27 May 2010

Canberra makes it to 26 most livable city in the world

27 May 2010 | johnboy

The Mercer Worldwide Quality of Living Survey has, for the first time, rated Canberra!

OK, it’s at number 26 behind Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver, Auckland, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Bern, Sydney, Copenhagen, Wellington, Amsterdam, Ottawa, Brussels, Toronto, Berlin, Melbourne, Luxembourg, Stockholm, Perth, Montreal, Hamburg, Nurnburg, and Oslo.

Just imagine how we’d go with a light rail system!

Mr Stanhope is cock-a-hoop at the result.

“This is a great result for Canberra. This survey puts us well ahead of other Australian cities such as Brisbane, Hobart and Adelaide,” Mr Stanhope said.

“It also shows we are streets ahead of many of the great cities of the world such as New York, San Francisco, Barcelona, London, Singapore and Tokyo.

“This is the first time Canberra has been included in this survey which ranks cities on a variety of criteria including its economic stability, infrastructure and transport facilities, crime rates and its relative strength in areas of education, the environment, housing, sporting facilities and even the range and quality of restaurants, theatres and cinemas.

Apparently this is a vindication of the Stanhope Government’s policies.

We also came 21 in eco-cityness.

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watto235:00 pm 31 May 10

What amazes me is that Drzaius thinks that getting a degree from ANU might make a difference. I’ve rarely worked for employers that cared where i got my engineering degree from, many didn’t care if I even had one.

So what are you studying that is so important to get it from the ANU? Arts or science?

Anhd if you think being a public servant is a failure, try telling all those Canberrans, that enjoy high average wages and low unemployment. Oh for the record I am not a public servant myself and never have been.

I’m a youngish person in my mid 30’s and I grew up here. The people leaving seem to love being crowded in everywhere they go. I went to Buenos Aires recently and heard rave reviews. Really it was another Sydney, NY, London clone. Lots to do, but no real personal space. Packed trains and buses, lots of traffic and pollution.
But if having a few extra pubs and clubs to go to is what you really want, then don’t live here.

Personally its about time Canberra gets some recognition for being a great place to live. Too many polls seem to think people love living in big crowded cities.

I think if there were more smaller cities with employment and good standard of living like Canberra, people would live there.

la mente torbida1:48 pm 31 May 10

@Drzaius…almost forgot…if you can take 5 of your like-minded mates with you, Canberra gets promoted to 20th place

la mente torbida1:45 pm 31 May 10

I want my entertainment, AND I WANT IT NOW!!!

@Woody +1

@Drzaius or is it Dr Zaius?
3 hours away, Sydney or NSW Uni…watch out for the door on the Federal Highway

J Dawg11:51 am 31 May 10

Pommy Bastard, I must disagree with you about the nightlife here. I must say, as a young student, the lack of venues (which really isn’t too bad, not ideal but it’s not like there is only 1 place to go) is made up for ridiculously cheap drinks. I mean, absolutely cheap. $2 drinks on student nights (and most other nights until 11pm/12am) are unheard of in many other cities. Also, the fact that the student nightlife is so condensed here (in civic every night spot is within a few mins walk) is another bonus.

Honestly, what it lacks in range it certainly makes up for in cost and accessability!

(and it’s a little unfair to compare the UK pub culture to Australia! They are totally different!)

Pommy bastard4:59 pm 30 May 10

Canberra is a bit like Cornwall (UK) in many respects, it’s not a place to be young, you need to have a more mature outlook and needs to find Canberra a good place to live.

I was surprised to find out how crappy the nightlife is here, I didn’t actually realise this until a friend from the UK’s daughter, and her mate, came to stay with us. They were both early 20’s and having a year out after Uni, doing the world tour thing. It was almost embarrassing to try to show them a good time here.

When I lived in Exter, UK, which has 1/3 the population of Canberra, but had seven nightclubs, and even one which catered to us old farts. Exeter has 60+ pubs, some crackers too, Canberra has the W&P, Tillys, a couple of pseudo Irish bars, the Pot and????

Really if you are not into the Rugby clubs type bars, there isn’t a great deal here.

And again, I must restate that I love it here. I just wouldn’t want to be in my 20’s here.

Jim Jones12:29 pm 30 May 10

Generally when people claim that they’re bored in Canberra, it’s because they’ve got no friends to hang out with and do stuff with.

That is one thing that many people say about Canberra: it can be difficult to ‘break in’ to a clique of likeminded individuals.

Personally, I could only dream to have enough time to be bored. I’ve generally got so much to do that I feel guilty if I don’t go out.

Woody Mann-Caruso6:22 pm 29 May 10

So let me see if I’ve got this straight:

– you get bored after around 10pm on weeknights
– when you’re bored you eat or watch movies or drink coffee, but for some reason you must do these things in a commercial establishment
– restaurants, cafes and cinemas in Canberra are closed by 10pm on weeknights
– you don’t want to do any of the things most people do late at night, ie drink and dance, and so you avoid those establishments that are open
– therefore, Canberra sucks.

Is that about it?

J Dawg4:56 pm 29 May 10

Drzaius said :

@J Dawg ANU is the highest ranked university in the Southern Hemisphere, which is why myself and many people want their degree from there.

Although many of the undergrad degrees are at ANU on par with those from other Group of Eight unis (Postgrad and other research definietly boost the ANU’s ranking in the tables). If you’re going to bitch about Canberra being terrible, then why don’t you sacrifice the whole “ANU is best” mentality and live in a city which lives up to “your standards”.

Drzaius said :

Having a hobby and sport indeed provides something to do at certain times of some days but it doesn’t provide more places or events to go to.

Ummm yes it does. Events = trainings and sporting matches, maybe watching other games of your chosen sport. Hobbies will give you something to do. Think about it – take up sailing during the days, maybe birdwatching or something that will eat up a whole day. Or take up mountain biking, some of the best tracks in Aus here. Or Motorcycling, plenty of nice roads in the area. Or a musical instrument – join a band. Just from these examples there are plenty of places for you to go, and events for you to attend. And they also provide further social opportunities.

Drzaius said :

If I’m bored at 9 or 10pm on a weekday there’s nothing to do. Most cafes and restaurants are closed or closing, all movie sessions end at 9:30pm and to my knowledge there’s no other options at night in Canberra that don’t involve putting up with a lot of drunk people.

Social lives don’t close like shops do. So do what everyone else at uni does on weeknights – go hang out with some mates.

Drzaius said :

Maybe your College friends have only been here for a couple of years and unlike many long-term residents I know, aren’t sick of this place yet.

Maybe they might get sick, but many of the long-term residents I know (myself included) seem not to bitch and moan about Canberra and never seem to be bored.

Once again I’ll refer to an earlier post – there is a problem with the person not the city. If you want something more, then move along, get your quality education in another city and enjoy all the 24 hour coffee and movies you want.

Drzaius2:30 pm 29 May 10

@J Dawg ANU is the highest ranked university in the Southern Hemisphere, which is why myself and many people want their degree from there. I got a good enough UAI to get into said university so personal attacks about my performance at school are not necessary. I lived in Canberra for 10 years before I finished College so it is logical to go to ANU and not Sydney etc.

An objective argument from your side would be a bit easier to swallow, especially considering you don’t know anything about me and are assuming that I don’t have any hobbies or sports to play. Putting forward the argument that I need a hobby or sport isn’t exactly responding to the topic anyway. Having a hobby and sport indeed provides something to do at certain times of some days but it doesn’t provide more places or events to go to. If I’m bored at 9 or 10pm on a weekday there’s nothing to do. Most cafes and restaurants are closed or closing, all movie sessions end at 9:30pm and to my knowledge there’s no other options at night in Canberra that don’t involve putting up with a lot of drunk people. The only place that sells coffee in Belconnen after 4pm is McDonalds!

Maybe your College friends have only been here for a couple of years and unlike many long-term residents I know, aren’t sick of this place yet. We did every tourist thing there is to do about a million times throughout High School and College; the Gallery etc. We are thoroughly sick of having no options for things to do at night (maybe some of my points allude to the reasons why binge drinking is so big in Canberra?). It’s annoying having to drive to Sydney for decent festivals and concerts all the time. The ANU and Transit bars only have a band we’re interested in about once a month or so.

My experiences of Canberra are that it’s not a real city so I tend to agree with Pommy Bastard. I don’t know if many people on this thread have been overseas but Canberra is an absolute ghost town compared to real cities. I’ve had foreign exchange students here tell me that there’s ‘no people’ and they find it really inconvenient that they have to wait for so long for public transport (as opposed to their capitals where you can get on the light rail every 2 minutes). I realise that there’s no population density here for such a system but doesn’t therein lye the problem? Canberra’s ranked 26 on a poll that compares it to cities that DO have such amazing transport systems and host big events etc.?

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johnboy4:31 pm 29 May 10

Ahh, belconnen. there’s the problem.

Outer suburbs of most cities suck balls.

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Woody Mann-Caruso1:02 pm 29 May 10

drzaius – what is it exactly you crave in other cities that you don’t get here? Let’s get specific. What is it exactly that you want to do that you (claim) can’t be done in Canberra?

trevar9:18 am 28 May 10

Pommy bastard said :

Seriously though, Canberra’s not a “CITY” city is it? Don’t get me wrong, I love the place, but I do not consider it a major city.

Actually, I would argue the opposite. When we say ‘Sydney’, for instance, we usually refer to the urban development of the entire Sydney basin, bounded by the coast on the east, the Hawkesbury on the north, the Mountains on the west, and the Nepean and Royal National Park on the south. In this area there are eleven cities. Places like Sydney and Melbourne are conglomerations of politically independent cities; they are metropolises, not cities. In Australia, because we have fewer independent cities than we have metropolises, we have this inclination to not think of them as big cities. On the international stage, though, Canberra is a pretty average size city, and out of the 80 or so cities in Australia, Canberra sits in the middle of the list for size.

Mercer’s list of cities includes a fair number of cities smaller than Canberra, but only a few metropolises. The exclusion of some of Australia’s best cities like Albury-Wodonga and Toowoomba has also probably skewed the results, as they’d probably both beat Canberra on many factors. Mercer’s list of factors influencing their decision is comprehensive enough, but it doesn’t say what is valued, or how it’s measured, and there are things like ‘climate’ that really can’t be objectively measured. Some people like Sydney’s climate, but I can’t stand the humidity in Summer or the cold (combined with unheated houses!) in Winter. Cultural things like Sydneysiders’ reluctance to heat their houses is not considered, and it would be impossible to measure. So, I think Mercer’s attempt to objectify the subjective is a massive failure, but it doesn’t matter much, as the quality of living scores in the top 50 cities are all within 8 points of each other.

In all, this is a measurement of Mercer’s own staff’s preferences for city living, and while it’s nice to know which cities they like best, it’s interesting to note that their head office is not in the city that came out on top; so if their CEO or board or whatever keeps their head office in the USA doesn’t actually want to live in the city that they ranked at the top of the list, how good can the list be?

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