Melbourne "The best city in the World" Vancouver a

[Jake the Dog]

Source: The Age Newspaper - http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/04/1033538761412.html

Melbourne has been declared the near-perfect town after being rated the best city in the world to call home.

In a survey of 130 cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit rated Melbourne and Vancouver in Canada as the best cities in the world in which to live, with Perth ranked third and Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide tied in eighth place.

Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby was rated the worst.

The London-based EIU assessed the level of hardship for expatriates in the 130 cities, focussing on 12 factors including housing, education, recreational activities and climate.

Not surprisingly, Melbourne's weather prevented it earning a perfect score of zero, with the Victorian capital and Vancouver scoring one point, Perth two and Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane all on four.

Sydneysiders won't agree, but Melbourne's weather, based on humidity rather than rain and temperature, was adjudged better.

And while Sydney received a near-perfect score in all categories, its high level of violent crime, on a par with New York and London, cost it points.

"Really we found very little wrong with Melbourne, it's just about the perfect city," said Bill Ridgers, editor of the EIU's Cost of Living survey.

"It got a perfect score in every single category we looked at, apart from slight faults in its humidity and the availability of recreational activities, but that's really splitting hairs."

Cities were rated one to five in the 12 categories, with one at 0 per cent meaning there was no hardship and five, at 100 per cent, indicating extreme hardship.

Sydney earned a two for violent crime, the same as New York and London, while Port Moresby scored five.

Melbourne received 1.1 for recreational activities, falling down on the availability of concerts and theatre, while Sydney earned one, but Perth received the lowest score of the five Australian cities surveyed.

The survey was split into three categories with the health and safety section rating the threat of violent crime, the threat posed by terrorism or armed conflict and a health and disease assessment.

Culture and environment looked at the availability of nightclubs, restaurants, sporting events, sporting facilities, theatres, cinemas and concerts, as well as studying climate, levels of corruption and the availability of consumer goods and services.

The infrastructure section ranked transport, housing, education and utilities.

Ridgers said although the survey was based on expats' experiences, the factors were broad enough to apply to locals as well.

London was joint 44th on 13 points along with Hong Kong, Lisbon, Madrid and San Francisco, while New York was 52nd on 16, equal with Dublin.

Canada performed strongly with Toronto equal fourth with Vienna, Geneva and Zurich, while Montreal joined Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Oslo in eighth and Calgary was ranked 16th.

New Zealand cities Auckland and Wellington were both ranked 24th.

AAP

Yay for Melbourne, my home town

 

[Tannin]

I lived in Melbourne for ten years. I don't miss it in the slightest.

 

[Buck]

Does Melbourne at least get cool weather in the winter?

 

[ihsan]

Been there a few months back, the people are just great. Their politeness is totally refreshing. Maybe because I spend the rest of my life here, it's totally a different environment when I stepped in there.

By the way, nice place you got there, Melbourners. Albert Park was the places I enjoyed most. I mean how often can you race and not pay a dime. I wish I could do that here in Sepang for free. Ditto Sovereign Hill.

 

[JSF]

I am surprised that Vancouver B.C. gets such a high rating for livability. As stated in an earlier Vancouver post, in an average year Vancouver gets 45 days of fog, 168 days of rain and 80 days without measurable sunshine. Residents have pasty white skin and moss on their backsides.

Cost of living in Vancouver is very high. With the influx of wealthy Chinese from Hong Kong, the cost of housing in the city has skyrocketed. Few can afford to purchase homes near the inner city so urban sprawl is now a reality as many commute to surrounding bedroom communites.

In 40 years little has been done to improve surface transportation. The Second Narrows bridge now allows travellers from the east to bypass the city in order to access the North shore. The Skytrain now offers an easy commute to the inner city for residents of New Westminster. But travellers from the south, or those who cannot easily use public transportation, have a miserable commute on clogged city streets. These people cannot find a high speed artery to permit easy passage through the city.

Fortunately, residents have short term memories. After enduring months of fog, drizzle and overcast sky, when the sun appears, the environment is so beautiful that past misery is soon forgotten.

Does my experience with Vancouver have its counterpart in Melbourne?

Joe.

 

[JKKJ]

Pah, what's a little rain. Wuss. :wink:

Actually, JSF has it about right on some of the day-to-day details of Vancouver, but I suspect that they're not that much different than many other 'top-ranking' cities. We all seem to want our cars and shops and plots of grass.
I'm never quite sure about a these ratings things anyways. There's something just wrong with a result putting Vienna and Toronto on equal terms (and ahead of Montreal!). I suppose that when you try to determine scores for actually living in the great cities they lose out because of expense, crowding and hustlebustle, but it seems to me that the that there's something beyond all that stuff that ought to count too.

Has anyone here been to Port Moresby?

 

[Prof.Wizard]

Regarding the US cities: I think SF is the best!

 

[Jake the Dog]

of course i'm biased however i do think Melbourne is indeed a great city. our winter weather is by no means fantastic but i don't think we get the amounts of fog and rain that Vancouver gets. summer here can be is beatuiful, depending on which side of the city you live in. i'm out in the eastern part of the city where the grass remains green and we have a mountain range which provides some superb views either looking at it or from on top of it.

 

[Cliptin]

i'm out in the eastern part of the city where the grass remains green and we have a mountain range which provides some superb views either looking at it or from on top of it.

Pictures, Pictures. We want pictures!

 

[Cliptin]

FYI
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/maps/as-map.jpg

 

[Handruin]

FYI
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/maps/as-map.jpg

I gotta laugh at myself after seeing that map. Now I know why the chicken I eat at the outback is called "Alice Springs" chicken... and it's damn good.

(although I admit I know nothing about alice springs.)

 

[Tannin]

I lived in Alice Springs for two years. I don't remember it in the slightest. Possibly this has to do with the fact that the years in question were 1964 and 1965. I was four. Except for six months or so at either end when I was three and then five.

 

[Tannin]

But so far as large cities go, I guess Melbourne is tolerable. Nowhere near as nice as several others round the country, but tolerable. Of the cities I know well enough to comment on, I'd rate them, best to worst, like this:

Brisbane
Hobart
Adelaide
Melbourne
Sydney
Gold Coast

(I've never been to Perth. At a guess, slot it in under Adelaide.)

Time I found a spare towel and wandered into the office for a shower. I'll drege of some of the usual spurious reasons for my choices a little later. Oh, but if I happened to be in the top 0.5% of income - i.e., filthy rich - I'd lift my Sydney rating up to about third. Inner Sydney is beautiful, a wonderful place, but you need to spend more than the average person earns in an entire lifetime to buy even a modest little house there. Outer Sydney is the pits.

 

[time]

Inner Sydney is beautiful, a wonderful place, but you need to spend more than the average person earns in an entire lifetime to buy even a modest little house there. Outer Sydney is the pits.

Exactly so.

The main thing I don't like about Brisbane is the heat and humidity. I've often said that it would be great to live in Melbourne in Summer (where it's fine just about all the time, and the heat and humidity are usually mild), and Brisbane in Winter (where it's fine just about all the time, and there is no Winter). Of course Melbourne's about 2000 kilometers closer to the South Pole, so climatic differences are to be expected.

BTW, I lived in Melbourne for about three years, until 1991. The best parts from our point of view were the parks, and what you could get to in a day trip. Oh yes, and the trams.

Even then though, I felt it was becoming less attractive, probably thanks to excessive population growth and sprawl. The restaurants were already in decline (Lygon St used to be legendary), gridlock the order of the day, and a lot of the public facilities (including parks) were being sold off to prop up morally and financially corrupt politicians.

It's become too expensive for outsiders like me to buy housing, and the smog, although better than Sydney, is still the first thing you see as the plane descends. You have to remember that Melbourne's population is twice that of Vancouver; about the same as LA city, in fact. It sprawls over an area more than two and a half times the size of Vancouver.

 

[Buck]

If I could afford to migrate to Australia, where would be the best place for temperate summers and cool (freezing (no snow)) winters be? Oh, and an average rainfall of over 20 inches would be nice. Seattle/Tacoma is sounding better and better.

 

[Tea]

Hobart.

 

[Buck]

Hobart.

Oooh, and it's number 2 on your list - sounds nice.

 

[Mercutio]

There's a Hobart in Indiana, too, about six miles from where I am right now.
It isn't nearly as pleasant as the Aussie one. Or pleasant at all.

 

[Buck]

Tasmania looks like a nice place to live. But of course, so far I've only read the good points. Does anyone here have any impressions about Tasmania?

 

[Fushigi]

There's a Hobart in Indiana, too, about six miles from where I am right now.
It isn't nearly as pleasant as the Aussie one. Or pleasant at all.

Usually, we close the windows & lock the doors when we hit Gary. We don't open them back up again until past Hobart.

- Fushigi

 

[Jake the Dog]

Hobart looks nice but has absolutely no unnatural nightlife to speak of :-? Let's just say it's dull...

 

[JKKJ]

Unnatural? Hmmm.

There's been a bunch of talk lately that Vancouver nightlife is kinda dull too. Of course there's a media push to show the "happening" side of Vancouver, which is just plain embarrassing.
Actually, it's my preference for us to have this quiet rep. Fewer people will move in, we'll have slower urban growth and more trees, that sort of thing.

 

[Cliptin]

JKKJ, are you actually in Vancouver?

 

[Buck]

Just for everyones information, I'm not into Discos, bars, nightclubs, etc. If I want a drink, I'll be at home or a friends house. If I want to go out, it will be for dinner or on the odd occassion, a movie. Did someone say trees, I like trees.

Jake, I'm not the sort to color my hair and shave an X (or any other design) into it. So, I might be considered dull.

 

[James]

The only real minuses about Hobart that I can see are that it is a fair way from anything else urban (almost 2 hours flight to Sydney, about an hour or so to Melbourne, and REALLY far from places like London, New York, etc.), and there are only a certain number of things to do. If you like cultural pursuits there is one gallery, one theatre, etc. and that's pretty much it.

If your objective is to live somewhere nice, have a bunch of friends, go out to dinner every so often, and live somewhere surrounded by beautiful countryside, Hobart is great. Me, I need a bit more out of the place I live.

 

[Tea]

I wouldn't actually choose to live in Hobart, it's too urban for my taste, but if I had to live in a city, then Hobart would be close to the top of my list. I like Brisbane best of all, but as Time says, the summers are horrible. I guess one of the reasons I listed Brisbane so high is that I mostly go there in the winter, when it's damn near perfect.

Mind you, I've spent most of my Brisbane time in the inner and northern suburbs - Paddington and Ashfield - and the time I spent on the south side of the river, in the general vicinity of Logan, was much less impressive. Just another suburban wasteland down that way, pretty much indistinguishable from the endless, soulless suburbia of Melbourne, or Sydney, or (no doubt) LA or Houston.

 

[JKKJ]

Tea, how do you get around so much? Do you have your own car? Around here only human-types can drive.

 

[JKKJ]

JKKJ, are you actually in Vancouver?

Yup

 

[Jake the Dog]

Just for everyones information, I'm not into Discos, bars, nightclubs, etc. If I want a drink, I'll be at home or a friends house. If I want to go out, it will be for dinner or on the odd occassion, a movie. Did someone say trees, I like trees.

Jake, I'm not the sort to color my hair and shave an X (or any other design) into it. So, I might be considered dull.

however being an the excellent conversationalist that you are, i certainly wouldn't call you dull. changing the colour of ones hair does not make one lively either!

 

[Tea]

Oh I can drive quite well, thankyou JKKJ. I have clearer eyesight, better concentration, and faster reflexes than most humans.

On the other hand, I have a lot of trouble reaching the pedals. No-one seems to take short people into account when they are designing vehicles so I mostly let Tannin do the driving. On the whole though, I prefer to travel in Tannin's imagination. It's much faster, costs nothing, and saves all that tedious customs and immigration paperwork.

Mind you, living in Tannin's imagination is no bed of roses: there are all sorts of dark and horrible things in here I have to watch out for.

 

[JKKJ]

:mrgrn: