social stability and education' aren't nearly so important.  And thanks to Dumb'old J. Trump and the Republic*nt Party, any American city would have been eliminated from consideration on the 'political stability' metric alone.

-"BB"-

Vienna is lovely. I'd live there, but for its politics.

Guinevere wrote:Vienna is lovely. I'd live there, but for its politics.

Non non non ma chere, Paris t'attend.

Sue U wrote:... Non non non ma chere, Paris t'attend.

Is that a quote from Casablanca?

Sue U wrote:

Guinevere wrote:Vienna is lovely. I'd live there, but for its politics.

Non non non ma chere, Paris t'attend.

I believe I may desert Paris for Provence. 300 sunny days/year v. 160. And it’s only a train ride away. Next step is to set up my schedule so I can go for a month.

Not that I recall; using my poor command of the anguage, it appears to mean No, no my dear, Paris awaits you.

Guin, I agree about Vienna and Provence: I would live in either place before Paris--London too. IMHO, Paris is one of those places I don't mind visiting, but would not choose to live in.

I could easily live in Copenhagen if it weren't so expensive; actually, I do think I could live in Barcelona on my current budget (but then, if I had enough money I would choose to live in NYC or San Francisco).

Oh no BigRR, I don't necessarily prefer Vienna to Paris, but its a lovely city and has family roots for me, too. Its just one of the several places where I could see myself. Alas, my German is pitiful (and apparently I speak it with a French accent). My French also has a long long way to go.

Paris v. Provence will come down to when I think I could get there, how long I will be there, and if I need to work while I'm there. But I think more sun rather than less is good for me, and the Camargue is so much like the coast around here --- I could settle nicely in a seaside Provencal village.

Anyone who thinks Calgary is highly livable must have visited in July or August, not January or February. One of my sisters lived within an hour's drive of Calgary for several years.

I think this is a better tool for finding most liveable cities:

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-i ... uch-longer

I’m planning on moving to Quito, Ecuador within the next few years to teach - with the bonus that I’ll be able to visit the Galápagos Islands without much trouble.

Actually, Bogota Colombia had one of the best climates for a major city I recall; it is in the mountains and ringed but eucalyptus trees (meaning few mosquitos), with an average daytime temperature in the 70s and cooler evenings. If the country could get its act together (crime, terrorism, massive poverty, even daily power blackouts (at least when I was there 20+ years ago, I have heard that has been somewhat remedied), it could be a pretty nice city to live in.

That’s one of the reasons why I’ve picked Ecuador out of the many cities with year round temperate climates. Close friends lived there for a few years in the early 2000s and they loved it; you can live comfortably on a relatively modest salary and the political climate is stable compared to most other places that fall into that temperate range. It consistently ranks highly as a place for expat retirement and there is apparently a nice American expat community.

Big RR wrote:Actually, Bogota Colombia had one of the best climates for a major city I recall; it is in the mountains and ringed but eucalyptus trees (meaning few mosquitos), with an average daytime temperature in the 70s and cooler evenings. If the country could get its act together (crime, terrorism, massive poverty, even daily power blackouts (at least when I was there 20+ years ago, I have heard that has been somewhat remedied), it could be a pretty nice city to live in.

Probably #141 then?

BoSoxGal wrote:That’s one of the reasons why I’ve picked Ecuador out of the many cities with year round temperate climates. Close friends lived there for a few years in the early 2000s and they loved it;

So, unlike Bogota, they say "mas quito" there.

Meade--141? I can't argue that, but on what list? If that guardian link had a list attached, it didn't open for me.

Hey BigRR, that link has a search function, but no lists. This link (from inside the first article) has a list of perfectly temperate cities - including Bogota:

https://medium.com/@mnolangray/cities-o ... 3d6e018970