I live 35 km from Venice and I find even going there a chore sometimes. Many people of the Veneto region are like “Oh no, I have to go to Venice today. dramatic sigh”. Of course it is wonderful, but only if you are on holiday. If you’re trying to get anything done, it’s a nightmare. It takes ages to get anywhere, satnav doesn’t work well, your only mode of transport except boat is to walk, so if it rains you’ll get wet and if it’s hot you will fry - both of those are common. You have to dodge hordes of tourists each and every day and that’s not even counting acqua alta - though the new Mosa system seems to be mitigating that a lot. I don’t even want to think about mould. It’s the polar opposite of livable.
My city, Padua, is actually quite good. Medium-sized university town with lots of things to do. A bit too much humidity, public transport could be better and Italian bureaucracy remains a nightmare, but I am never bored, practically all of the city is bikeable and rents, while going up, are affordable compared to elsewhere in Europe. For example, many places in my home country of the Netherlands would be very livable if they were not sunk by a complete and utter lack of affordable housing.
So, when I mentioned downsides to London, walkability was a big one for me - I didn’t find London that walkable the many times I’ve been. Great public transport compared to where I come from, but I only found parts of it walkable, the traffic congestion was just so bad. I don’t know if this has gotten that much better in the last decade, as that’s when I was last there, but I found e.g Paris or Helsinki less congested/more walkable.
If I set aside my one deal breaker (must have beaches), it’s a tossup between Berlin and Mexico City. Maybe the edge goes to Mexico City because of its affordability; you can take the subway pretty much anywhere for 5 pesos (25 cents)!
I can’t understand why Frankfurt is the highest ranked German city. It’s ugly and has a kind of unfriendly and cold (not in a meteorological way) reputation, mostly due to the fact that it’s the banking capital of Germany, and it still struggles with a lot of street crime. Of the major German cities, I’d rather live in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf or Munich than in Frankfurt.
I live in Portland and I would knock it off the list precisely because of the price of housing. Those shows where people win big at a scratch ticket and decide to buy their dream house? You won’t see too many of them filmed in Portland because mere scratch ticket winnings won’t get you much here-You need Powerball level moolah to get dream houses in this area. For example, $479,000 will get you this luxurious 2 bedroom, one bath mansion: 7015 N Westanna Ave, Portland, OR 97203 | MLS #22174403 | Zillow
Toronto and Vancouver have many merits, but traffic is very bad, weather tends to be cold or dark or humid-hot and housing prices are beyond sanity or stratosphere. Most big Canadian cities are really becoming more similar than different - for good and bad. Alberta, a beautiful province, is often compared to Texas - sometimes accurately. If Toronto is “New York run by the Swiss”, what is Calgary?
Of the top 10 I’ve only been to Vancouver and Melbourne and really enjoyed my visits to each. It’s a tough choice between the two, but I think I’d go with Melbourne because of the warmer climate (but there’s always a chance you’ll get Four Seasons In One Day)
Well, Cologne is pretty wonderful. Though if I lived there I’d probably want to get out of town during at least some of the craziness of the Christmas Market season.
Seconded. It seems the Economist has asked too many bankers. A breed that concentrates there, so the rest of the Republic does not have to deal with them.
As a revenge they close the branches in the other cities. The price of getting rid of bankers is inconvenience for everything that cannot be done online.
Seconded too, with all the emphasis in the world. Never again Cologne during Carnival. Never!!
I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard that it’s a nice city and that it’s good to live in. It has the advantage though that it hadn’t been bombed to shreds in the way Frankfurt am Main had been, which made that Frankfurt ugly as every other German city that suffered from the many architectural sins of the post-war reconstruction. On top of that, Frankfurt am Main has those piss-ugly skyscrapers added by the banker’s egos in the high-flying 90s and 00s.
Me neither. I lived there for four years and was very appreciative of the fact that my job took me everywhere else in Europe on a regular basis. I saw that NYC is way up on the list for North America. I like visiting there, but the constant crush of people is claustrophobic.
I don’t agree with Geneva, either. Ugly concrete city with little to recommend it architecturally, but it does have train access to some spectacular scenery.
I have extremely limited travel experience and have lived in even fewer places (I now live ~20 miles from where I grew up) but I did live in Portland for 2 years and can’t think of anywhere else I would rather be. It has everything that I could want and, despite Trump’s claim to the contrary, is still a pleasant, livable, clean, and overall safe city. Public transport is excellent, the food scene is top-notch, there are wonderful galleries and theaters and yeah, housing is expensive, but it’s expensive in most cities. In Portland you get a lot of bang for your buck. Like you I lived either within walking distance or a short public transport ride to anything I could need to get to. When I did have to drive traffic wasn’t too horrible even at rush hour. I miss it a lot.
I hadn’t realized you had left, you were one of the few PDX dopers that I was aware of. The weather never bothered me but I grew up with it so rain and never-ending clouds for 8 months of the year is just normal to me.
Edit:
: I totally spaced out you lived in Portland as well! The house you cited is only 6 blocks from the nearest bus stop which may have something to do with the price… location, location, location and all that. However, to play devil’s advocate:
Another 100K will get you a very nice 2nd floor condo in the middle of the Alphabet district – much more desirable location:
Or for 40K less than your example you can get an absolutely beautiful condo in the heart of downtown, literally across the street from both a MAX stop and a bus stop. I have personally been in one of the units in this building and the photos do not do it justice:
The Portland Plaza location is also adjacent to a couple of theaters, a beautiful park with large cascading fountain, and a grocery store 4 blocks away. If I had the cash and the freedom I would be living in that building.
I love to visit Paris.
However, the rudeness isn’t directed at tourists. Parisians are rude to everyone including other French people and most specifically other Parisians. It’s all part of being from Paris. You’re supposed to be snotty, snooty, all while feigning a laissez-faire – laissez-aller attitude. Looking proper déshabillé of course.
Our band played a show in Frankfurt back in 2003, and I found it quite a pleasant surprise. My only knowledge of the city before was through many flights through that airport and its reputation as a business/banking center of Germany. The people there were quite friendly, and I found the city overall pleasant – didn’t find it ugly and found the skyscrapers kind of an odd, but interesting, backdrop for a European city. That said, I did prefer Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Munich. I didn’t get a chance to visit Heidelburg, but the university town of Freiburg and its location in the Black Forest and near Switzerland and France quite appealing. But that’s of a size that’s probably too small for a “livable city” list.
Of larger cities I’ve been to, Seattle would have to be up there for me. My hometown of Chicago, despite its reputation, I find quite livable and enjoyable. Vienna is too boring and clean for me. For European cities, I’m more interested in places like Edinburgh or Budapest (where I lived for many years, though the quasi-fascist government now probably puts it off my list.)
I totally spaced out you lived in Portland as well! The house you cited is only 6 blocks from the nearest bus stop which may have something to do with the price… location, location, location and all that. However, to play devil’s advocate: