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2023’s Global Liveability Index: The top 10
- Vienna, Austria
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Melbourne, Australia
- Sydney, Australia
- Vancouver, Canada
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Calgary, Canada
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Toronto, Canada
- Osaka, Japan
I find it surprising that there's 2 Australian cities on here but nowhere from the US. I've been under the impression Australia was similar to US in "Liveability" metrics, for good and ill.
The rest are no surprise at all
My guess is that all USA cities were disqualified for possibilities of gun violence and lack of socialize medicine. I can't really disagree with that either.
They talk more about the methodology here, for what it's worth. I think crime is pretty heavily weighted, guessing that's what sinks a lot of US cities.
Something's very strange in this ranking.
Osaka is a nice city but few Japanese would choose it as the no. 1 "livable" city in the nation. For a businessman it'd be much more convenient to live in some neighborhood city around Tokyo. To favor Osaka like that you'd need to mistake your personal preference as a universal measure.
LOL, Australian and Canadian cities? Pretty sure most urbanists would disagree; those are car-dependent shitholes.
Maybe it's not obvious to you, but city design/planning isn't the only thing that makes a city "livable". Reading the article may help.
It may not be sufficient, but it is necessary as a baseline precondition. Perhaps not all cities with good urbanism are "livable," but all "livable" cities must have good urbanism.
Seriously shocked to see Vancouver on here, specifically because of that. How is it one of the most livable when so many people can't begin to afford to live there?
Seriously shocked to see Vancouver on here
Same with Toronto.
Those 2 are the most expensive places to live in the country.
Same with Sydney. Rent and real estate is ridiculous in general. Livable if you share with 8 housemates, or have a really good salary
Don't forget Melbourne may be slightly better than Sydney but it's still insane. Ballarat and Bendigo are better choices than those two.
That was my exact thought as well, yes! And I'm 100% certain it's not the only other very high COL city in the top 10 (Toronto, Zurich, Geneva all come to mind immediately).
They must follow some kind of an ideological criteria is what they look for in a city, like natural beauty and ease of transportation, while giving no thought to people's livelihood. Vancouver was too expensive and overpriced 10 years ago, it's not a new problem.
I suspect the people who did the list are elitists who have no understanding about budgets or not having enough money. As AOC from NY said when discussing budgets, "How do you pay for things? You just do! elitist laugh"
I dont make a lot at all because I'm in school. I make half of what I did with a job in the US, but I will make about the same after my degree.
But, rent and groceries are also half of what I used to pay. So, I'm in a degree now and my quality of life has not gone down at all. Oh and I'm paying down debt faster somehow. Let's put it that way.
Vienna is the only city I have ever visited where my girlfriend and I seriously thought: "how about living here definitively".
The closest we had before was "we could see ourselves living here for a few years before going back".
I know this top 10 is full of shit, but it feels reasonable to see Vienna at the top.
I recently lived in Vancouver and it is absolutely not liveable at all. Rent is completely insane, public transport is relatively shit (especially after hours), so you need a car (and don't forget two sets of tires), an uber ride from downtown to somewhere like Surrey or the reverse is $60+, you'll never be able to buy a house unless you make 300K+ per year, there are mentally ill and aggressive homeless people all over downtown and near every major skytrain station, you're getting gouged on groceries, cell phone bills, and pretty much every other thing you can think of, and it's routinely considered a city devoid of any actual fun or culture (commonly referred to as no-fun city). In fact, Vancouver has such a level of resentment amongst people who have been there, that according to my friends from the movie industry, celebrities will fly back to LA for the weekend instead of staying in Vancouver. The only people it's "liveable" for are the real estate speculators, which is honestly what all these bullshit fucking lists are really about: where the elites can siphon up more shit for their own benefit at the expense of everyone else.
