A study by Mercer HR firm lists Vienna as the top city in the world. The Mercer study is designed to help companies place employees in foreign countries, striving to eliminate cities with political turmoil, unrest and instability, health and climate concerns, and other possible crises. Point-based, the study uses New York as a standard, ranking it at an even 100 points. Vienna scored 108.6 points. Vienna is the capital of Austria, and is a well-known cultural and arts center. Its place as number one on Mercer's list means it is a stable, safe and productive city.
Another study, by Economist.com, measures what the site calls "livability," rating cities on "stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure." According to the website, Vancouver is the world's most livable city (Vienna is second, indicating that the criteria for this study and the Mercer one are probably similar). The largest city in western Canada, Vancouver boasts similar virtues to Vienna, along with some unique attractions, such as being a large port city and a center of film industry.
Both the Mercer and the Economist list offer criteria which might be called universally applicable. The website AskMen.com offers a list with a little bit more personality. Along with rating a city's quality of life, entertainment, culture, fashion, health, power/money and dating scene, this list includes a category called "the good life," which takes into account "number of annual sunshine hours, planned major urban developments and the number of international departures from the city's airport." AskMen's list-topper is Chicago, citing its thriving art and music, diverse culinary scene, vibrant sports fandom and lake-side beauty.
While each list gives a slightly different perspective on what makes a city the best, some cities had the honor of appearing on more than one of the three: Zurich and Geneva were on both the Mercer and Economist lists; Melbourne, Toronto and Sydney on both the Economist and the AskMen lists; Vienna and Vancouver made all three lists; and Vancouver was in the top 10 of Mercer and Economist.com, and eleventh on AskMen.com.
The disparity of these lists, and countless other lists available online and in other literature, show that choice of residence can depend on factors as diverse as sports and health care. Some people decide where to live based on setting and climate, some on entertainment and social value, and some for political or institutional reasons. The real key to finding the best city to live in is to know which factors are important to you and to research those factors in the cities you are considering.
