U.S. cities get no love in worldwide quality of living survey
The euro may be going the way of the aurochs, but that doesn’t stop the old country from mopping up on the latest Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.
A scene from the best city on Earth -- Vienna, Austria.
Vienna, Austria, home of tiny sausages, is the best place to live on Earth, according to Mercer, a human resource consulting firm that ranks cities annually to help companies determine “compensation packages rationally, consistently and systematically.”
Honolulu, Hawaii is the top U.S. city, surfing in at No. 29.
Clearly, weather and bikini-watching are not part of the ranking equation. But the ability to speak German must be — it’s the primary language spoken in 7 of the top 10 cities.
Other U.S. cities to make the top 50 include San Francisco (30), Boston (36), Chicago and Washington, D.C. (tied, along with Madrid, at 43), New York (47), Seattle (48) and Pittsburgh (49).
No Georgia cities — including but not limited to Atlanta, Remerton and Ty-Ty — made the list.
Canada, our friendly neighbors to the north, have four cities better than Honolulu, according to Mercer.
Cities tourists may want to avoid include Khartoum, Sudan (217), Port-au-Prince, Haiti (218), N’Djamena, Chad (219), and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq (221) ranks last.
The U.S. is shut out completely from Mercer’s list of 50 safest cities. Once again, German-speaking areas excel, taking 9 of the top 15 spots. Baghdad is last on the safety list too.
The exact method of ranking is a bit mysterious, but Mercer says it ranks living conditions according to 39 factors, including political stability, currency exchange regulations, traffic congestion, availability of food and climate.
If the Euro does go bust, I predict the U.S. will fare better in the 2012 survey.
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43 comments Add your comment
Blonde Republican
December 4th, 2011
9:41 pm
3rd party you dumb ass.. white people are the minority in both Honolulu and San Francisco. The top U.S. cities. And the top Euro cities are extremely diverse. Pity you have to try to find something to hide your shortcomings.
scott
December 5th, 2011
12:10 am
Seattle ..has to be the best city in america well ran ,open minded ,seemingly educated, and ABSOLUTLY FREAKIN BEAUTIFUL!!!WITH A VERY VIBRANT DOWNTOWN WITH HIGH END STORES AND SHOPS and resturaunts ..Atlanta continues to become stagnant,and tumble down hill,as uneducated folks from the slums of the north continue to move here and the economy in georgia continues to suck(thanks republicans) Atlanta reminds me of Detroit in the 70,s as Detroit strated its freefall and look at it now..Charlotte is the place right now in the southeast and Seattle is america,s greatest city..as i look at it as a plaace to retire
Shawanda
December 5th, 2011
12:05 pm
“…the ability to speak German must be — it’s the primary language spoken in 7 of the top 10 cities.”
The fact that the United States has provided security for Western Europe for the last 65 years, allowing them to spend virtually nothing on defense, may have something to do with that. But I digress.
UncleRukkus
December 5th, 2011
7:34 pm
So much for “AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM”.
Kev
December 5th, 2011
7:41 pm
“Whitest Cities? Honolulu, San Francisco, Chicago, New York??? You mean most progressive and liberal! Because all the the red states are on the bottom.”
There’s a reason those Red States are at the bottom.
Robitussin Sudafed
December 5th, 2011
7:41 pm
The Atl aint nutin like Detwot
Toby
December 5th, 2011
7:52 pm
If the Euro goes bust the US might rank higher, hmmm… maybe, but by the same token, if the US does not reinstate the kind of regulations which prevent economic depressions & recessions, it will remain an oligarchy with a massive working class of people lacking intelligence, happiness & health, & a very small ruling class of ultra-wealthy people. Without tax-funded healthcare & an improvement in education the US will remain the place from whence big movies & internet companies come, but still a place too lacking well-being for the average individual.
Tommy Maddox
December 5th, 2011
7:54 pm
Vancouver is 5th? That undersea fault line being out there would change my mind.
Manchurian-Kenyan Candidate
December 5th, 2011
8:00 pm
Please, by all means….leave Atlanta, Georgia, and the US for that matter. One less America-hating liberal to put up with!!!
Jimmy G
December 5th, 2011
8:03 pm
The only people surprised at this are people who have never been to Europe.
I was in Munich and locked out of my friend’s apartment at 1:00 in the morning. Standing on the sidewalk, saw a women with a flat tire. Helped her fix it. Told her of my situation…she took me home with her. All sorts of romantic things wend through my head. Not so. She just took me home to give me a place to stay for the night. Woke up the next morning and had breakfast with her husband and kids, and he took me back to my friend’s apt.
That happens there because people feel safe and will help you. Here? You know the answer.