World’s Most Livable Cities
Escapologists wanting to leave their home country, whether for a mini-retirement or permanent resettlement, would do well to consult the annual quality of life lists. (The one conducted by Mercer is probably the most consulted and there’s one by The Economist Intelligence Unit too.).
My personal favourite is the one published by Monocle magazine, which just came out. I have a special love for this list because it takes into account such measures as “number of bookshops” and “well-maintained swimming lakes” as well as the usual quality of life indicators (like crime rate, infrastructure, and cost of living).
I notice that Montréal has fallen from 19th place to 24th in the list since I moved here two years ago. Probably just coincidence.
Here is 2012’s top ten most livable cities according to Monocle:
The rankings continue thusly: Kyoto (11), Fukuoka (12), Hong Kong (13), Paris (14), Singapore (15), Hamburg (16), Honolulu (17), Berlin (18), Vancouver (19), Madrid (20), Barcelona (21), Portland (22), San Francisco (23), Montréal (24) and Geneva (25).
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About Robert Wringham
Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk
Where does Wolverhampton come into this …lol
What about a poll for the world’s most loveable cities….maybe the results would be about the same!
Helsinki by winter. I would not call it exactly livable. 1 meter snow and -15 degress.
We have the same problem in Montreal (24 on the list). It can be as cold as -35 and the snow as deep as Helsinki’s. I must admit to finding it a lot to bear.
The climate is part of the reason for Montreal’s rents being so low. So at least there’s that. And with low rents and high-density living comes a Bohemian spirit. It also gave us the poutine.
Livable also needs to be affordable. Vancouver…? If you move beyond the major cities, you can get into a whole list of smaller, more affordable, even more livable places.
I would also like to see “availability of quality espresso” factored in.
Quite often, the cities appearing on the ‘most livable’ list and their kin are a tad on the boring side, I must admit. The general consensus on Vancouver is that it’s perfectly nice but rather square from what I can gather. Same goes for Zurich and Geneva and places like that. So yeah, you’re right: I prefer places like Berlin. Helsinki is on the list though and that looks interesting to me. This list from Monocle is probably the closest that quality of life lists come to factoring in things like good espresso: the economist and Mercer ones are more about infrastructure, cost of living, and investment.