I think the only things weighing down US cities in this silly survey are gun violence and income disparity and the problems that come with it.
Toronto and Vancouver both have very bad areas that I will not pass through if humanly possible. Looking at the city from outside, it appears much nicer than comparable US cities but on the inside we have seeds to big future problems. For one thing the society is highly fragmented and it is a racial/religious powder keg. People come from war torn countries and try to keep the peace but that seniment will only last another decade or two before the second generation forgets the lessons of the past. WASP Canadians are too polite to straighten their backs from bending over so long and if they do speak, they get labeled as racists (true or not). No mistake our country is going the way of the UK. There’s really no national identity right now. Multi-cultural is just a nicer way to say multi-tolerant.
Calgary is a great town, homogeneous and located really close to real natural beauty. I would go there if the right opportunity came around.
Almost all these global rankings of living conditions should come with a note that it is great to be in the US if you are comparatively rich. Otherwise, eh.
Are you from Nigeria oloshi ;)? Great place, Last I went was '05. Membership in the yacht club near Victoria Island cost 50,000 Naira. Ha ha, how awesome is that ?
I’m still furious that I didn’t get to sail my own boat cause I was 15’ish. I’ve heard it’s changed drastically too, would love to go back sometime.
Best memory of that country was '00 Afcon final vs Cameroon in Surulere and the disbelief among the home crowd when Ikpeba missed. I thought we were going to have a riot then and there. Good times.
youd be surprised, with money and a few connections you can literally live like a king. Even a slightly above average joe like me could go there and be a BSD with personal driver, mansion, chef, security staff etc. Healthcare is decent too if you go to the right place, lots of professionals who train in America or Europe and come back. From what I remember though you have to stick to the city and don’t even dream of driving out to the villages, especially at night, my grandfather died in a road accident from robbers trying to steal his Mercedes and possessions. Same as any other developing nation tbh, don’t take risks.
Just a general statement, wasn’t specifically referring to Lagos. I’d rather live OK in a nice place than very well in a bad place. I could certainly have more stuff in Lagos, but is probably not as nice, safe, clean and developed as say, Copenhagen, for example.
In other words: I get more value from living in a nice place then having lots of stuff and servants or whatever. That’s me. I respect that others could have different priorities.
Ok. I asked because you qualified that statement by saying a place with law, healthcare and security. Most places clearly have that though it might be private players providing it instead of public and they will do it at a rate not exclusive to the ‘elite’.
Lagos also has culture and tradition that dwarves say Stockholm and the locals are infinitely friendlier not to mention the weather is better. The no go areas will obviously be much more than Stockholm (something even Stockholm will have given it’s ghettos) given Stockholm is an infinitely wealthier city but yeah, each to their own. Copenhagen looks bloody boss though so at least we can agree on that.
I wonder why Singapore didn’t do well in this survey? Freedom index, maybe?
See, the total picture is important. A city that is only livable for the rich elite isn’t a top city. I’m sure Lagos has some cool culture and what not, but the disparity and what not also weighs on you. Its not like you can cut out of town for a weekend in the mountains without a security detail. That’s not liveable, long term. Singapore ranks well, but its not on par with the top, according to the methodology employed. Likely as compact big cities may be efficient, but not liveable. Interesting that Lagos is one of the worst ranked on Earth: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/08/daily-chart-13
Yeah, it definitely isn’t a top city which was why the condition was clearly if you are able to afford the private sector which caters to a much larger segment than the ‘rich elite’.
Why would you need a security detail to cut to the moutains (I don’t think they even have them) during the day? That’'s so bizarre and such a weird line of thought. That study’s ‘liveable’ sounds like a euphemism for boring.
Anyway, what’s the consensus on Dubai? On the surface it is hard not to be impressed, those guys built a city in the middle of the desert that should logically have no right to exist and they built it overnight. A ski slope in the middle of the desert for fk’s sake. That’s the biggest FU I’ve ever seen. The mantra on which it was built ‘Build it and they will come’ certainly held true when so many people made a beeline for the city.
The environmental policies and labor policies leave a bitter taste in the mouth but whatever, yay or nay?
I think there is an element of boring. I’ll travel for adventure. I like my home to be a stable, safe place. A place that’s clean, easy to get around but has good economic opportunity. Its probably something that just comes with age/maturity. I would have been more likely to try living in a sketchier place 10 years ago.
I keep hoping for global warming to be effective enough to drive Minneapolis/St. Paul to the top of these lists. It’s still a bit too cold 4-5 months out of the year, but perhaps 25 years down the line, we’ll make the cut. I’m sort of joking, but the Twin Cities are sort of in a “Goldilocks Zone” for metropolitan areas. Big enough to have all(most anyways) the amenities of Chicago or New York, big enough to have significant cultural and ethnic diversity, big enough to have a significant economic presence, world class education, medical facilities, etc, yet still small enough to have managable budget and infrastructure needs. Wages are above average, with few exceptions the COL is low, and the area has abundant space, natural resources, recreation opportunities, etc. If it didn’t drop 30 to 40 degrees below freezing for multiple months of the year, it would be perfect.
I own some land both in Minnesota and in North Dakota, so if the whole global warming, rising oceans thing could hurry up, that would be sweet. Move to the heartland, develop my land, rent my house.