Top 29 Best Cities to Live In; where would you live?

I agree with a lot of the list. Cool to see some obscure places on there, but I can't see how anyone could want to move to Bogota, Tel aviv or Beirut without having a strong latent death wish.

Number one was a no-brainer.

 

Of the citys listed I have only been to New York and Chicago. The list seems to be more like an assemblage of great citys rather than an actual ranking. As for New york receiving a ten for fresh air, that is just laughable.

 

I live in Melbourne and am not surprised to see it at number 2. I've been to a fair few of the cities on that list - though only for brief work stints/holiday - and Melbourne is still my favourite. We're reasonably uncongested, not overly polluted and there's always something to do. Nightlife is good, though public transport is pretty shithouse if you're not right in the city, and our weather is crazy and can change on an hourly basis. I thought we had more days off but that's probably because I'm a grad student and don't have a real job. They're not kidding about the sport thing either, with our huge number of stadiums and arenas and events like the F1. It's a pretty sweet place to live, and while I'll probably be working overseas for a while once I finish up here I'll always call Melbourne home.

Most others on the list I'd expect, though some seem a little odd - Beirut and Cape Town?

Always good to see Melbourne beat Sydney too, even if it is just in a crappy askmen article.

 

I've been to about half the cities on there, and based on what I've seen I mostly agree with the list. The only exception is Tokyo. I've been then there a few times and while it is a pretty cool place I don't see how it belongs at number three. I think I'd rather live in any city on the list instead of Tokyo. It's like they just decided since it's one of the largest cities in the developed work it has to rank high. Just because they have great sushi doesn't mean they need full points for day on the town.

Edit: I've only visited these places though so my opinion is at best halfway informed.

 

Not if you enjoy the smell of exhaust fumes and rotting garbage. Ahhh NYC in the summertime.

 

The list for people who hate slideshows:

Spoiler

1. New York
2. Melbourne
3. Tokyo
4. Madrid
5. London
6. Cape Town
7. Miami
8. Buenos Aires
9. Sydney
10. San Francisco
11. Paris
12. Los Angeles
13. Hong Kong
14. Tel Aviv
15. Barcelona
16. Sao Paulo
17. Berlin
18. Lisbon
19. Beirut
20. Istanbul
21. Shanghai
22. Montreal
23. Amsterdam
24. Chicago
25. Toronto
26. Kyoto
27. Bogota
28. Rome
29. Las Vegas

I feel like Berlin should be up higher. I absolutely loved that city. Cheaper than other European capitals like London, Rome and Paris but with plenty to do both day and night. Not many real surprises on this list. Most people tell me Sydney isn't that great and pales in comparison to Melbourne though. And I would put Barcelona ahead of Madrid. Lots of people in the comments section mentioned Vancouver should be on the list. Kind of surprised Rio wasn't on there either. All in all it seems pretty accurate.

As for where I would live... my top 5 would be New York, Tokyo, Berlin, San Fran, and London. I typically like big sprawling cities, and warm weather doesn't mean much to me.

 

I don't agree with the overall rating system, seems weird. I also don't agree with number 1. I lived in New York for 3 years, and "warm, cozy, and fine tailored" may apply to the locations and food, but never the people. Also aesthetically, New York is not a clean or beautiful city. It has its nice parks on all, but it does not belong at number 1 on every single list.

 

Montreal should definitely be higher if it weren't for the crippling taxes. I'm a student and an "artist" though so I don't mind. How can dangerous cities like Beirut, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, Cape Town, Buenos Aires and Bogota even make the list? Istanbul? Are you kidding me? The quality of life in Turkey, China, Israel, Argentina, Columbia and South Africa is deplorable. Las Vegas... to live in? Los Angeles if you're ridiculously rich, otherwise it's a shitty, sprawled city.

I could go on but it's not worth my time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I know the AskMen guys, they're from Montreal, they're short, balding 30/40-somethings who spend lavishly at restaurants/clubs so people notice them. The kind of people that everyone on this messageboard hates. More like WhoAskedTheRichLosers.com

 

Alt Alt Focus: I would choose London. I missed out on the study abroad thing as a current Student (graduating on time is more important to me), so I will always have this itch to try to work in London, or Europe in general, for a period of my life. I love soccer as well, so that's a driving force too.

My couple of hockey-puck messed-up teeth would probably look more normal over there, too.

 

I would have liked to have seen Stockholm on this list.

I have been to 12 of the cities on that list, and Stockholm blows them all out of the water. It is clean, beautiful, and scenic. There is always something to do. I have never been in a city as efficient. After spending a week there I decided that I was going to live there someday. Sure it gets cold there at winter, but the summers are nice.

Sometime in the future I will be moving there as Jägerette is Swedish, and residency is no trouble.

 

Personally I think Sydney is way better than Melbourne, but it could be because of how similar Melbourne is to Portland that I couldn't stand it.

I feel like they just looked at every continent and thought, "Hey, where are the big cities?" and then put them on a map. Beirut? Sure they party like it's their last night on earth, but that's because it just might be. Count me out of anywhere in that clusterfuck of a region.

Also I don't understand why New York always gets the top rate for these lists, especially if fresh air is a determining factor.

 

Las Vegas is on this list but Boston isn't. That's pretty much all you need to know to know that this list was compiled by a couple of rich jagoffs whose only experience with the cities in question was a quick vacation.

 

Tel Aviv is a fucking cool city with one of the best nightlifes on the planet, great weather, good beaches and all round cool atmosphere. I would easily live there. Beirut is getting better, there are definitely cool places too it. Again there is a pretty good nightlife scene; however it is very Eurotrashy and quite expensive.

I currently live in London and rate it as a very cool city, I have also lived in New York, Sydney, Hong Kong and Paris for varying periods from 3months to 5 years. Of these I would go:
1. NYC
2. London
3. Sydney
4. Paris
5. Hong Kong

If I could move anywhere on the list right now it would be Berlin. Straight up just a cool fucking city.

 

I can tell you right now, most of those cities crime and killing wise are on the same level as the southside of Chicago, Detroit, or Baltimore before it cleaned up a little.

 

The fact that many people have that attitude towards those cities is probably the very reason they are yet to jump the shark for tourists.

 

Been to Buenos Aires half a dozen times and would live there if I had the opportunity. And not as a tourist, I have family that lives there and have for well over a hundred years.

I'll say this and get red dotted, but I fucking hate Chicago. It sucks.

 

I am really, really surprised that Edmonton isn't at least one of the top, oh lets say, five of that list. Seriously, like number three or something.

Oh, wait a second, you said the best cities.

 

How is San Diego not on the list instead of LA? SD is LA's better weather, less smog, more laid back half brother.

 

I know, right? I was super shocked. We have the best weather all the time.

I've only actually been to a couple of these cities though. Los Angeles is pretty alright, but I wouldn't go back until I'm 21. And I was only in Montreal for, oh, a few hours, but again, it was pretty neat. I have a few friends who moved out there and they like it quite a lot.

I'd probably peace out to Rome mostly because I have a strong attraction towards Italian men. My brother is in Europe right now and when I talked to him a couple weeks ago he said Istanbul was the most kick-ass place ever (I actually just paraphrased that, those are not his words.)