Melbourne ranked world's top city

[SodoffBush]

Melbourne has retained its position as the best city in the world to call home.

Often derided as Bleak City by Sydneysiders, Melbourne topped a survey of 130 cities, narrowly beating out the other four Australian capitals surveyed - because its weather rated the best.

Sydney lost ground because its crime rate was rated on a par with New York and London.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey ranked Melbourne, Vancouver and Vienna as the best cities for expatriates to live, with Perth fourth and Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney equal sixth.

1= Melbourne
1= Vancouver
1= Vienna
4 Perth
5 Geneva
6= Adelaide
6= Brisbane
6= Copenhagen
6= Montreal
6= Oslo
6= Sydney
6= Zurich
13= Helsinki
13= Stockholm
13= Toronto

Others:
19= Auckland
19= Honolulu
28= Paris
45= London
51= Dublin
51= New York
57= Washington
64= Athens
75= Beijing
130 Port Moresby

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/06/1075854028808.html?from=top5

On a personal note, may I just say that the art museums in Melbourne rank as among the best.




MELBOURNE, Australia, (AFP) - A Melbourne public art gallery has rejected demands it remove a painting that obscenely mocks the close relationship between Australian Prime Minister John Howard and US President George W. Bush (news - web sites).

The work at the National Gallery of Victoria by artist Gordon Hookey includes the line: "John Howard and Australia are so far up George Dubbah Yah Bush and the USA's arse that we're in the s---. We're kept in the dark and it stinks."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1517&e=11&u=/afp/lifestyle_australia_us

[La_Serpiente]

1. 19= Honolulu

19= Honolulu ....


WOOHOO :-)

[HFishbine]

2. Biased

"The Iraqi capital Baghdad was not included in the survey."

[cryofan]

3. All the top cities are in countries with universal health care....

why would anyone want to live in a country without it?

[lebkuchen]

4. Strict gun laws, too.

not to mention, you don't have to sign up for a tour of Camp Anaconda, Iraq to receive a free education.

[Columbia]

7. Actually, no

Switzerland (Geneva and Zurich among the top ten on the list) has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world.

Also, nothing in life is ever truly free, state/taxpayer-sponsored education included.

[lebkuchen]

19. Actually, yes

Those guns belong to the Swiss' armed citizenry/militia, who each have two jobs, a civilian job and a military job. For the military job they must train every year until the age of 50 (as I recall). Switzerland has very strict gun laws. Not any psychotic slack-jawed yokel who wants to shoot squirrels off his front porch can own one.

In the countries listed above, education is paid for by taxes, just as US bombs are paid for in taxes by Americans (though on the coattails of very high deficits). The Swiss feel that they benefit more from an equal access to education rather than to bombs. They don't have to save over and above what they pay in taxes to provide their kids a college education. It's already paid for, like Social Security (America's is bankrupt, btw). Unlike in the U.S., poor families often opt to send their kids to the military to pay for any educational benefits, should their military kids scrounge up enough time to take advantage of.

And those are just two reasons why countries with cradle to grave social systems are tops on the list of "best cities to live in."

[Columbia]

22. Do some more research

Yes, many of the guns do belong to the armed citizenry, that is why there is such a high rate of gun ownership. They also have cumpulsory military service, at the end of which, they get to take home their weapons. The Swiss do not have strict gun laws, they are probably the most liberal gun laws of all of Europe in fact.

[foreigncorrespondent]

5. I heard about this yesterday...

...and was pleased that Melbourne had received this honour again.

My city truly is a great place to live. :)

[Sapphocrat]

6. No surprise!

Call me biased, but I have never had the pleasure of visiting such a large city as unbelievably clean, accessible, diverse, laid-back, pleasing to the eye, and downright friendly as Melbourne.

Can't beat the cuisine, either.

And this is coming from one intimately familiar with San Francisco!

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Biased!

Anyway, the survey sucks because Canberra wasn't in it....

When I was in Melbourne I hated it. I thought it was drab and boring, the weather was lousy, and I spent most of my time dodging trams. Some may accuse me of bias due to me being born and raised in Sydney, but I've spent many years since then in Canberra, and Melbourne kind of reminds me of Canberra in a lot of ways...


Violet...

[foreigncorrespondent]

10. Your biast!

You got to used to a little place called Canberra, which you can walk around in five minutes. ;)

[Violet_Crumble]

15. LOL...

It may take five minutes to walk around the place, but with our intricate system of roundabouts it takes novices to Canberra roads hours to get anywhere! ;)

Violet...

[foreigncorrespondent]

17. ROFLMAO! (n/t)

[Sapphocrat]

11. That's okay, if there's one thing I understand...

...it's the deep and abiding loooooove between Melbournians and Sydneysiders. ;) If it's any consolation, I'm bowled over by what little I've seen of Sydney -- it's gorgeous.

And, hey, about Melbourne weather... Where else ya gonna get four distinct seasons... every single day of the year? :D

[foreigncorrespondent]

12. HEY NOW!!!!! (n/t)

[Violet_Crumble]

16. One good thing about the Sydney/Melbourne rivalry...

Without it and the juvenile bickering over where Australia's capital should be, Canberra would never have come into being stuck pretty much halfway between both cities...

Violet...

[lebkuchen]

20. terrific parks, where you can watch outdoor movies under the fruit bats

as they fly overhead.

Tons of multi-ethnic restaurants, too.

[mouse7]

8. Nope, it's Victoria BC

Right across the water from Vancouver... but 20% cheaper and far less crowded. Real close to Vancouver, but still far enough away not to be IN the Vancouver metro.

[Lisa]

14. shhh! Don't tell everybody!

It's hard enough to find housing in this town, as it is!



p.s. but seriously, congratulations to the cities that were named. Interesting that there were so many ties reported, in the top 20. I hope this indicates that there are a lot of places which have a good quality of life, and people who recognize it ... and that this will translate into support for those communities. By the end of the decade more than half the world is going to be living in cities, and it's vitally important that we make them enjoyable and fulfilling places to be.

[Weiners]

13. Well....This is truly confusing

I...I... I just don't understand why Dallas is not on the list. (Heh, Heh..cackle, cackle)

[lebkuchen]

21. or Houston, for god's sake

On a clear day, you can see forever.

[TheDonkey]

18. Congrats Honolulu!

Represent for the U.S.!!

I wish more of our cities ranked higher. :(

[Screaming Lord Byron]

23. Funny, I read that story as Vancouver rated top city.

I know which one I believe.

[Atlant]

24. Link to the original story? ...the full list?

Does anyone have a link to the original story or the full list?

There are a few more cities for which I'd like to know the ratings. :)

Atlant