It is interesting that besides Auckland, the top three cities basically share the same culture - Munich shares more with Vienna and Zurich, than with Berlin or Hamburg.
That culture is deeply rooted Catholic, bourgeois, orderly with little crime and corruption.
Vienna again named world's most liveable city
41–50 of 119 posts
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#42I live in Vienna. I don't understand how this is the most liveable city in the world - unless by liveable, it means "concrete jungle monstrosity - with good public transportation".
I honestly think this is one of the most oppressive cities in the world, and I just don't get how it managed to gain this acclaim, every single year. I guess things must be really bad in a majority of the western world.
The thing is, the city is really not beautiful. A majority of the population live in apartment buildings that were constructed in the 1870's, where the primary requirement was "pack as many people into the city block as possible but don't go over 6 stories". This means that for a majority of citizens, the sky is but a thin, dull strip.
Perhaps its the public transportation, the access to food (Billa's are everywhere) and .. the welfare state. In fact, I'm convinced its only because of the state of welfare that people think Vienna is so great. Remove the AMS from the equation, and Vienna is a barely suitable concrete jungle.
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#43I live in Vienna and I see these surveys all the time. I moved in Vienna 2.5 years ago. Vienna is a good place to live (otherwise I would have left) provided you don't care about things that are simply not available, for example no real IT sector, no startup scene etc. It's okay, but it's nothing spectacular. I don't understand what these people find so fascinating about the city. My friends share my opinion too. I g…
> no startup scene etc
Dunno about that. i5invest? sector5? metalab? There's lots going on here in that regard, but you probably have to be a smelly student to have access to it ..
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#44Don't forget that there are multiple "most liveable cities", according to different reports. Melbourne ranked world's most liveable city - again http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/melbourne-ranked-wo...
I think it's interesting to see which cities (and countries) continually feature in the top 10-20-30 spots in each different report - and which ones don't.
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#45Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#46The more I travel, the more convinced I am that the American experiment with car oriented cities was a disaster that will take untold billions of dollars to rectify. It's affected everything from public safety (e.g. police can no longer walk a patrol), to loss of community (people don't really shop in the same place they live), lost productivity (stuck in traffic), and on and on and on. I'm very encouraged by recent,…
You don't think that Vienna is drivable?
It doesn't strike me an any more or less drivable than anywhere else in Europe. It's certainly not Amsterdam.
The entire SWPL fascination with non-driving cities, or for that matter opposed to sprawl, is just weird. So some people like to drive: That doesn't oppress you.
I personally love suburban cities. Everything is so easy: You can hop in your car and be anywhere you want in 5-25 mins. Meander about, get lost, have fun: Driving itself is relaxing and enjoyable (I never go during traffic times).
I now live in a walkable city and just do not enjoy the 5-25min walks to get where I want. I'd rather drive. Public transport, even in cities with great infrastructure, is soul crushingly slow and inefficient. I've lived in places with some of the best subway systems on earth, so they say, and I choose: Never again.
Call me lazy, that's exactly what it is, but some people do prefer driving.
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#47These Mercer livability rankings are based on quality of life for expatriates working for multinational corporations. Every year these rankings make the headline rounds but articles fail to mention that detail or explain why that's important. In particular these rankings don't account for cost of living in the way you would expect if it were a real "quality of living" survey. This becomes a ranking of "how well you can live in a city on an unlimited budget".
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#48I live in Vienna and I see these surveys all the time. I moved in Vienna 2.5 years ago. Vienna is a good place to live (otherwise I would have left) provided you don't care about things that are simply not available, for example no real IT sector, no startup scene etc. It's okay, but it's nothing spectacular. I don't understand what these people find so fascinating about the city. My friends share my opinion too. I g…
In addition to what was said below/above, there also are a few relevant meetup groups.
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#49I've been living here for the last six weeks. Coincidentally, yesterday was the initial induction session for candidate startups shortlisted for 'Go Silicon Valley', organized by the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKO). For such a small city, there certainly seemed to be a respectable number of startup teams...
Today was sunny and warm(ish), so I left my apartment and computer, travelled 30 minutes across town to Heiligenstadt,and shortly after was lying on a hillside overlooking the city. Quiet and refreshing.
Coming back into town by tram, then walking, the bustle of the streets around St Stephen's cathedral was quite a contrast. Now I'm back here in front of the machine, picking away at a cake, amused at this timely article. Vienna certainly is beautiful in parts, grungy in others. But so far, all the people I've met have been friendly and accommodating. Transport is excellent. The cakes are amazing.
Definitely liveable!
Re: Vienna again named world's most liveable city
#50I've actually been thinking of moving to Vienna. Anybody in Vienna have a moment to type out some thoughts on what it's like to live there?
Vienna is nice IF you speak German sufficiently well to get along with the Austrian dialect and you are willing to cope with those four months of harsh winter where you hardly ever see the sun.
Apart of that it's pretty much like every other German speaking city, quality of life is high, but so are the taxes.