27 May 2010

Canberra makes it to 26 most livable city in the world

| johnboy
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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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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

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.

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?

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.

@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.?

Ahh, belconnen. there’s the problem.

Outer suburbs of most cities suck balls.

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?

moneypenny261212:47 pm 29 May 10

Ceej1973 said :

Adelaide ahead of Canberra in the Eco results ! They must have really really good rail and traffic solutions (that is true) in order to make up for the water score. Last I heard, they were fairly low on water (availability), and the last few times I were there and from acqaintances experiences, thier water tastes(potability)like crap!

I believe Adelaide gets brownie points for things like efficient water usage (such as storm water usage), and waste disposal – the 10 cent bottle deposit scheme counts for something plus most local councils offer extensive garden waste collection services. Public transport is now pretty good there too (my parents live in the Adelaide equivalent of Weston Creek – I can get from there to the CBD by bus in half an hour, and the buses are reasonably frequent).

Curiously, you read the SA Premier’s media releases about the Mercer survey and they look suspiciously like the ones coming out of Stanhopia. And apparently more people in Adelaide cycle to work than here. This surprises me a bit.

http://www.ministers.sa.gov.au/images/stories/mediareleasesMAY10/adelaide%20top%20of%20the%20eco%20pops.pdf

Drzaius said :

I live here because I want my degree from ANU. If ANU were located elsewhere I would not be in Canberra.

Read: “My TER wasn’t good enough for Sydney Uni or Melbourne Uni, now I have a grudge against Canberra because of that.” Seen and heard it before.

Drzaius said :

I went to the Multicultural Festival this year, expecting it to be really good and interesting because it was the first event here in ages and when I got there at about 9pm there were say 200 people there. It was bizarre.

That’s because you went at 9pm, maybe if you went in the afternoon you would’ve found the thousands of people you crave so much for. I was there in the afternoon (3-5ish) and it was so packed I couldn’t move. A lot more than 200 people there!
As for it being the “first event here in ages”, maybe getting out from under your rock would help you see there is more to do, you just have to look a bit harder than mainstream advertising (especially for students).

Drzaius said :

Tell me you’ve never heard someone say ‘it’s a good place to raise kids’?! Well what about all the people without kids?!

That’s who I’m representing.

Well I’m at ANU, I don’t have kids, so I’m representing that demographic too, and I think this is an great city. I stand by my comments before: you need a better social life, better hobbies, or play some sport. The problem is on your end, don’t blame the city for it.
The funny thing is that nearly every person I’ve spoken to who live in Colleges at ANU (nearly all have been from Sydney too for some reason) absolutely love it here. Maybe you should find out what you are doing wrong, because they don’t have the same attitude.

Adelaide ahead of Canberra in the Eco results ! They must have really really good rail and traffic solutions (that is true) in order to make up for the water score. Last I heard, they were fairly low on water (availability), and the last few times I were there and from acqaintances experiences, thier water tastes(potability)like crap!

I live here because I want my degree from ANU. If ANU were located elsewhere I would not be in Canberra. I don’t know what the big deal is about my comment. I know many people who grew up in Canberra who have either left as soon as possible after finishing study or are currently desperate to leave but have study commitments. It’s the norm in my experience for people to go to Sydney for better job/lifestyle opportunities. Those who don’t leave and simply become public servants are seen to be unsuccessful.

I went to the Multicultural Festival this year, expecting it to be really good and interesting because it was the first event here in ages and when I got there at about 9pm there were say 200 people there. It was bizarre. If a multicultural festival were on in any other city there’d be thousands of people there. In any other city there are multiple unique markets on every weekend but here there’s the Bus Depot, which is the same every week. One word: boring. It’s fine if you don’t agree with me on these particular issues but I guess I’d like to point out that as a ‘city’, Canberra should really accommodate for a larger demographic of citizens. Tell me you’ve never heard someone say ‘it’s a good place to raise kids’?! Well what about all the people without kids?! That’s who I’m representing.

Drzaius said :

I really don’t understand how Canberra was ranked so high. Maybe if they actually interviewed some residents instead of just looking at stats they would realise that there is absolutely nothing to do here. Who cares about trees when it’s so miserable 8 months of the year you don’t want to go outside! Not to mention that much of the city and Inner North is inhabited by welfare recipients. Driving into the city from Sydney is an embarrassment…all those clothes hanging on balconies… I could go on for a while.

Why then, do you live here????

BimboGeek said :

This makes so much more sense than the “light rail up Northbourne Av” that is often discussed.

It depends. Comparing a tourist tram to a light rail line up Northbourne is really like comparing apples with oranges. One would essentially be a tourist attraction, whilst the other would be commuter transport.

clp said :

Oh and there needs to be a free tram circuit around Barton for tourists

+ a hundred!!

The tourist loop should go down through Parkes, up into Barton, maybe even up to Kingston and Manuka. Then run it over Commonwealth Bridge to Civic. This makes so much more sense than the “light rail up Northbourne Av” that is often discussed.

Although… given the roadworks at the top of Kings Bridge, the congestion on Northbourne Av and the complete drama of Glenloch, I’m starting to think that a completely new dedicated infrastructure is going to be the only way of actually getting anywhere on time.

trevar said :

Places like Sydney and Melbourne are conglomerations of politically independent cities; they are metropolises, not cities.

I’ve always found the distinction to be quite interesting.

A somewhat off topic bit of information, but unlike the Sydney metropolitan area (which i believe contains the City of Sydney), there is actually no City of Tokyo within the Tokyo metropolitan area. Strictly speaking, the city of Tokyo does not exist, which is kind of funny given that in broader terms Tokyo is the largest city in the world.

kambahkrawler11:32 am 28 May 10

Someone at Mercer’s has obviously been playing with a map and found us.

And Belconnen is the best part of Canberra!! Except for the Westfield which is a disaster.

It amuses me that all the press have missed the point that the survey is NOT ‘where is the best place to live’; it a survey asking ‘in comparison to New York, is this place somewhere you should pay someone more (in allowances etc) to live if you send them to work in that city’.

Mercer advise on executive salaries – so saying someone should get a higher hardship allowance to live in, say, Manila (or a higher allowance to cope with the costs of Hong Kong) than they should get to live in Auckland or Sydney is hardly suprising.

And it doesnt mean Auckland is a more enjoyable place to live than Hong Kong. It just means you don’t need to pay someone more to live in Auckland, because (for example) they don’t need monetary compesation for political risk or the weather or housing prices or transport costs (over and above comparing it to New York).

Which is why all those cities in stable westernised countries all score pretty much the same. The 8 points difference between the top 50 cities is pretty marginal, especially given that some cities are 85 points less than the benchmark.

Drzaius said :

I really don’t understand how Canberra was ranked so high. Maybe if they actually interviewed some residents instead of just looking at stats they would realise that there is absolutely nothing to do here. Who cares about trees when it’s so miserable 8 months of the year you don’t want to go outside! Not to mention that much of the city and Inner North is inhabited by welfare recipients. Driving into the city from Sydney is an embarrassment…all those clothes hanging on balconies… I could go on for a while.

wow..I moved here from Darwin (lived there for 35 years) Canberra rocks compared that hole. After waking up to 30+ degrees (whats the weather today ‘hot’, wonder whats tomorrow ‘hot’ )everyday one appreciates the different seasons.

and as Billy Connelly says ” There is no such thing as bad weather,just the wrong clothes”

😛

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?

Holden Caulfield1:17 am 28 May 10

Some pretty compelling reasons listed here, haha:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_eUsP5510U

Adelaide has light rail. Canberra rates ahead of Adelaide. So if Canberra builds light rail…….?

Any survey which rates Sydney as more liveable than Canberra or Adelaide is ridiculous. Being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic to go somewhere on the weekend isn’t living its hanging out in your car.

Oh and there needs to be a free tram circuit around Barton for tourists

Drzaius said :

Maybe if they actually interviewed some residents instead of just looking at stats they would realise that there is absolutely nothing to do here.

I think that reflects more the person than the place.

BTW – looking at the stats, there is plenty to do here. Go find it.

Drzaius said :

Who cares about trees when it’s so miserable 8 months of the year you don’t want to go outside!

Because some of us venture outside of our homes for a lot more than just the weather. Maybe because of friends, hobbies, sports, just to name a few. Maybe you should try some of them, it might help you get over it.

I think the saddest thing is that you are living in a place which you hate. Why live somewhere you hate? Aren’t you wasting your life? Think about it.

Drzaius said :

I really don’t understand how Canberra was ranked so high. Maybe if they actually interviewed some residents instead of just looking at stats they would realise that there is absolutely nothing to do here. Who cares about trees when it’s so miserable 8 months of the year you don’t want to go outside! Not to mention that much of the city and Inner North is inhabited by welfare recipients. Driving into the city from Sydney is an embarrassment…all those clothes hanging on balconies… I could go on for a while.

There’s always one thing you can do, and that’s piss off.

Commuting from the Western Suburbs of Sydney is livable?

Drzaius said :

I really don’t understand how Canberra was ranked so high. Maybe if they actually interviewed some residents instead of just looking at stats they would realise that there is absolutely nothing to do here. Who cares about trees when it’s so miserable 8 months of the year you don’t want to go outside! Not to mention that much of the city and Inner North is inhabited by welfare recipients. Driving into the city from Sydney is an embarrassment…all those clothes hanging on balconies… I could go on for a while.

Please do, you sound as if you do regularly anyway.

If it ails you so, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out

I really don’t understand how Canberra was ranked so high. Maybe if they actually interviewed some residents instead of just looking at stats they would realise that there is absolutely nothing to do here. Who cares about trees when it’s so miserable 8 months of the year you don’t want to go outside! Not to mention that much of the city and Inner North is inhabited by welfare recipients. Driving into the city from Sydney is an embarrassment…all those clothes hanging on balconies… I could go on for a while.

Actually that would also explain why New York, the business hub of the world, is used as the benchmark.

It is probably worthwhile pointing out that according to the publisher of the survey, Mercer, “quality of living” refers to “the degree to which expatriates enjoy the potential standard of living in the host location”.

Mercer is a human resource consulting firm, so it looks to me as though the survey is primarily designed to inform multinational corporations on the best places to do business (Which would explain why Sydney, an Alpha world city in a stable western democracy with good access to the rapidly growing region of south east Asia, ranks highly).

It is probably not a very representative measure of quality of life unless you are an expatriate.

This survey puts us well ahead of other Australian cities such as Brisbane, Hobart and Adelaide.

Doesn’t that count as “damning with faint praise”? 😉

Clown Killer5:42 pm 27 May 10

The lack of ability of the courts to convict people for serious crimes would definitely have had an impact

For sure it would have helped. If the criteria for crime rate was assessed on the number of convictions per 1000 residents then Canberra (statistically speaking) would have an extremely low crime rate – pushing us a couple of rungs up the ladder.

georgesgenitals5:11 pm 27 May 10

I live in the best street, in the best suburb. of the best city, of the best state, of the best country, of the best planet, dammit.

I smell something foul (and it’s not one of the lakes)…

The lack of ability of the courts to convict people for serious crimes would definitely have had an impact. I’m thinking someone in the ACT Gov’t has seen the movie “Hot Fuzz” one too many times and decided that the movie plot could work out in real life.

I’ll also hazard a guess that by *real* city standards, Canberra’s lack of proper public transportation is offset by its lack of traffic congestion.

And a further guess would be that Canberra’s abundance of trees (and a pounding of “bush capital” into the heads of those evaluating the city) would offset the record of natural disasters.

Ahhh the (potential, yet speculative) irony…

Pommy bastard4:36 pm 27 May 10

gingermick said :

And where, pray tell, did Queanbeyan rate?

Above Bangui. (Just)

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.

And where, pray tell, did Queanbeyan rate?

I didn’t think they had a category for gratuitous statues…

I’m with Johnboy – bring on the light rail!

la mente torbida4:14 pm 27 May 10

Yeah, and I believe any list that rates Sydney in the top 10

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