Monocle Magazine have announced their annual index of most liveable cities. Zurich comes in top place mainly for its vast investment in transport; Copenhagen is second for its mix of metropolitan life, great healthcare, low crime rates and a relaxed vibe; at 3, Monocle describes Tokyo as the world’s most livable megapolis and praises the city’s commitment to plant 1 million trees; 4th is Munich which blends history and innovation with ease and is generally a good place to do business; and Helsinki comes 5th partly because it has no Starbucks. Here’s the full list:
1. Zurich
2. Copenhagen
3. Tokyo
4. Munich
5. Helsinki
6. Stockholm
7. Vienna
8. Paris
9. Melbourne
10. Berlin
11. Honolulu
12. Madrid
13. Sydney
14. Vancouver
15. Barcelona
16. Fukuoka
17. Oslo
18. Singapore
19. Montreal
20. Aukland
21. Amsterdam
22. Kyoto
23. Hamburg
24. Geneva
25. Lisbon
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Not a single American city…we should probably work on that.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
How is this possible? No US city? Not even San Francisco? No explanation as to how the list was generated either.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
My bad….way to go honolulu!!!!
June 18th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Whew, glad to know I’m not the only one who scanned the list and was aghast at not seeing a U.S. city…and then was embarrassed to realize that I ignored Honolulu.
I suppose it’s because the usual suspects are missing, but to be honest, living in NYC is not what it’s cracked up to be, especially post-meltdown. Someone should get this list to the White House and every city mayor immediately. I do wonder, though, which Southern US cities were evaluated – that’s where any growth is happening if at all.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Don’t get so shocked, maybe you’re not aware that there’s plenty of other countries in the world. Oddly as it seems for US people, it is OK not to be on very ‘best of’ list ever created. Relax a bit and maybe you’ll get there…
June 19th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Last year I believe three American cities were on the list (Honolulu, Minneapolis, and Portland, Oregon). I wonder why the latter two fell off.
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:12 am
Who knows? If Hellsinki had had a Starbucks they might have come way down the list!
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:37 am
I love the reason for Helsinki. It is so true. Finland is still, thankfully, one of the few Western countries where you don’t need to learn a pseudo-Italian New York language to be able to order a decent cup of coffee.
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
this is monocle magazines listing. and they don’t state their criteria.
follow the following link for the 2 best known rankings of world cities. Oh yeah, I live in Vancouver. WOOT!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World’s_Most_Livable_Cities
June 24th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Totally understandable not to have US cities on this list.. There are a plenty of places that have more stuffs (food, culture, safety, transportation, business etc) than in US cities. I always feel that I am living developing country in US..
June 24th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Singapore is a country.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:37 am
We should call it City of Singapore in order to prevent misunderstanding. :)
June 29th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Singapore is a city state, the capital is the City of Singapore.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:33 am