Drum roll please…..
Vancouver! Ra Ra Ra!
And the next best city is……..more drums…..
Vienna! More Ra Ra Ra! (at a slightly lower volume)
But I thought this blog was about living in Australia? Well yes, it is. And for those of you who have stuck with this post past the boring bits, that is the bits that are nothing to do with Australia, your reward is here.
And the third and best city in the world to live in is…….. BIG drum roll….. get ready for rapturous applause….
MELBOURNE!
Melbourne
Then in fifth – Perth…..
Perth
Then in joint ninth – Sydney….
Sydney
Then we have Adelaide in 11th place…..
Adelaide
And then Brisbane is 16th…..
Brisbane
That’s ALL of Australia’s top five cities, the ONLY cities we have with populations more than a million, in the top 16 most “liveable” cities in the world. I think that’s pretty good going. We do have other cities, of course, but all with 300,000 people or less. Small cities.
So I’m going to call this result a clean sweep for Australia.
Who decided all this? It was the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2009 Liveability Survey in Britain which assessed 140 cities based on:
- Stability
- Health care
- Education
- Infrastructure
- Culture and environment
I have not been to Perth or Adelaide, yet, but I have been to the other three. For what it is worth, I would certainly not disagree with Melbourne being the best city in Australia. The place has bags of character and a really good feel about it. If I were not living here in Brisbane, which I love, Melbourne would be a top contender for me. Sydney I didn’t much care for. Too busy, too big, too much of what I was used to in England.
Who else is in the list? How did other countries fare? Who cares? Grab your togs, hat and shades… and emigrate to Australia.
Or you could move to Manchester (46th) or London (51st).
Update:
The Economist’s 2010 liveability survey results are now out. Check the latest positions at my post Australia: Far Too Dangerous and Way Too Liveable
Related posts:
