I guess it's probably more accurate to say that in one of them (Geneva), they talk like the way Parisians would talk today if the U.S. hadn't gotten involved in WWII--French, but with an odd accent that sounds kinda like a German person speaking French.

I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

I dunno. Vancouver is a great city and, in my own personal view, it does seems like it would be the nicest city in North America to live in (and I'd move there tomorrow if I could get a job there), but I don't think it deserves to be #1 as compared to some of the European cities on the list.

Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?


Come live in Vancouver where the people are friendly (when they're not rioting or burning sh*t).

Barbie Dream Hearse: It's tied at 5th with Duesseldorf in the list I'm looking at. Either way, given the conditions working against it (mostly climate-related), it's an amazing city with great people. It's pretty easy to get around, relatively safe, and easy on the eyes.

Next behind Vancouver would probably be Montreal, then maybe Calgary behind that. Vancouver gets more points probably because Montreal and Calgary are cold as f*ck.

I like Vancouver to visit and I have visited many times, but I don't think I would want to live there. In my particular career, Vancouver would be a tough place because wages aren't very different from here in Calgary and the cost of living is higher. I have a friend who has a cousin who has lived there his whole life. He has a beautiful house in Langley, but his commute to work is a f*cking nightmare.

I would imagine that Honolulu's cost of living and geographical isolation might drag it down a bit.

Baghdad's political turmoil, poor security enforcement and attacks on local people and foreigners made it the worst place to live in 2011, both in terms of life quality and safety, Mercer said.

Thanks a lot, 0bummer.

Barbie Dream Hearse: However, there are cities in the US with similar quality of living (ahem, Seattle) that I'm surprised weren't on the list.

Seattle is indeed a very nice city with many of the same attributes as Vancouver. But given that this is a "quality of life" survey, it suffers from being in the United States, as do some other U.S. cities that are otherwise very pleasant (San Francisco, Portland, San Diego, etc.). "Political stability" seems to be a big factor taken into consideration, and when you have a government run by a bunch of drooling farking idiots that are willing to crash the nation's (if not the world's) economy solely for the sake of cheap political gain (see, e.g., last summer's debt ceiling "crisis" debacle), that's gonna hurt the score. Canada's economy has been stronger than the US's economy in recent years, and of course Canadians don't have to worry about whether they can afford to go to the doctor when they get sick, or having to file bankruptcy if they have a significant health issue and don't have insurance. All of those things are going to hurt any U.S. city's score, regardless of how nice a city it is.

Barbie Dream Hearse: Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

It's tied at 5th with Duesseldorf in the list I'm looking at. Either way, given the conditions working against it (mostly climate-related), it's an amazing city with great people. It's pretty easy to get around, relatively safe, and easy on the eyes.

However, there are cities in the US with similar quality of living (ahem, Seattle) that I'm surprised weren't on the list. I'm very surprised that Honolulu is the first U.S. city to get a mention. It's cross-cultural but not particularly safe and clean unless you're a tourist.

It's also very expensive, or so I'm told, because everything has a lot more travel cost.

GAT_00: Barbie Dream Hearse: Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

It's tied at 5th with Duesseldorf in the list I'm looking at. Either way, given the conditions working against it (mostly climate-related), it's an amazing city with great people. It's pretty easy to get around, relatively safe, and easy on the eyes.

However, there are cities in the US with similar quality of living (ahem, Seattle) that I'm surprised weren't on the list. I'm very surprised that Honolulu is the first U.S. city to get a mention. It's cross-cultural but not particularly safe and clean unless you're a tourist.

It's also very expensive, or so I'm told, because everything has a lot more travel cost.

Compared to St. Louis, costs are a tad higher in Seattle, especially for gas, but are not that "bad". What gets a lot of folks in that area is housing. Prices today aren't "california high", but they are way higher than St. Louis.

I've been to Auckland once, many years ago. Between that and Sydney, those are the two cleanest and most efficient cities I've visited. Great people, great vibe and a real sense of community, even to strangers.

That said, I look at that list, and I see places that may not be as "new" and "flashy" as major American cities, and they may be more "old school" than America is today. However, the denizens of these cities have things that we Americans can only dream about:

-fully funded public education
-guaranteed healthcare and retirement
-a real "work-life balance" with living wages
-effective criminal justice system (or so it seems)

To hear the talking heads today, the day America sees any of the above, we apparently will be welcoming zombie Stalin as the new POTUS.

Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

Actually, this was a news item locally a few months back: Vancouver loses ranking as most livable city (new window)

The reason? There's traffic jams on a highway. In another city. On a totally separate island.

Grand_Moff_Joseph: GAT_00: Barbie Dream Hearse: Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

It's tied at 5th with Duesseldorf in the list I'm looking at. Either way, given the conditions working against it (mostly climate-related), it's an amazing city with great people. It's pretty easy to get around, relatively safe, and easy on the eyes.

However, there are cities in the US with similar quality of living (ahem, Seattle) that I'm surprised weren't on the list. I'm very surprised that Honolulu is the first U.S. city to get a mention. It's cross-cultural but not particularly safe and clean unless you're a tourist.

It's also very expensive, or so I'm told, because everything has a lot more travel cost.

Compared to St. Louis, costs are a tad higher in Seattle, especially for gas, but are not that "bad". What gets a lot of folks in that area is housing. Prices today aren't "california high", but they are way higher than St. Louis.

Oh, sorry that was referring to Honolulu. Can't shorten a quote on the mobile version.

Branson, Missouri didn't make the list?

UNPOSSIBLE.

No US cities but

9 Bern, Switzerland


burn Bern

Mmmmmm.....Wiener Schnitzel. Delicious baby cow.

illegal.tender: Working on getting out of America as soon as I can.

Place sucks, and is getting worse every day.

I hear Mexico City is pretty nice.

Cyberluddite: "Political stability" seems to be a big factor taken into consideration

because when i think current political stability, i think europe.

If Vancouver falling down the list means I'll be able to eventually afford a house here, that would be awesome.

/not going to happen, I know

RY28: So only white people countries can win ?

Yep... have you been to brown people countries? Not so good.

david_gaithersburg: Austria? The place where you can be arrested for your thoughts? No thank you.

Alles klar, Herr Komissar?

Uh, which is the porn one? Copenhagen? I didn't realize they were such a porn hub.

/I'm just asking for a friend.

And prostitution is legal! what more could you ask for?

SlothB77: Cyberluddite: "Political stability" seems to be a big factor taken into consideration
because when i think current political stability, i think europe.

Yeah, well, I didn't see any cities in Italy or Greece on the list (as nice as some of their cities are). But Germany and Switzerland? Are you really going to suggest that they're politically less stable than the U.S. right now?

SlothB77: Cyberluddite: "Political stability" seems to be a big factor taken into consideration

because when i think current political stability, i think europe.

The US has complete political stability. We regularly cycle out the people in charge, and nothing ever changes.

Super Chronic: GAT_00: Barbie Dream Hearse: Rev.K: I wonder if the Stanley Cup riot had anything to do with Vancouver falling from #1 to #7?

It's tied at 5th with Duesseldorf in the list I'm looking at. Either way, given the conditions working against it (mostly climate-related), it's an amazing city with great people. It's pretty easy to get around, relatively safe, and easy on the eyes.

However, there are cities in the US with similar quality of living (ahem, Seattle) that I'm surprised weren't on the list. I'm very surprised that Honolulu is the first U.S. city to get a mention. It's cross-cultural but not particularly safe and clean unless you're a tourist.

It's also very expensive, or so I'm told, because everything has a lot more travel cost.

Honolulu also has higher crime and homelessness rates than you'd expect and, I believe, an alarming crystal meth problem.

Same goes for Portland on the crime/homelessness front.

Just ask Dog the bounty hunter, brah.

McManus_brothers: Uh, which is the porn one? Copenhagen? I didn't realize they were such a porn hub.

/I'm just asking for a friend.

I went to the Porn Museum when I was in Copenhagen - I would recommend it to anyone.

Bob16: Cripes does amerika ever suck.

Our best city comes in at 29 and all of the american cities that made the list are in blue states ( see link )

http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#city-rankings

B..b..but American exceptionalism!

RY28: So only white people countries can win ?

You can live in Lumumba (Angola) if you can afford it. It's really nice at only $16,000 US per month. But you have to be a white PERSON.

Bob16: Cripes does amerika ever suck.

Our best city comes in at 29 and all of the american cities that made the list are in blue states ( see link )

http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#city-rankings

Thanks for the link. Looking it over, a couple of things come to mind:

1. With the possible exception of Pittsburgh, all of the US cities on the list happen to be in Blue states. You know, those commie states with "job killing regulations", "freedom suffocating gun laws" and "economy wrecking" environmental regulations.

2. There is not one US city in the top 50 of the "personal safety" ranking. I know I'm generalizing here, but a lot of the cities on the list are in countries with gun laws that would make the NRAs head explode -- after it made every bald eagle shed a gallon of tears.

/not going to draw any conclusions here
//just pointing things out

DarwiOdrade: Bob16: Cripes does amerika ever suck.

Our best city comes in at 29 and all of the american cities that made the list are in blue states ( see link )

http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#city-rankings

B..b..but American exceptionalism!

Not to be a downer here, but consider the source: Mercer is an HR outsourcing company Link (new window) so their list may be more of a 'where do we need to convince people to move to' kind of thing.

Another list Link (new window) has a different take.