How would you rate the quality of life in your city?

[Manila-X]

From 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of life in your city? Are you satisfied living in your city? What about pro and cons living there?

As for HK, I would rate it a 9. The advantage of living there is, you have good service, public transportation, food and safety. The disadvantage are living space and costs of living.

[hkskyline]

World-wide quality of living survey
Mercer HR
London, 10 April 2006
http://www.mercerhr.com/summary.jhtml?idContent=1173105

Zurich ranks as the world’s top city for quality of living, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The city scores 108.2 and is only marginally ahead of Geneva, which scores 108.1, while Vancouver follows in third place with a score of 107.7. In contrast, Baghdad is the lowest ranking city in the survey, scoring just 14.5.

The analysis is part of an annual World-wide Quality of Living Survey, covering more than 350 cities, to help governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments. Each city is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and other public services. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100.

“When multinational companies set up expatriate assignments they have to provide attractive reward packages to compensate employees for any negative changes to their quality of living,” Yvonne Sonsino, Principal at Mercer, commented. “Moving abroad can be a big upheaval for expatriates and their families, so international assignments tend to carry large price tags, particularly if they are in cities with low living standards facing political unrest or terrorist threats.” She added: “Many companies use benchmark data to help them structure pay deals at the right level.”
Europe and the Middle East

Almost half the top 30 scoring cities are in Western Europe. In this region, Vienna follows Zurich and Geneva in 4th position with a score of 107.5. Other highly-rated cities include Düsseldorf (107.2), Frankfurt (107.0) and Munich (106.8) in positions 6, 7 and 8 respectively. Athens remains the lowest scoring city in Western Europe, scoring 86.8 at position 79.

London is the UK’s highest ranking city and is stable at position 39 (score 101.2). The two other UK cities covered in the survey are Birmingham and Glasgow, which both score 98.3 and climb one place to joint 55th position.

Dublin has dropped two places to 24th position, scoring 103.8, mainly due to increased traffic congestion.

As predicted, cities in Eastern Europe such as Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague, Vilnius, Tallinn and Warsaw continue to benefit from incremental score increases and are gradually climbing the rankings.

“The standard of living in many Eastern European cities is gradually improving, as the countries that most recently joined the EU attract greater investment,” commented Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer. “Yet cities such as Dubai may still offer a wider variety of facilities demanded by expatriates – for example, well-connected international airports and better opportunities for recreation and leisure activities – compared to many Eastern European cities.”

Positions for most cities in Europe and the Middle East are generally unchanged, with the exception of Cairo which has tumbled nine places to position 131 and scores 71.2 due to the political turmoil and terrorist attacks in the city and surrounding area.

Baghdad ranks as the least attractive city for expatriates for a third consecutive year, with a score of 14.5.
Americas

Honolulu, the highest ranking city in the U.S., drops two positions to 27th with a score of 103.3. San Francisco remains at 28th position and scores 103.2. Boston, Washington, Chicago and Portland follow in positions 36, 41, 41 and 43 respectively (scores 101.9, 100.4, 100.4 and 100.3) while Houston remains the lowest ranking city in the U.S. at position 68 (score 95.4). Overall, U.S. cities continue to slip slightly or remain stable in the rankings, except Chicago which has moved up 11 places due to decreased crime rates.

“Economies in the developed world tend to be relatively stable overall. Fluctuations in the quality of living in these regions are usually driven by factors such as increased air pollution, crime rates and traffic congestion, or external events like terrorism, disease outbreaks or natural disasters,” said Mr. Parakatil.

In South America, scores vary considerably due to differences in economic and political stability. “Argentina’s steady economic recovery is likely to push its cities up in the rankings in the next few years,” commented Mr. Parakatil.
Asia-Pacific

Auckland and Wellington have both moved up the rankings from 8th to 5th and 14th to 12th places respectively, mainly due to strong internal stability relative to other cities, while Sydney remains at position 9 with a score of 106.5.

In Asia, Singapore ranks 34th (score 102.5) followed by Tokyo, Japan’s highest scoring city, at position 35 (score 102.3). Hong Kong’s modern and efficient infrastructure, including its airport (which is considered one of best in the world), has pushed it up from 70th to 68th position with a score of 95.4.

The top-ranking city in China is Shanghai in 103rd place (score 80.1). “Beijing and Shanghai are on the rise and should experience rapid improvements in quality of living in the coming years. This is mainly due to greater international investment driven by the availability and lower cost of labour and manufacturing expertise,” explained Mr. Parakatil.

Though cities in India generally rank lower than their Chinese counterparts, they are also showing signs of development in the region.

“The quality of living in Indian cites such as Mumbai and Bangalore is increasing slowly but steadily, primarily due to India’s improved political relationships with other countries,” said Mr. Parakatil. “Investment from multinationals setting up operations in India may prompt further improvements, boost economic growth and contribute to economic stability. In turn, this will encourage the local authorities to focus on improving quality of living standards.”

Other low-ranking cities for overall quality of living include Congo in Brazzaville (score 30.3) and Bangui in the Central African Republic and Khartoum in Sudan (30.6 and 31.7).

Mercer has released a new report called Managing Quality of Living for Expatriates, which provides information to enable HR professionals and others to understand the importance of assessing worldwide standards of living, including personal safety and security, health issues, cleanliness and pollution, and transportation. More than 100 cities have been selected from Western and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more information, please visit www.mercerhr.com/qualityofliving. Copies of individual city reports can also be purchased from this site.

[_00_deathscar]

Good thread, although I fear this may descend into a city vs city flaming affair. Let's hope not - it deserves far more.

HONG KONG - 8/10

Advantages:
- Excellent service (IMHO unsurpassed worldwide)
- Excellent infrastructure/public transport (again IMHO unsurpassed worldwide)
- Variety and quality of food
- Safety
- 'You've got "everything"' - the beach, the city, the mountains etc. all at a stone's throw.
- Excellent entertainment options ~ in the day and for the night (again, very much unsurpassed)

Disadvantages:
- Cost of living
- Not cost-worthy for the price
- Polluted/populated
- At times claustrophobic

There are some things you just can't change or deal with - for example the density issue. Therefore, I think if Hong Kong works on reducing the pollution levels, it'll be a 10/10 for me.

[Küsel]

Top, clear

Only.... the people could be a bit nicer, more open and more progressive in thinking - not specifically Zurich, but the whole German speaking Switzerland - sometimes I am ashamed to be Swiss I mean: what does it help to have the best infrastructure, parks, culture, schools and restaurants if you can't TALK to each other!!!???? A new study showed that 25% of the Swiss think they don't have enough or no close friends, 17% are lonely and isolated plus we have one of the highest suicide rates apart from the former Soviet countries. Strange if the quality of life is the best in the world, isn't it....?

To be honest in this point of view I prefer Sao Paulo by far! Quality of life is always very relative

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by _00_deathscar

Good thread, although I fear this may descend into a city vs city flaming affair. Let's hope not - it deserves far more.

HONG KONG - 8/10

Advantages:
- Excellent service (IMHO unsurpassed worldwide)
- Excellent infrastructure/public transport (again IMHO unsurpassed worldwide)
- Variety and quality of food
- Safety
- 'You've got "everything"' - the beach, the city, the mountains etc. all at a stone's throw.
- Excellent entertainment options ~ in the day and for the night (again, very much unsurpassed)

Disadvantages:
- Cost of living
- Not cost-worthy for the price
- Polluted/populated
- At times claustrophobic

There are some things you just can't change or deal with - for example the density issue. Therefore, I think if Hong Kong works on reducing the pollution levels, it'll be a 10/10 for me.

I don't think and hope not this ends up in a flame war cause people will be rating their own cities and not others

As for HK, pollution can be a problem but I don't even smell the smoke when walking down the street. Food, definitely

[FREKI]

Copenhagen 10/10

Advantages:
- The Capital of the country with the best economy in the EU and the biggest GDP surplus
- High Wages, 37h work week
- 7 weeks paid vacation a year
- Great weather for the location so far north
- Tons of beautiful women
- Great relaxed nighlife
- Relaxed view on female nudity at parks, beaches and Swimming pools
- Great social services and a goverment payed pension at 65
- Clean streets with bikepaths at all larger streets
- Lot's of parks and recreational areas
- Some of the worlds best beaches ( in the summer )
- Public swimming areas in the clean habor
- Great personal freedom - minimum ages: sex=15 beer=16 car=18, voting and personal responsibility=18
- Well funded Police and Army - the city is very safe, even at night
- High Speed Internet available for all - up to 100mbit
- A lot of culture and history

Disadvantages:
- Car tax at 180%
- Too many Nimbys - the tallest building is only 120m
- Cold boring winters
- Some Immigrant related problems and crime
- It's held back by the EU - when our economy should be free and fly like Norway's


Basicly I love it here, and while I wouldn't mind living in f.ex Tokyo for a couple of years, this is where I want to live, have kids, grow old and and die!

[sharpie20]

I would have to rate living in San Diego a 9 out of 10, I think it's one of the best places to live in the world, but then again its not perfect.

Advantages:
-Beautiful Beaches
-Best Weather year round
-Beautiful TAN women
-Highest PHD degrees per capita
-Not as polluted as it's norhern neighbor LA
-Famous people comeby all the time, i think San Diego is Bill Gates' second residence
-Not congested

Disadvantages
-Traffic can be a mess
-Lack famous cultural centers
-Skyline is not very impressive for such a large city

[staff]

Copenhagen-Malmö: 10/10.
Best in the world, arguably.

[_00_deathscar]

See this is generally where the smaller or medium sized towns will compare favourably with the 'big 5' or alpha cities and so on - because being such a large sized city, these aforementioned cities will always have nearly as many disadvantages as advantages.

For example, I would never dream of living in a more exciting or buzzing city than Hong Kong, yet I also cannot give it a 10/10 due to it's drawbacks with regards to pollution.

[_00_deathscar]

Also, I would like to point out that the level of English for a city/state that had previously been under British rule for over a hundred and fifty years and is considered a world class city is appalling here in Hong Kong - that's another disadvantage.

But as is generally the case, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and hence the 8 or 9/10 rating.

[SE9]

London 8.5/10


Advantages:
- Capital of a centralised country, therefore most of what the UK has to offer is situated in London. (stadia, theatres etc.)
- Most comprehensive transport system in the world (extensive underground and overground network, buses, light rail, trams and river-shuttle.)
- Centre of many international events every year, such as concerts, film premieres etc.
- The city is a capital of:
- fashion: London fashion week, great selection of shops, and home to many famous labels.
- Finance: One of the world's largest financial centres. Money pours into the city daily.
- Media: Home to Reuters, BBC and News International amongst others. Free press.
- Sport: London is where the home of Cricket (Lords) and the home of Tennis (Wimbledon) is situated. There's always a large sporting event taking place here every week. The city also has many stadia for a wide range of sport.
- Music: Many concerts held weekly, and a diverse music scene.
- Fantastic nightlife.
- Very Multicultural and cosmopolitan.
- Multiculturalism is viewed positively, and on the whole races get together well.
- Multiculturalism means great selection of girls and guys... whatever your style.
- Many attractions for locals and tourists to enjoy.
- One of the best theatre, music and film scenes in the world.
- London is well connected. It has the more air-routes to cities worldwide than any other city.
- Very interesting history.. you could walk down a random street and see a plaque reading "this is where Charlie Chaplin was born".
- Some of the best parks in the world.


Disadvantages:
- Expensive: High house prices, petrol prices...
- The time it takes to get large projects from proposal to construction.
- Congestion in key hotspots daily.

[grachtengordeldier]

As for Amsterdam. I don't know how to rate it but:
Pro:
-relatively good environment (not too polluted I think)
-Very good public transport
-Even better by bike (so good for your health and the environment)
-People open to the world
-Very multi culti (with al lot of problems with it too bit still...)
-Not too expensive to live in
-Good nightlife/
-Gay/Strait friendly
-Social/democrat city council
-Big not not really big

Contra:
-Not much woods around (being in the Randstad Holland....stil a lot of open land but more and more suburnanised and still too open just polders and NO woods)
-Housing crisis (impossible to get an afformable house)
-Bad weather (either too cold/wet or too hot :-))
-Too much yuppies

[MexAmericanMoose]

i would have to say 7.5

[VanSeaPor]

Vancouver-9.5/10

Advantages:
-Beautiful setting and scenery
-Great downtown that doesn't go to sleep at night
-Lively and fast growing
-Stanley park (covers 1000 acres)
-Fastest growing city in Canada
-Diverse population
-Close to the Canadian rockies
-Great waterfront
-Granville Island and Yaletown
-Many high-rise buildings
-Skytrain monorail
-Lots of good beaches
-You can go skiing and surfing in one day
-Very outdoorsy
-Heaps of beautiful women
-Many intelligent people

Disadvantages:
-Astronomical house prices
-One of the highest property crime rates in N.A
-Lack of freeways/motorways (making it harder to get around)
-Downtown Eastside (poorest neighbourhood in Canada)
-Above average numbers of drug users

[dhuwman]

Seattle well.. let me give it 9/10

Pros:
1. Beautiful skyline
2. Cultural diversity
3. Experience of urbanity and the nature at the same time-so if you are tired of city-dwelling, the beautiful nature of the cascades, Mt. Raineir, Olympic peninsula and the Puget Sound are all within reasonable distance.
4. The fact it's located next to the sea
5. Relative nice people
6. Clean air, bicycle/pedestrian-friendly local roads
7. Liberal atmosphere
8. One of the most tech-friendly cities in America
9. Nice big corporations - Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, to name a few
10. Nice summer

Cons:
1. Rain
2. Rain
3. Rain
4. Rain
5. Rain
6. Rain
7. Rain
8. Expensive parking
19. Not so affective transit and road system
10. Lack of high-end consumer good availability

[Xusein]

Hartford....I'd give it a 6.5...7, at best...I'm covering the whole metro

Pros:
-Beautiful landscapes, so much tree cover
-High Incomes
-High Education attainment and college-graduates
-Relatively racially diverse
-Immigrant-friendly
-Slow-paced relative to New York and Boston
-Also cheap housing compared to NY, Boston, and other CT cities
-compared to most American metros, relatively liberal

Cons:
-Except between April-October...cold, cloudy, snowy, dreary climate
-Slow Job growth
-Really high taxes
-Too sprawled and suburbanized
-Crime rate high in Hartford city, one of highest in Northeast
-Poverty rate high in the city....
-Segregation
-White flight...Hartford was one of the biggest losers in this
-Isolated from Northeast corridor...it is inland
-Public transportation here sucks.

[ChinaboyUSA]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Mercer has released a new report called Managing Quality of Living for Expatriates, which provides information to enable HR professionals and others to understand the importance of assessing worldwide standards of living, including personal safety and security, health issues, cleanliness and pollution, and transportation. More than 100 cities have been selected from Western and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more information, please visit www.mercerhr.com/qualityofliving. Copies of individual city reports can also be purchased from this site.

'The analysis is part of an annual World-wide Quality of Living Survey, covering more than 350 cities, to help governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments. Each city is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and other public services. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100. '

citation:http://www.mercerhr.com/summary.jhtml?idContent=1173105

So accurately, there are more than 300 cities have been selected.
I am glad to see that Shanghai gets the index score of 80.1
less than 20 index scores to catch up with NYC.
Some of the standards may vary because of cultural and social values.

[VanSeaPor]

Originally Posted by dhuwman

Pros:
9. Nice big corporations - Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, to name a few

I don't want to seem over the top here, but it's rather funny how a guy who has the hammer and sickle in his avatar and quotes of Lenin in his sig thinks big corporations are good.

[Magnum]

Kuesel, thats a very complicated, but more of a social problem. IF u were to do anything, what would u suggest in the first place as a change? Such a typical thing to lack fullfilling basic needs while having well developed possibilities to fullfill higher needs. Theres only one place in the world, where ive seen all these needs fullfilled so far. Dortmund Bovinghausen, showing all life standards on a high level, especialy for elderlies. Pretty interesting considering their economy at the moment and such over-built social system. But thats a totaly different thing...

Standards of living in Wroclaw..rate 7

Adv:
- many parks and green open spaces, recreation areas;
- rapid, good changes in space developpement, transportaion and communication;
- "student city" with variety of nations, groups; many cultural events;
- well developed educational base

Dis:
- not enough cooperation of space planners and inhabitants;
- communication, public transportation, horrid traffic;
- lacks in infrastructure;

There's yet so much to do everywhere u go to, that its horrid to even think of it...hehe

[♣628.finst]

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN

6.5/10--- Overall it's quite good.

Pros:

High vegetation cover
Low cost of living
Low house prices
Prosperous downtown
A great university (University of Saskatchewan)
Great winter and summer!
Highly educated workforce
Friendly people

Cons:

Damp Thawing seasons
No fall colours like the Southeast.
Too dry in general
High taxes, the national problem
Air Pollution
Youth Crime
No "landscape" at all
Bad skyline