Opinion | The Best Place to Live? (original) (raw)

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I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor

VIENNA — When the right-wing politician Heinz-Christian Strache appeared on Vienna’s comedy TV show, “We Are Emperor,” earlier this year he talked about the need for change in the Austrian capital. A mock Kaiser, played by Robert Palfrader in a white imperial uniform, turned to his faux chamberlain and asked: “Seyflenstein, what position does Vienna currently rank in quality of life?”

“First place,” came the answer, as the audience cheered.

“Vienna is therefore the most livable city in the world. And he wants change?” the comedian asked.

The Austrian capital has indeed changed, but for the better. It recently beat out Zurich on the Mercer Human Resource Consulting list for the city with the best quality of life. This didn’t surprise the Viennese who are wont to say that Zurich is bigger than Vienna’s largest cemetery, but twice as boring.

The Swiss got three of their cities in the top 10 on Mercer’s list of most livable cities, however — Zurich, Geneva and Bern — to Austria’s one. The international consulting firm seems to have a penchant for German-speaking towns, with Düsseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt joining Vienna and Zurich in its list of the top 10.

Mercer includes three English speaking cities in its top 10, Vancouver, Auckland and Sydney, with Geneva the only Francophone town.

Everyone has their own favorite cities, and livability is in the eyes of the beholder, or should I say ears. The Economist Intelligence Unit picked Vancouver as its most livable city, with Vienna as No. 2. But the Economist clearly equates livability with speaking English. Vienna and Helsinki are the only two exceptions in the Economist’s top 10, the rest being Melbourne, Toronto, Calgary, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland.

The Economist went in heavily for old British Empire towns in Canada and the antipodal down-unders, perhaps because of the quality of their health care and education. But neither list has any cities in Asia, Africa, South America or the United States in the top 10. And no city in Britain made the grade either.

Health care and education are important of course, but, except in the choice of Vienna, neither Mercer nor the Economist seem to have put much emphasis on high culture. As nice as Calgary may be, rising out of the Alberta prairie, one doesn’t live there for its operas or art galleries.

Clean air is important, which would automatically knock out Shanghai and Hong Kong, two of the world’s most vibrant but smoggy cities. Crime, too, has to be considered, which would have put Africa’s beautiful Cape Town, in doubt, and maybe Rio de Janeiro as well. And all on both lists are in firmly liberal and stable democracies, which lets out a lot of the developing world.

Americans love London, a financial center with a jolly life-style and cultural amenities. But you need a good deal of money to live in London. And “when all good Americans die, they go to Paris,” wrote Oscar Wilde before he went to Paris to die himself.

If you are an impoverished artist, Berlin may be the place for you, with its creative excitement and comparatively cheap housing. If you want the Mediterranean, Barcelona might make your pick — a city that is fast becoming one of the Continent’s most desirable cities.

Istanbul, for just plain romance, Salzburg for charm and music, Singapore for pleasant practicality, and San Francisco for its setting and ambiance would have made my list. And surely there is a place for the enchanting Italian towns that have captivated sun-starved northerners since Keats and Shelley.

Vienna used to seem a little sad — all those grand imperial buildings with no empire left, stuck on a dead-end street at Western Europe’s Cold War frontier. But with the Iron Curtain gone, Vienna is once again at the center of the Central European crossroads and is enjoying its place in the sun.

The comedy show that used to take politicians down a peg has been discontinued, however, and Vienna no longer has even a mock Kaiser.

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