Quality of Living Survey 2007

[IHEARTPDX]

A new survey of the top 50 cities with a high "Quality of Living" was released recently. Vancouver BC came in 3rd place, Portland 46th place, and Seattle 49th.

Mercer Consulting explains their methods and reasoning behind the rankings:

Quality of Living vs. the quality of life
A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that "spice" may also give a city a lower ranking.
What makes one person's quality of life better or worse cannot be quantified in an objective index. Therefore, Mercer's Quality of Living report reflects only the tangible aspects of living in a city on expatriate assignments, and leaves the question of the quality of one's life to those living it!

I'm a little surprised that my home town of NYC has less "je ne sais quoi" than Portland! But don't get me wrong I live in PDX now and I love it...

Full list of rankings here:
http://www.mercerhr.com/referencecon...28060#Americas

[PDX City-State]

That's awesome the NW is so well represented!

[Snowden352]

"What makes one person's quality of life better or worse cannot be quantified in an objective index."

In other words, "we can't measure quality of life, so we're relying on people's biased opinions." Yet another measurement of how uselesss these surveys are.

Not that I don't mind Portland getting any extra press, though.

[edgepdx]

Ok, this I don't get; the top ranked city in the US is HONOLULU, HI? I'm sorry, but that place is kind of a pit. The road system is a complete mess and it's incredibly expensive to live there. Besides the fact that it's on a tropical island what does it have going for it as a city?

[PDX City-State]

Check out Willy Week's response:

Look Out! Portland Named World's 46th Best City To Live

Mike Thelin

Okay—let's get this straight. Portland has never won an award for best nightlife or cultural amenities—but Portland is one of the world's best places to pitch your tent, say the experts. The revered Mercer Human Resource Consulting Annual Quality of Living Survey named PDX the 46th best place to live in world, 45 places behind top-ranked Zurich, Switzerland—sandwiched between Chicago and Lisbon.

Most livable city is nice award—the award they sometimes give to the kid who tries really hard. We may never get the Olympics and we're stuck with only one under-performing sports franchise. In-and-Out Burger hasn't opened a franchise. Donald Trump won't return our calls. We don't have any world-class architecture. Frank Gehry hasn't donned us a crumply-looking metal building. But...we're the 46th best city in the world and we have a tram. Does your city have a tram?

We have great restaurants, better coffee than your city, Paris Hilton look-alikes, doughnuts shaped like genitalia, and a Mayor who bikes to work—though what else he does is up for debate. We are Portland, bitches, and we are the 46th best city in the world—three places ahead of Seattle (49th place).

[Seattle FTW]

cleveland and st louis at 37th


riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

[PDX City-State]

cleveland and st louis at 37th

Wrong chart--that's health and sanitation. Cleveland and St. Louis didn't make the list.

[mSeattle]

Originally Posted by PDX City-State

Check out Willy Week's response:

Look Out! Portland Named World's 46th Best City To Live

Mike Thelin
...
We have great restaurants, better coffee than your city, Paris Hilton look-alikes, doughnuts shaped like genitalia, and a Mayor who bikes to work—though what else he does is up for debate. We are Portland, bitches, and we are the 46th best city in the world—three places ahead of Seattle (49th place).

Hee hee, I love it. I'd think Seattle would be hurt more for the lack of streetcars and lightrail. 49th in the world isn't too bad.

[bob1954]

I noticed Canada had the top 5 in the"Americas". Wonder what their doing up there that's so different from the US? I've heard and seen great things about Calgary, and I know about Vancouver, but it's nice to see Portland and Seattle in the top 50 anyway.. Lived in Seattle many years ago!