The World's Best Places to Live 2008

BusinessWeek has a new ranking of the best cities to live in around the world based upon on 39 key quality-of-life issues. Ranking number 4 this year is perhaps my favorite city in the world all things considered: Vancouver, British Columbia. The setting of the city is physically beauty and it is cosmopolitan and progressive, with a feel that is a mix of an American city and that of a European capital. I loved it, as did my son when I took him there back in 2004. What is amazing (or depressing depending upon one's view) is that the Hampton Roads area of Virginia has a similar population as the greater Vancouver area, but we are so backwards and lacking in progressive thinking. Pat Robertson and the loonies that he panders to definitely are an obstacle to this area's emergence as a first class metropolitan area. Hopefully, in time HRBOR and other progressive organizations can do some good in changing the area's image. Believe me, if I could find a nice Vancouver guy to sweep me off my feet and marry me, I'd relocate in a heart beat. A full listin og cities can be found at the link. Here are a few story highlights:

*

What foreign postings are most coveted by expatriate executives? To find out, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which provides advice to multinational companies on international assignments, has come up with a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. They include political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing, the environment and public safety. Mercer . . . considered 215 cities around the globe. Switzerland's main commercial and cultural center, Zurich, topped the list this year, followed by Geneva, and Vancouver and Vienna, which tied for third.

*

No. 3: Vancouver, Canada
Mercer score: 107.6

2007 rank: No. 3

GDP: $1.274 trillion (2007 est.)

Population: 33,212,696 (total country);

560,000 (total city)

Life expectancy: 81.16 years