Vienna is best city to live in, says study. US highest are Honolulu and San Francisco

[demoleft]

AFP - Vienna is the best city in the world to live while war-torn Baghdad is the worst, a survey said Wednesday, putting Europe at the top of the rankings with Asia and Africa trailing.

The Austrian capital "retains the top spot as the city with the world's best quality of living," British consultancy firm Mercer said in its 2010 Quality of Living Survey.
...
Among cities in Britain, London ranked number 39, Birmingham 55 and Glasgow 57.
In the United States, the highest ranking entry was Honolulu in 31st place, followed by San Francisco in 32nd.

afp, http://www.france24.com/en/20100526-vienna-best-city-live-baghdad-worst-study

good fourth rank for vancouver, canada.

the link to the rank lists:
http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#Ranking_Eco_Cities

[SteppingRazor]

1. Vienna's pretty damn great.

I'm kinda surprised that not a single American city cracked the top 30, but I can see how Vienna would be at or near the top. The cafe culture there alone should put it in the top 20.

On edit: Of course, all of this quality of life is only nice if you can afford it. The top three cities -- Vienna, Zurich and Geneva -- are all obscenely expensive.

[greencharlie]

3. expensive... as is SF and Honolulu nt

[JBoy]

5. Vancouver's the most expensive place in Canada.

[demoleft]

9. investments in "recreation and public services" were also taken into consideration...

...and of course, countries who did not have a too high public debt reacted better to the global crisis than others indebted.their cities do better.

so all in all, i think they assume that a "poor" in vancouver, or a worker or say a single mother-woman, do better there than in other cities.
public services are not secondary indeed. we in italy know well. infact, italy does not appear.

[demoleft]

6. here's the link to the research:

http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving

they explain what more or less was taken into consideration, in an overall survey.
in the eco-City ranking honolulu and minneapolis rank 2nd and 6th. not bad.

ciao from (almost absent there) italy.

[hobbit709]

2. I could have told them that.

[smirkymonkey]

4. I lived in Vienna when I was an undergrad and have wanted to

go back ever since (I have traveled a lot through Europe, but haven't returned to Vienna). I would kill to live there again - it is the best place I have ever lived and I have lived in a lot of great cities. I am definitely planning a trip there within the next year.

[Kalyke]

7. I'm sorry - I would never want to live in SanFran or Honolulu.

Too pricey.

[Arugula Latte]

8. But, the US saved Baghdad from itself so it should be a paradise, right?!