Top 10 Most Livable Cities, Maybe

Any study or report of the “Top 10” cities is going to be based on subjective criteria. What is deemed most important to one person, or research team, may not be deemed as so important to another.

Nonetheless, we all love Top 10 lists, I think, or are at least drawn in by them. So, I’m sharing with you new rankings of the world’s major cities according to the 2011 Liveability Ranking and Overview created by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Before I show you the top 10 cities, here are some other interesting results from the ranking:

1. Pittsburgh was the highest-ranked U.S. city at #39.
2. Los Angeles, our second-biggest city, was ranked #44.
3. New York City was #56 (the fact that NYC comes in worse than L.A. demonstrates clear problems with the criteria and results, in my humble opinion).
4. London was #53.
5. Paris was #16.
6. Osaka was the top Asian city at #12 (tied with Geneva).
7. Tokyo came in at #18.

OK, here are the Top 10, drum roll please…

1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Perth, Australia (tied)
9. Adelaide, Australia (tied)
10. Auckland, New Zealand

OK, as I said, I think there are clear problems in the criteria the Economist Intelligence Unit used to rank these cities, just from looking at the results and a few statements on the criteria, but, nonetheless, I am a little more interested in visiting or living in Canada, Australia, and Vienna than I was (I’ve always thought New Zealand looked like one of the most wonderful places on earth).

For much more on the report, read: The World’s Most Liveable Cities 2011 Top 10 Announced

Note: you can purchase the full report for only $500! (sarcasm :D)

Photo Credits: both of Vancouver by flickr user ecstaticist