The World's Best City [According to the U.N.]

Sky News ^ | 10/05/2005 | unknown

[loreldan]

Beaches, ski resorts, mountains, great weather and friendly people are just some of the ingredients of the best place to live in the world.

But where is this heaven on earth, where can you have a great standard of living and healthcare, get your hands on the world's best goods and experience some of the best services?

The answer, according to the United Nations quality of life survey, is Vancouver in British Columbia.

The "City of Glass" - so called because of its mirror-fronted skyscrapers - has topped the poll every year for nearly a decade.

Conde Nast Traveller describes Vancouver as the "perfect Pacific city, shimmering on the edge of a beautiful harbour."

Canada did well in the poll, with two other entries: Toronto at number nine and Calgary in tenth place.

Jon Copestake, editor of the Economist Intelligence Unit, which commissioned the research, said: "There are hardly any problems in Canada and even less in Vancouver."

An impressive five Australian cities made it into the top 10, explaining why so many Brits escape the UK for Down Under.

London failed to impress in the survey and came a dismal 47th out of the 127 cities included.

The worst place to live was named and shamed as Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

The 10 best cities to live in are:
Vancouver, Canada
Melbourne, Australia
Vienna, Austria
Geneva, Switzerland
Perth, Australia
Adelaide, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Zurich, Switzerland
Toronto, Canada
Calgary, Canada

The 10 worst cities to live in are:
Tehran, Iran
Douala, Cameroon
Harare, Zimbabwe
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Lagos, Nigeria
Karachi, Pakistan
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Algires, Algeria
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

[rasblue]

Calgary would have made the top three if not for those -40C/-40F February mornings.

[newgeezer]

As beautiful as Vancouver might have been, my recollection is that Victoria made it look like a dump. But, would I be right in guessing the politics are pretty similar (liberal)? How much does the island do to insulate you from the pestilence and vermin?

[TheForceOfOne]

What no Nuevo Laredo?

I thought for sure the U.N. would see this as a wonderful city.

[Chances Are]

Yeah - so what was the point of your original post?

The skiing at both Killington and Cannon is quite good, and meets the needs of New Yorker ski enthusiasts without making a cross-country trip. I'll grant you, Western powder is superior, but unless you live in the area, it's just not a practical option to consider, cost-wise.

I know people who go to Copper every year for a 2-week ski holiday, but they won't relocate to make it a year-round type thing.

When comparing the major metropolis of that area, Denver, to New York, there's just no comparison. I mean, Denver is nice and all, but it comes up short in a lot of areas.

How can I say that? I live at 5,600 myself, so I know all about it.

If height so enthralls you, why don't you ski K2?

CA....

[dfwgator]

I'm shocked Detroit didn't make it to the "10 Worst Cities" list.

[jbloedow]

As beautiful as Vancouver might have been, my recollection is that Victoria made it look like a dump.

Um, I think in order to make it high up the list, the city had to have employment and recreational opportunities (for residents, not tourists).

P.S. Wife's parents live in Victoria... it's a small, sleepy, retirement town with little-to-nothing to do besides a handful of tourist attractions that you could complete in less than half a week.

[jbloedow]

Calgary would have made the top three if not for those -40C/-40F February mornings.

My wife's from Calgary and she says it rarely gets to be that cold, mainly because of the Chinook phenomenon. Now if you want to talk about Ottawa, whence I hail, then sure.

[dfwgator]

"Mountains - NYC is located near several nice ranges." The nearest mountain is 1700 miles away...

Ever heard of Lake Placid? You know, Winter Olympics, "Miracle on Ice," etc.

[dakine]

Any "mountain" that you can walk to the top, and has trees all the way up them...are hills....

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"As beautiful as Vancouver might have been, my recollection is that Victoria made it look like a dump. But, would I be right in guessing the politics are pretty similar (liberal)? How much does the island do to insulate you from the pestilence and vermin?"


Victoria is the provincial capital city -- typical of capital cities, there tends to be a generally positive view about bigger government. (The tax money funnels into the area from everywhere else.)

BTW -- our provincial government is nominally "Liberal" -- but is actually an aliance of conservatives and moderates (left and right). The opposition New Democratic Party are avowed socialists.

[Killing Time]

Nice article in the Grauniad about the bottom ranking city:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1585705,00.html

[Shqipo]

I hope this means the UN will be relocating to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

[RockyMtnMan]

Most of the ski-able mountains are around 12 to 13k ft. So the difference between the base and the peak (less a few un-skiable ft at the top) makes a difference of about 5000 to 6000ft of slope. I suspect the slopes on the east coast have around 3 to 4000 ski-able ft.

Basically I'm just poking fun at New Englanders aka Yankees. I've lived in a couple of very "cosmopolitan" cities and enjoyed them. Yankees, Midwesterners, Hillbillies, Southerners and Left Coasters have a different opinion about what makes a good city so it's more of a personal preference in my opinion.

Yankees tend to make mountains out of mole hills (just look at the NYT) so personality traits tend to clash and ruin a otherwise good city experience.

[from occupied ga]

I thought Havana, Cuba would be their favorite city. Go figure...

I would have thought Lagos, Nigeria since they run their enterprise the same way Lagos is run.