2 December 2011

Canberra v. Dublin?

| workexpboy
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Canberra and Dublin have taken out shared honours in the Mercer 2011 Quality of Living Survey.

Both cities shared 26th place in the survey.

Our all-seeing eye has come across politics.ie, where the topic of Canberra v Dublin has come up.

The original poster “gracethepirate” is of the opinion that Canberra is an Eden adorned with deep blue skies, filled with birds and often no clouds.

She begged the question: how can Dublin match this?

Predictably the comments that followed were a large array of Canberra bashers.

One poster, “meriwether,” commented that Lake Burley Griffin was a facility to commit suicide.

Our favourite comment, again by “gracethepirate” was a retort to the previous comment:

The suicide rate in Canberra is 9.7 per 100,000 population while in Dublin it is around 15.75 per 100,000.

[Photo by Sean MacEntee CC BY]

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I’m more worried about coming below Oslo in the Personal Safety Ranking for this year…

MrPC said :

davo101 said :

I can’t see a category where Canberra would not be at least equal if not better than Sydney. Any guesses as to which ones we failed at?

I have to drive to Sydney for the third time in a month next week for yet another doctors appointment, because specialist medical services in Canberra are rather nonexistent.

We also have no affordable housing, shitty public transport, no fast rail to the big smoke, no direct flights to anywhere you would want to go that isn’t within driving range, and our restaurants and entertainment options are rather lacking.

Sydney is still shithole!

Jethro said :

How Sydney would come in as Australia’s most liveable city is beyond me.

More to the point; how did Auckland come 3rd in the world? It’s just a scaled down version of Sydney, with an economy that’s going down the drain and a much larger racial problem.

Sydney’s a poo hole. Traffic, noise, distances, it all sucks.

Canberra’s a lot quieter, but a great place to raise a family. Especially if you have a few bucks.

dtc said :

There are cities that are fantastic to live in if you are moderately to very wealthy (and, preferably, not really into outdoor sports). Like Hong Kong or New York. But they can be terrible if you cant afford a large apartment or a central location.

Yep. I’d live in Sydney if I had a nice place somewhere on the waterfront with my own helicopter and helipad. Other than that, give me Canberra any day. 🙂

fromthecapital12:48 pm 02 Dec 11

MrPC said :

fromthecapital said :

Because… life is more livable in Canberra…

Because when TSHTF you are stuck where you already are, and you then just hope you can manage and that the services you need are nearby or at least vaguely accessible. That’s the real measure of a city. Day to day livability is far less important than emergency and occasional services that you never thought you’d ever need.

This study isn’t solely about health services. If things are that bad though I am sure you can probably get up there for some interviews while there for medical appointments.

There are cities that are fantastic to live in if you are moderately to very wealthy (and, preferably, not really into outdoor sports). Like Hong Kong or New York. But they can be terrible if you cant afford a large apartment or a central location.

Whereas I have to say that while Canberra’s house prices are a bit ridiculous, it doesnt matter all that much where you live, you still get a good lifestyle. Obviously there are things that Canberra does not have which bigger cities have (or does not have as many of) but there are tradeoffs. Like being able to drop your kids at childcare/school and be at work 10 minutes later.

Sydney is a dump. Walking around the CBD is not energising (as it is in many large cities), its just depressing. Grey soot and chewing gum coated buildings/footpaths, crappy architecture, the works.

We did beat Brisbane though, so the naysayers would claim weather isn’t a factor.

The main issue I see is some people like apartment inner city living with lots of traffic etc. Others like Canberrans like the more open spaces. Cost wise Canberra used to be cheap, but far from it now.

Having lived in Sydney, Canberra and by way of another comparison, London, I can categorically say I would not go back to Sydney or London unless I didn’t have to work and had a house somewhere else that I could go when it all got too much.

It’s funny…the majority of people who come and visit us in Canberra absolutely love it and I would hazard a guess, feel jealous at what we have available to us. However it doesn’t mean that they will upsticks and move. There are a few I know who look down on living in Canberra – but can’t say they are the people I want living that close….family mostly!

How Sydney would come in as Australia’s most liveable city is beyond me.

Apart from the Gold Coast, it is the ast city in Australia I would ever choose to live.

davo101 said :

I’m sorry. I can’t take a quality of living survey that puts Sydney at 11th and Canberra at 26th. I’ve lived in both and can tell you that’s BS.

This.

fromthecapital said :

Because… life is more livable in Canberra…

Because when TSHTF you are stuck where you already are, and you then just hope you can manage and that the services you need are nearby or at least vaguely accessible. That’s the real measure of a city. Day to day livability is far less important than emergency and occasional services that you never thought you’d ever need.

But even if the two cities were comparable, Dublin will always lose, as long as Knackers reside there.

I’ve lived in both and comparing them directly is just silly. They are just too different.

fromthecapital11:39 am 02 Dec 11

MrPC said :

KB1971 said :

Move to Sydney then……….

I didn’t choose to get a serious spinal condition, and I sure as heck don’t feel up to packing up my stuff, or giving up a very flexible APS job, and trying my luck as an unemployed disabled 30 year old in Sydney.

Because… life is more livable in Canberra…

MrPC said :

I have to drive to Sydney for the third time in a month next week for yet another doctors appointment, because specialist medical services in Canberra are rather nonexistent.

Agreed. So that’s 1 out of 39 categories.

MrPC said :

We also have no affordable housing, shitty public transport, no fast rail to the big smoke, no direct flights to anywhere you would want to go that isn’t within driving range, and our restaurants and entertainment options are rather lacking.

Housing is affordable in Sydney? Granted there are pockets of Sydney where housing is cheap, but it’s cheap for a reason–you wouldn’t want to live there.

Shitty public transport–I take it you’ve never lived in Sydney and had to use public transport then?

Fast rail–not one of the criteria.

Airport–fair enough, no international flights. That’s 2 out of 39.

Restaurants and entertainment options–have a look at the criteria they used. Canberra would have more restaurants, cinemas, and theatrical performances, per capita, than Sydney, and they’re much easier to use here as it takes far less travel time to get to them. As for sports, we cane Sydney in that category.

KB1971 said :

Move to Sydney then……….

I didn’t choose to get a serious spinal condition, and I sure as heck don’t feel up to packing up my stuff, or giving up a very flexible APS job, and trying my luck as an unemployed disabled 30 year old in Sydney.

MrPC said :

davo101 said :

I can’t see a category where Canberra would not be at least equal if not better than Sydney. Any guesses as to which ones we failed at?

I have to drive to Sydney for the third time in a month next week for yet another doctors appointment, because specialist medical services in Canberra are rather nonexistent.

We also have no affordable housing, shitty public transport, no fast rail to the big smoke, no direct flights to anywhere you would want to go that isn’t within driving range, and our restaurants and entertainment options are rather lacking.

Move to Sydney then……….

davo101 said :

I can’t see a category where Canberra would not be at least equal if not better than Sydney. Any guesses as to which ones we failed at?

I have to drive to Sydney for the third time in a month next week for yet another doctors appointment, because specialist medical services in Canberra are rather nonexistent.

We also have no affordable housing, shitty public transport, no fast rail to the big smoke, no direct flights to anywhere you would want to go that isn’t within driving range, and our restaurants and entertainment options are rather lacking.

I’m sorry. I can’t take a quality of living survey that puts Sydney at 11th and Canberra at 26th. I’ve lived in both and can tell you that’s BS. The index is supposed to be based on objective, neutral and unbiased criteria. Have a look at the list; I can’t see a category where Canberra would not be at least equal if not better than Sydney. Any guesses as to which ones we failed at?

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