My point is that the places they're calling "the best cities" are only arguably cities, whereas the "worst" are all huge places. I've been to Helsinki and I can tell you that it's not big at all. Their definition of "best" seems to be tied to a low population density and/or low overall population.
And one could argue that a lower population density while still having access to all the services and amenities of a city would indeed lead to a more livable city. That would depend on what you wanted out of a city, I suppose. Some people probably like to be surrounded by a lot of other people. The list certainly seems to trend toward my own bias, what I look for in a city, and it seems that lower population density and all that comes with it is part of that.
For the record, lots of US cities are larger than most Canadian cities (Toronto being the only exception). Look at wikipedia for population in metropolitan area (which is a much better measure than city limits when comparing cities and large towns).
Yeah, random thoughts noted that below.
I wouldn't call anything a city that didn't have at least 2 to 2.5 million people in the greater metropolitan area.
Yikes. Our definitions certainly vary. I have no idea what definition the Economist used, but it's definitely a looser one. Just for the sake of argument, that means you wouldn't consider Belgrade (1.6 million in the metropolitan area) a city. Ah well. Some people juggle geese.
Warder to starry_nite
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
The world's top ten and worst ten most livable cities
30/08/2011 07:06:50 PM
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How do you call towns "cities"?
30/08/2011 08:12:27 PM
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I thought you were going to mention Perth. The rest are clearly cities, if you ask me.
30/08/2011 08:23:33 PM
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Perth has 1.7 million people.
30/08/2011 08:30:26 PM
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A million people isn't a city?
30/08/2011 08:28:20 PM
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Not necessarily.
30/08/2011 10:49:08 PM
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You could be right re: population density.
30/08/2011 11:06:36 PM
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Re: Not necessarily.
30/08/2011 11:56:20 PM
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to meet their definition of best it also seems to help if you have mostly white
31/08/2011 01:52:11 PM
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Have you been to Toronto or Vancouver ?
31/08/2011 04:02:01 PM
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no but I have the internet and they meet the ethnic description I gave
31/08/2011 05:25:40 PM
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Yeah, I'm sorry, but you're fairly off with that one.
31/08/2011 04:52:25 PM
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OK you did see where I included Asians didn't you and I would call less than 2% significant
31/08/2011 05:31:45 PM
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As a comparison ...
30/08/2011 08:37:28 PM
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weather is a factor and three Canadian cities made the top ten?
30/08/2011 09:22:32 PM
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Vancouver at least has a nice climate.
30/08/2011 09:40:31 PM
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yeah there are not vey many US cities I would want to raise kids in
30/08/2011 11:16:52 PM
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Quality health care in the US, really?
31/08/2011 12:27:41 AM
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Also,
31/08/2011 12:53:00 PM
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no it works out that nicely for most people
31/08/2011 01:36:13 PM
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Getting care, getting timely care, getting quality care and paying for it are all different things.
31/08/2011 03:39:30 PM
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tha tis becuase the hospital is run by republicans and they were out to get you *NM*
31/08/2011 07:37:47 PM
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Livability obviously doesn't include "Concentration of Venomous Creatures". *NM*
30/08/2011 11:43:43 PM
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or perhaps Australian cities rank so high because they're so much better than the alternative
30/08/2011 11:58:47 PM
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Actually, the reason our cities are so liveable is because they're built to keep said creatures out
31/08/2011 12:59:01 AM
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How?
31/08/2011 08:20:01 AM
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I can't risk putting the answer on a public forum, the venomous creatures may find out
01/09/2011 07:26:52 AM
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Why no Boston? *NM*
31/08/2011 12:16:28 AM
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Annoyingness of local sports fans was also taken into consideration. *NM*
31/08/2011 12:31:21 AM
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Obviously the study group consists of Yankees fans. Poor, unfortunate souls. *NM*
31/08/2011 12:46:17 AM
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A low population density seems to be a key determinant in these rankings
31/08/2011 12:51:45 AM
- 525 Views
There is an obvious mistake
31/08/2011 03:07:31 AM
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