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The most livable cities

economist.com

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Re: The most livable cities

#11

Post by martindbp »

thriftwy wrote: post #3

There should be some in-built bias, such as adding points for just being in the Northern America. Otherwise it's hard to explain how all of the diverse cities of the USA end up being clumped in one place of the scale. That, or not having sufficient dynamic range.

> how all of the diverse cities of the USA

Have you perhaps considered that they're not very diverse? NYC and SF are a bit different yeah, but other than that they're all remarkably similar. Honestly it's a significant factor in why I decided to move back to Europe. It always bothered me when Americans claim that the US states are as diverse as separate countries in e.g. Europe. No, just no. You are blinded by the fact you've grown up there and are attuned to the small regional differences. There are as large regional differences within individual European countries as there are in the US.

Re: The most livable cities

#13

Post by camillomiller »

what is living well? Why are these lists always so skewed toward such a normative view of liveability?

Zürich is a beautiful and well-organized city, for example, but every single time I've been there I've found out that its quiet translates into a boringness I've seldom experienced anywhere else. For me, a man in his late thirties who has no plans to have kids and form a normative family, it's a living nightmare.

Re: The most livable cities

#14

Post by bergenty »

sascha_sl wrote: post #10

The fact that there isn't a single dutch city in the top 10, but 3 in car-infested Canada tells me that I have very different standards for "livable".

I love “car-infested”. Taking public transport and living densely is my version of hell.

Re: The most livable cities

#15

Post by postsantum »

thriftwy wrote: post #3

There should be some in-built bias, such as adding points for just being in the Northern America. Otherwise it's hard to explain how all of the diverse cities of the USA end up being clumped in one place of the scale. That, or not having sufficient dynamic range.

That bias is called "I have a car and I need to drive everywhere"

Re: The most livable cities

#16

Post by manc_lad »

thriftwy wrote: post #3

There should be some in-built bias, such as adding points for just being in the Northern America. Otherwise it's hard to explain how all of the diverse cities of the USA end up being clumped in one place of the scale. That, or not having sufficient dynamic range.

It would take away the legitimacy of the results if they introduced bias. Asia is more diverse (Sydney, Gujarat, Luang Prabang, Jakarta) and maybe the USA just isn't.

Re: The most livable cities

#17

Post by gravelc »

So Australian, Canadian and some European cities are the places to be. Not overly surprising (at least to me). They're the only 3 regions I'd choose to live and work due to the balanced lifestyle that the Economist rates in its study.

Re: The most livable cities

#18

Post by Flashtoo »

sascha_sl wrote: post #10

The fact that there isn't a single dutch city in the top 10, but 3 in car-infested Canada tells me that I have very different standards for "livable".

Amsterdam is #9 in the report (scoring 0.1 lower than Toronto), but not mentioned in the article for some reason.

Re: The most livable cities

#19

Post by masonic »

thriftwy wrote: post #3

There should be some in-built bias, such as adding points for just being in the Northern America. Otherwise it's hard to explain how all of the diverse cities of the USA end up being clumped in one place of the scale. That, or not having sufficient dynamic range.

> adding points for just being in the Northern America

To the contrary, I find it odd that there isn't a single upper-tier livable city in the western 2/3rds of the US but every city in the eastern 95% of Australia is top tier. Hell, my neighbors immigrated from Australia.

Re: The most livable cities

#20

Post by burntoutfire »

bergenty wrote: post #14
sascha_sl wrote: post #10

The fact that there isn't a single dutch city in the top 10, but 3 in car-infested Canada tells me that I have very different standards for "livable".

I love “car-infested”. Taking public transport and living densely is my version of hell.

I think it's most people's version of hell. Even in Scandinavian countries, well-off people live in houses on a plot of land, not in apartments.
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