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Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Old Aug 20th 2015, 6:01 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Melbourne is a fabulous place to live, took a while to grow on me but I can totally see why it would be #1.

Having also lived in Auckland, Vancouver and Calgary I would say:

- Auckland shouldn't be on there due to just being incredibly dull.
- Vancouver shouldn't due to the ridiculous property prices v.s. salary ratio, such that many people were spending 50% of their net salary on rent / mortgages (at least Melbourne has good salaries to compensate).
- Calgary winters really suck and it's also a pretty dull city with poor restaurants, although it does have the national parks an hour away.

Last edited by Cubiscus; Aug 20th 2015 at 6:04 pm.
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Old Aug 21st 2015, 4:41 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by OzTennis
Each to their own of course. I see you were 'dragged from Singapore to SP' and you give Singapore the only yes. I've been there quite a number of times as well and it is either a 'nope' or 'just staying short-term' for me.
Which is precisely why such lists are silly. It's like saying 'best cars in the world' and lumping every single vehicle in the world into one long list regardless of category.


Originally Posted by OzTennis
Your top 10 destinations are?
Don't really have one. But I would put the UK in my personal Top 10 quite easily. I haven't been to Dublin but have heard good things (apart from the climate). Vienna oddly seems to be missing from the Euro list though it's a very interesting city. Climate-wise Malta is definitely up there in my Top 10 with the best weather in the EU (not counting EU territories in the Caribbean or off of Africa - which are integral parts of France). Maybe parts of Spain would be nice, or France? Sure beats Norway or Denmark for me...

Can imagine a few places in the Far East as well, but it all depends on so many factors like moving permanently vs semi-long-term but with no intention of staying indefinitely.
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Old Aug 21st 2015, 8:04 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by astera
Which is precisely why such lists are silly. It's like saying 'best cars in the world' and lumping every single vehicle in the world into one long list regardless of category.




Don't really have one. But I would put the UK in my personal Top 10 quite easily. I haven't been to Dublin but have heard good things (apart from the climate). Vienna oddly seems to be missing from the Euro list though it's a very interesting city. Climate-wise Malta is definitely up there in my Top 10 with the best weather in the EU (not counting EU territories in the Caribbean or off of Africa - which are integral parts of France). Maybe parts of Spain would be nice, or France? Sure beats Norway or Denmark for me...

Can imagine a few places in the Far East as well, but it all depends on so many factors like moving permanently vs semi-long-term but with no intention of staying indefinitely.
And once it's voted best car, the price goes up. I really don't know why people are so focused on these lists and at the end of the day we all have different tastes. What's the point of being in Melbourne if you have a crappy job and long working hours, but I'm sure it's great if the job is perfect and pays well. Dublin is not a bad place to be either and depends on the area and individual + actually has fewer rainy days and less rainfall compared to Auckland. Personally I wouldn't see the benefit of better weather, if you're stuck in a tiny apartment and have no time or garden to enjoy the weather. Vienna or Dublin, it's easy enough to fly to Barcelona from both locations and in general the whole of Europe is close. Salaries aren't great in Spain/Portugal/Italy, so many people would actually prefer to live in Northern Europe and just go South for short breaks, be it holiday home or hotel.
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Old Aug 21st 2015, 8:15 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by OzTennis
To be fair the EIU is in the business of quantifying things and selling the reports. You are probably referring to the UN Human Development Index rather than 'highest standard of living'. Standard of Living is one thing included in the HDI along with life expectancy, education, literacy and quality of life.

Most not the sort of places anyone would want to move to??

1 Norway 2 Australia 3 Switzerland 4 Netherlands 5 USA 6 Germany 7 New Zealand 8 Canada 9 Singapore 10 Denmark
HDI is measured using per capita income, life expectancy and education only - although it is pretty self explanatory that quality of life could be deducted from those factors

Australia has been 2nd on the list - and steadily rising - since 2009

From my recent economics studies I reckon that HDI is a powerful measure of a country's well-being - you only have to look at the top - and bottom - 20 to realise this
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Old Aug 21st 2015, 11:16 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by Amazulu
HDI is measured using per capita income, life expectancy and education only - although it is pretty self explanatory that quality of life could be deducted from those factors
There's a little bit more to it than that. For instance I would look at purchasing power rather than just pure per capital income. Also, how much of that pay actually stays in your pocket, because in places like Denmark you could end up giving away 60% before you see your cash.

And what about spending your money and enjoying life? I mean you can live on an oil rig and get huge pay, but it doesn't mean life is going to be great there. Same if you're in a dull place that doesn't rock your boat.

Life expectancy only makes a difference when you look at countries with low standards where sanitation and medical services are a major drawback - if we are talking about the developed world then I wouldn't even use this as a factor. For instance if Americans eat junk all the time and the Japs eat good food and are healthier as a result, how is that important in my case?

What about rights and freedoms, and what about... the climate? If Greenland had great schools, good wages and people seemed to live long because all they had was fish, would it be the #1 place to live in the world?
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Old Aug 22nd 2015, 6:38 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by astera
There's a little bit more to it than that. For instance I would look at purchasing power rather than just pure per capital income. Also, how much of that pay actually stays in your pocket, because in places like Denmark you could end up giving away 60% before you see your cash.

And what about spending your money and enjoying life? I mean you can live on an oil rig and get huge pay, but it doesn't mean life is going to be great there. Same if you're in a dull place that doesn't rock your boat.

Life expectancy only makes a difference when you look at countries with low standards where sanitation and medical services are a major drawback - if we are talking about the developed world then I wouldn't even use this as a factor. For instance if Americans eat junk all the time and the Japs eat good food and are healthier as a result, how is that important in my case?

What about rights and freedoms, and what about... the climate? If Greenland had great schools, good wages and people seemed to live long because all they had was fish, would it be the #1 place to live in the world?
HDI is measured by the 3 factors that I listed only

If you want to use other aspects like PPP then there are other methods that you can look at
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Old Aug 22nd 2015, 7:49 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by Amazulu
HDI is measured using per capita income, life expectancy and education only - although it is pretty self explanatory that quality of life could be deducted from those factors

Australia has been 2nd on the list - and steadily rising - since 2009

From my recent economics studies I reckon that HDI is a powerful measure of a country's well-being - you only have to look at the top - and bottom - 20 to realise this
From my teaching viewpoint I also agree with you that HDI (or anything which includes things along with 'standard of living', real GDP per capita in the same currency or whatever) is a better measure.

Of course, as others point out it is a subjective thing. Even the terms liveability, quality of life and so on mean diffferent things to different people.

There's no right or wrong, no definitive measure and at the end of the day a combination of subjective and objective criteria.
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Old Aug 25th 2015, 10:10 pm
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Old Aug 26th 2015, 12:14 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Dude should get a job
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Old Aug 26th 2015, 9:26 am
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Great cartoon!

On a more serious note, there are actually real people who think that even the climate in Melbourne is just mega-turbo-fantastic... and way superior to the Gold Coast.
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Old Aug 26th 2015, 1:15 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by astera
Great cartoon!

On a more serious note, there are actually real people who think that even the climate in Melbourne is just mega-turbo-fantastic... and way superior to the Gold Coast.
It would be a funny old world if we all looked for the same thing in weather surely?

In a similar vein to the cartoon on Sydney vs Melbourne; recently the Victorian Premier launched the new Victorian logo. The NSW Premier took the time to troll the logo on his Twitter account in a pretty feeble attempt to point score. He said * offer excludes harbour, infrastructure and sunshine.



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Old Aug 26th 2015, 9:43 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by OzTennis
In a similar vein to the cartoon on Sydney vs Melbourne; recently the Victorian Premier launched the new Victorian logo. The NSW Premier took the time to troll the logo on his Twitter account in a pretty feeble attempt to point score. He said * offer excludes harbour, infrastructure and sunshine.
Lol, that's funny actually. I get that Melbourne will always play second fiddle to Sydney and will never be that globally-recognised city with the beautiful harbour and all, but taking a dig at infrastructure? What is that about?
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Old Aug 26th 2015, 10:55 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by astera
but taking a dig at infrastructure? What is that about?
Local state governments tend to fixate on infrastructure - haven't you noticed?

The big bucks get spent on infrastructure projects; it's what they try to hang their hats on. Rather than it just being what they should be doing as they pump growth into their capital cities.

Thus NSW premier has to trumpet his infrastructure credentials in the same way he might claim to have a big cock. I'm sure if questioned on it he would refer to roadbuilding and a new airport.
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Old Aug 26th 2015, 11:04 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Yeah, we hear a lot about it here as well with pressure to move forward with stage two of the light rail project in the Gold Coast.

But is Melbourne's infrastructure really bad? Seems risky to take a dig at that if the Victorian Premier could come back with some proper stats and slam Sydney for traffic jams, etc.
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Old Aug 26th 2015, 11:34 pm
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Default Re: Melbourne worlds most liveable city for 5th year in a row.

Originally Posted by astera
Yeah, we hear a lot about it here as well with pressure to move forward with stage two of the light rail project in the Gold Coast.

But is Melbourne's infrastructure really bad? Seems risky to take a dig at that if the Victorian Premier could come back with some proper stats and slam Sydney for traffic jams, etc.
The cock metaphor continues to serve. Of course neither will admit that the other might be bigger (better), and it all depends on how you measure anyway. NSW will talk roads (like a good little 'lib'eral minion) and VIC will talk public transport.

The reality is you need to talk the totality of the city/state as system - which neither of them is wonderful at (still not sure how Melbourne cons the 'most liveable city year after year).
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