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
1438 Views
How do you call towns "cities"?
- 30/08/2011 08:12:27 PM
704 Views
I thought you were going to mention Perth. The rest are clearly cities, if you ask me.
- 30/08/2011 08:23:33 PM
688 Views
Perth has 1.7 million people.
- 30/08/2011 08:30:26 PM
848 Views
A million people isn't a city?
- 30/08/2011 08:28:20 PM
852 Views
Not necessarily.
- 30/08/2011 10:49:08 PM
815 Views
You could be right re: population density.
- 30/08/2011 11:06:36 PM
764 Views
Re: Not necessarily.
- 30/08/2011 11:56:20 PM
834 Views
to meet their definition of best it also seems to help if you have mostly white
- 31/08/2011 01:52:11 PM
711 Views
Have you been to Toronto or Vancouver ?
- 31/08/2011 04:02:01 PM
726 Views
no but I have the internet and they meet the ethnic description I gave
- 31/08/2011 05:25:40 PM
826 Views
Yeah, I'm sorry, but you're fairly off with that one.
- 31/08/2011 04:52:25 PM
779 Views
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
770 Views
As a comparison ...
- 30/08/2011 08:37:28 PM
880 Views
weather is a factor and three Canadian cities made the top ten?
- 30/08/2011 09:22:32 PM
845 Views
Vancouver at least has a nice climate.
- 30/08/2011 09:40:31 PM
970 Views
yeah there are not vey many US cities I would want to raise kids in
- 30/08/2011 11:16:52 PM
681 Views
Quality health care in the US, really?
- 31/08/2011 12:27:41 AM
806 Views
Also,
- 31/08/2011 12:53:00 PM
822 Views
no it works out that nicely for most people
- 31/08/2011 01:36:13 PM
783 Views
Getting care, getting timely care, getting quality care and paying for it are all different things.
- 31/08/2011 03:39:30 PM
947 Views
tha tis becuase the hospital is run by republicans and they were out to get you *NM*
- 31/08/2011 07:37:47 PM
532 Views
Livability obviously doesn't include "Concentration of Venomous Creatures". *NM*
- 30/08/2011 11:43:43 PM
401 Views
or perhaps Australian cities rank so high because they're so much better than the alternative
- 30/08/2011 11:58:47 PM
866 Views
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
694 Views
How?
- 31/08/2011 08:20:01 AM
688 Views
I can't risk putting the answer on a public forum, the venomous creatures may find out
- 01/09/2011 07:26:52 AM
628 Views
Why no Boston?
*NM*
- 31/08/2011 12:16:28 AM
386 Views
*NM*
- 31/08/2011 12:16:28 AM
386 Views
Annoyingness of local sports fans was also taken into consideration. *NM*
- 31/08/2011 12:31:21 AM
487 Views
Obviously the study group consists of Yankees fans. Poor, unfortunate souls.
*NM*
- 31/08/2011 12:46:17 AM
365 Views
*NM*
- 31/08/2011 12:46:17 AM
365 Views
A low population density seems to be a key determinant in these rankings
- 31/08/2011 12:51:45 AM
669 Views
There is an obvious mistake
- 31/08/2011 03:07:31 AM
1006 Views
- 31/08/2011 03:07:31 AM
1006 Views



