Would You Like to Live in a Top Ten City?

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Jamie Douglas and Julie R Butler

By Jamie Douglas

Every few weeks or so, some self important organization publishes a list of the

1.       Most Expensive

2.      Least Expensive

3.      Most Livable

4.      Least Livable

5.      Safest

6.      Unsafest

7.      Warmest

8.     Coldest

Etc… You get the picture! It makes for filler on slow news days. But for us expats and wannabe expats, it also makes for educational reading. So below are the top ten and bottom 10 cities as named by Mercer, a Global HR consulting firm, with Jamie’s list alongside.

1. Vienna, Austria                                                    1.  Zürich, Switzerland

                                                                                                1a.Vienna, Austria

2. Zürich, Switzerland                                            2.  Perth, Western Australia

3. Auckland, New Zealand                                     3.  Bern, Switzerland

4. Munich, Germany                                               4.  Luzern, Switzerland

5. Dusseldorf, Germany                                         5.  Munich, Germany

6. Vancouver, Canada                                             6.  Copenhagen, Denmark

7. Frankfurt, Germany                                           7.  Lisbon, Portugal

8. Geneva, Switzerland                                           8.  Bruges, Belgium

9. Bern, Switzerland                                                           9.  Valencia, Spain  

10. Copenhagen, Denmark.                                               10. Oslo, Norway

The reason I placed Zürich ahead of Vienna is because the lake and the view onto the Alps from there is so stunning. While I like Auckland, I find the cities listed on the right much more fascinating than Auckland. The addition of Lisbon, Valencia, and Bruges speaks for itself. Any of those easily displace Vancouver and Geneva. Geneva always seems to be on the list, but while scenic, Luzern has it way beat in scenery, cultural happenings, historical buildings, and so much more. Now for the bottom rung:

            1. Baghdad, Iraq

2. Bangui, Central African Republic

3. N'Djamena, Chad

4. Port-au-Prince, Haiti

5. Khartoum, Sudan

6. Sana'a, Yemen

7. Tbilisi, Georgia

8. Brazzaville, Congo

9. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

10. Nouakchott, Mauritania

I will not bother to make my own listing. There are just so many real sh*t holes on the planet that I don’t want to make a list, but I am disappointed that some of the worst are not on this list, take for instance Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Try as I might, I just can’t find anything nice to say about it, nor its sister city of San Pedro Sula, also in Honduras.

On the other hand, Baghdad would not be such a bad place if the Americans had not turned it into what it is today. I had the opportunity to visit there a couple of times, and while it did not rank very high, it certainly was not at the top of the bottom. Another disagreement I have is with Sana’a in Yemen. While at the moment it is not a safe place for westerners, I have found it to be one of the most fascinating cities in the world. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places, and the architecture is truly amazing.

Sadly, there are a few hundred overpopulated, crime and poverty infested cities in the world that share the dishonor of being at the bottom of the list. I understand that to measure the quality of life, different yardsticks are applied by different people, but the main considerations to me are the two here:

1.  Is it relatively safe to walk the street?

2. Am I safe in my house?

If the answer is no to either of them, then I don’t want to be there. And if you work for a multinational corporation that wants to send you to one of those places, consider an alternate source of income. Life is too short to live behind walls!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

[image: Zürich, Switzerland, via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com

See more expat articles by Jamie at

Expat Daily News Latin America.

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