Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#1

Post by hackathonguy » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 6:57 AM UTC

Hey HN,

I'm wondering: what are expected to be the best places to live in 2050, considering climate change and the potential for impending societal collapse? What are the characteristics of such places? What should we keep in mind?

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#2

Post by janedoegrrr » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 7:00 AM UTC

Zurich, Switzerland. It is one of the best places to live now and probably still will be in 2050, I guess.

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#3

Post by hackathonguy » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 7:08 AM UTC

janedoegrrr wrote: post #2

Zurich, Switzerland. It is one of the best places to live now and probably still will be in 2050, I guess.

What makes Zurich one of the best places to live now?

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#4

Post by fiftyacorn » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 7:36 AM UTC

hackathonguy wrote: post #3

janedoegrrr wrote: post #2

Zurich, Switzerland. It is one of the best places to live now and probably still will be in 2050, I guess.

What makes Zurich one of the best places to live now?

Currywurst and Lindt chocolate

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#5

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 7:41 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#6

Post by Raed667 » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 9:10 AM UTC

Probably a scandinavian country, Sweden seems like a good bet with a decent social system and well maintained infrastructure.

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#7

Post by avemuri » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 9:53 AM UTC

In a societal collapse scenario, you probably want to live in a country with decent defence ability and enough clout to throw its weight around in international diplomacy, even if quality of life is lower than some of the smaller, better located, better governed countries. Eg. Germany over Sweden.

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#8

Post by janedoegrrr » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 10:03 AM UTC

hackathonguy wrote: post #3

janedoegrrr wrote: post #2

Zurich, Switzerland. It is one of the best places to live now and probably still will be in 2050, I guess.

What makes Zurich one of the best places to live now?

High standard of living, excellent infrastructure (transport, finance, biz, gov), very good education (ETHZ, UZH, ZHAW, etc.), surrounded by amazing nature and landscape, very open and diverse (30% foreigners, all shapes and colors), political stability (don't underestimate this when you're thinking about 2050) and solid governance by direct democracy (ZH/CH)... the list goes on and on.

To not "pollute" this comment with various links the simplest way to get a few reference points is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich

Of course nothing's perfect and there's always room for improvement (obviously), and Zurich is also a place with a very high "transparency of costs" so people pay for most of these benefits (less by taxes - but more by rent, cost of living, etc.) but to keep it short: Historically and with recent and future developments it seems to be a valid candidate for being a good if not best place to live in 2050...

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#9

Post by janedoegrrr » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 10:05 AM UTC

fiftyacorn wrote: post #4

hackathonguy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes Zurich one of the best places to live now?

Currywurst and Lindt chocolate

Ah, could have better argued with that. Excellent points! And don't forget the funny cheese and nice watches ;)

Re: Ask HN: Best Place to Live in 2050?

#10

Post by ArcticHusky » Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 10:15 AM UTC

North Mediterranean area, Catalonia or French Riviera. France is one of the best natural defense (alps) countries with the atomic bomb. Spain is self defended by the sea. You have The Pyrenees and The Alps as barriers. Access to water, rivers.