The most liveable cities in the world… ever!
I am writing this post as a service to regular readers because, having carefully perused my blog statistics for the past few months, I can see that none of you live in remotely ‘liveable’ cities.
Not according to the current issue of Monocle* anyway.
The July/August issue kindly gives us ‘an index’ (note: not a list) of the 25 most liveable cities in the world. And so you don’t have buy the magazine, here is the top 10*:
- Zurich (not only expanding its tram system, main railway station and state-of-the-art airport, but also leading the way on innovative, environmentally friendly architecture)
- Copenhagen (low crime rate, a relaxed attitude and gay friendly)
- Tokyo (runs like clockwork, a glass of wine or sake is available into the early hours)
- Munich (effortless blending of beauty, history and innovation)
- Helsinki (best schools in the world, stunning position by the Baltic Sea)
- Stockholm (one of the most beautiful and green cities in the world, dynamic cultural scene, supports gay marriage and interesting business opportunities)
- Vienna (green and reliable public transport even if the paperwork for setting up a business is too laborious)
- Paris (food, films, sweeping boulevards, bike hire and green space wi-fi coverage)
- Melbourne (global cuisine, frequent festivals, distinct neighbourhoods and entrepreneurial spirit let down by too much urban sprawl and a buckling train network)
- Berlin (thriving creative scene, good restaurants and bars and fit healthcare system but needs more adventurous architecture)
So where are you moving to then?
* the magazine for aspirational high flying ponces.
** and before anyone asks, no the remaining 15 of their top 25 do not include: Barcelona, Brighton, Bristol, Canberra, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Minneapolis, New York, Southend, Washington or Utrecht.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:04 am
According to my latest copy of ‘The Digger!’ ** the top joints for “neckin cheap swally, muggin and knockin fuck oot ay c**ts” are:
Castlemilk
Maryhill
Drumchapel
Possil Park
Glasgow Central
Easterhouse
Pollok
Nitshill
Riddrie
Royston
Honourable mentions go to Newton Mearns & the west end for “bein full ay rich wanks ye can rob at knife point.”
** Low circulation journal read solely by Glaswegian criminal classes.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:18 am
As someone who goes to Helsinki once a year, it’s certainly very liveable in, if not perhaps a little small.
I’ve visted all the other cities except Melbourne, and I have to agree they’re all super, except Vienna which is very boring and full of old people. I could happily end my days in either Stockholm or Copenhagen. They’re so civilised. Tokyo is great but would tire me out, and I don’t speak Japanese.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Having only visited Copenhagen and Paris from those ten I’ll happily stick by the sea in Felixstowe for now. Mind you, I could easily shift to most of Switzerland – some lovely places there, just not been to Zurich. For Denmark I would plump for Aarhus first.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Stockholm would do it for me, from that list – relaxed, elegant, interesting, funky, beautiful and not quite as expensive as I’d feared – though I don’t know how I’d survive the dark winters.
My other favourite, which is not on that list, is Bordeaux – they’ve done a great job of regenerating the riverside area, it has elegant municipal architecture, wide bright boulevards, great restaurants, vibrant nightlife, and a perfect ( for me) climate. Go there….go there…
And Brighton has it’s points…
July 17th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Ill Man, you are very unkind. Accurate, but unkind. I thought you were joking about The Digger but I looked it up on trusty old google and it actually exists. Wikipedia says that it claims to have a circulation of up to 10,000!
F-C, you must go to Melbourne. It is the home of the Skyhooks afterall…
Simon, I’ve never been to Denmark (well, actually I’ve never been to most of the places on this list), but I’ve heard good things about Aarhus. I’ll add it to my long list of places to go.
And ISBW, it looks like I’ll also have to add Bordeaux and Stockholm to that same list. Fortunately, I’ve already ticked off Brighton!
July 17th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Not an American city in the bunch. Oh well. I have been to Zurich, Vienna, Munich & Paris in the past. I enjoyed all of them.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Amazingly almost on a weekly basis, Mrs PM and I say how lucky we are, living where we do – just outside Leigh on Sea – an authentic old working fishing village with a selection of cracking pubs, great bars, restaurants, and shops. A beach, a Fishermans Co-op and it’s own music festival. All just a 40 minute hop from London
http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisahennessy/sets/72157600616713391/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/oldleigh/
July 17th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
No, no American cities Keith. And no British ones either. Clearly we’re just not cutting it somehow. Despite this, I still find London quite ‘liveable’ though – most of the time!
Mondo, I really must visit Leigh on Sea – it does look very nice indeed. There are a lot of fabulous villages tucked away along the East coast. I wonder if Monocle do a ‘liveable villages’ index too…
July 17th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
What no Basildon OR Pitsea?? This was rigged….
Do head for ‘old leigh’ if you make it this way Cocktails… the best part by a mile and steeped in olde worlde history. When you did out those old ‘how we used to live’ type books, most of the pics of Old Leigh from the 1800’s look just the same as now!
P
July 18th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Low comedy on my part. It was meant with a bit of affection, but didn’t come out that way.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Right, looks as though a trip to Old Leigh is imminent Piley. We’ll go when summer eventually kicks in. It’s nice to know that places without crappy, cheap high density housing developments still exist!
July 18th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
@illman,
You are so dead for including Glasgow Central in that list! We’re getting a Selfridges you know.
Cocktails,
You must get your mitts on a copy of The Digger, it’s a bit like Hello for neds. My cousin has been in it for something involving baseball bats, she’s a sort of Victoria Beckham figure for the neds of North Glasgow. Sometimes my family make me so very proud.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hello Clairwil, ok next time I’m in Glasgow first stop will be the news agents to buy a copy of the Digger – I’m sure it will help get me into the swing of things. I need something to help me to get over my ponceyness (I was actually very excited to hear that Glasgow’s getting a Selfridges – about time I say!)
July 19th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Cocktails,
Do treat yourself to a copy of The Digger it is quite wonderful. However don’t get too excited by the Selfridges thing the council have been saying we’re getting a Selfridges for the best part of ten years and there’s still no sign of it. Far be it from me to accuse the council of retail delusion but one does wonder…..
July 20th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
[...] and Records introduces us to a list of The most liveable cities in the world…ever! as compiled by Monocle magazine. Without giving too much away, only two in the Top Ten are [...]
July 21st, 2009 at 12:21 am
Well, I can’t comment on any of the other 9, but I do find Melbourne very difficult to leave.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Copenhagen is not bad even though it were closed the weekend we went, not sure how good it is if you’ve not got dannish family, switzerland is just dull.
in general doesn’t “liveable” mean well off and upper middle class i imagine Tokyo is pain in the arse if you are low paid cleaner communiting miles to work etc the same goes for most of these places. Also with exception of our scandnavian friends and the odd frenchy we’d have to wait a long time for decent tune out of most the list and i bet the pies are rotten in Vienna.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Crafty, did you realise just how liveable Melbourne was though before you read this? I didn’t! Neither with Sydney which was no. 13.
Yes, but I bet the cakes are good in Vienna BLTP.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
I notice Melbourne has slipped down the list somewhat and did actually top the list about 5 years ago. I wonder what’s behind that? (other than the high level of heroin and prostitutes?)
Even when it topped the list, I couldn’t see how it’s preferable to say, Sydney, which I personally found more fun and attractive.
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 am
I did very much like Melbourne, by the way, it’s just I wondered why it’s favoured over Sydney.
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:56 am
Good point RE. I’m not sure myself, and I don’t think it’s made especially clear in the article either. I’m a Sydney person myself so I’m completely biased. They’ve both got rubbish public transport, but NOTHING beats the harbour!
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I’ve never cared for Sydney at all – Melbourne is much friendlier and has a much more active gig scene and arts scene. However, that could all admittedly have changed in the five years since I left.
Just got back from Zurich, strangely enough. It’s a beautiful city with fantastic public transport (they didn’t seem to “do” late trains), but not without its flaws. For one thing, their supposedly trendy bars and cafes were seriously lacking compared to ones you would find in France or even Germany, as was their arts scene, and whilst we did encounter a lot of nice folk, too many seemed rather stiff and impersonal. I wouldn’t cry if you told me I had to live there, but I wouldn’t pick it ahead of London. There just weren’t enough obvious advantages. Still, I suppose what I’m looking for doesn’t equate with what the average person wants from a town or city.
Really strange to hear so much positive talk about Southend as well. I left there in 1993 and vowed never to return. Has it really changed that much for the better? The final straw for me was being battered by a gang of eight shaven-headed blokes whilst minding my own business walking down the street (although I could list a lot of other very similar sketchy behaviour besides, not to mention the right-wing, Daily Mail reading nature of most of the town’s inhabitants).
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Don’t hold back Dave!
I haven’t actually been to Southend so I can’t comment, but I definitely think its worth a visit. Similarly, I’d also like to go to Zurich to see what it’s like. You are not the first person to describe it as beautiful but boring. A friend of mine was recently offered a transfer there but he turned it down flat on those same grounds.
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I couldn’t find work in Melbourne and eventually had to leave for that reason whereas I was never out of work in Sydney. Sydney city beaches are more of an event too. That’s not to say they’re better than Melbourne’s but I don’t recall being drawn to the city beaches there. Surely these are both factors in terms of standard of living, or at least they would be for me. Melbourne’s cafes are something special though. I also went to some good gigs and festivals there but seeing jacked up people everywhere I turned in St Kilds was a bit of a downer to be honest and less east to avoid when you live there than say, Kings X in Sydney which has a similar problem but is more of an animated pocket that you can easily eschew…
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I’ve heard you say that before… but when I lived in St Kilda (2004) I thought the junkie problem was over-exaggerated by most people who lived there. Sure, there was a population of addicts there, but compared to East London and even Portsmouth, it was nothing to worry about. Perhaps this is just my perspective given that I’ve lived in some nasty little grief-holes in my time, or perhaps I just wasn’t paying enough attention.
I also never had any trouble getting work in Melbourne, although I have heard that the summer season can be a pain in the arse for anyone on a visa there, and I’d upped and left for other bits of Australia and New Zealand by then.
As for Zurich… I didn’t mean to sound that critical, actually. There are very few cities apart from London I’d entertain the notion of basing myself in, so the fact I said I’d go to live there without tears is actually something of a compliment. Parts of it did remind me a lot of Melbourne, in all honesty, which is itself a city I have some fondness for.
July 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 am
Oh, and Southend… went to school there after my parents moved from London, and my hatred of the place is the same as you’ll find in any teenager who was stuck for too long in a provincial town they felt they didn’t belong in (do a deep, cinema trailer voice for that sentence if you like). It would take a lot of persuading for me to move back, although forcing the people I went to school with to move away could possibly be the start of a deal of sorts.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
I was there during their summer, so this could well explain the work shortages. Again, this was just my own experience and certainly Melbourne has a lot to offer. I lived there in 2000.