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VIENNA—THE MOST LIVABLE CITY IN THE WORLD PART 1
“FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, VIENNA has been named the most livable city in the world, Sara Kuta writes in Smithsonian magazine, June 27, 2023: “The Austrian capital earned the top spot on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking because of its stability, its robust health care and education systems and its strong infrastructure, among other factors.”
Here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow are tidbits gleaned from Smithsonian as well as from two of my Badaeker’s.
Indeed, Vienna also earned the number-one ranking in 2018 and 2019. “The city,” says Kuta, “has one downside—a ‘relative lack’ of major sporting events, per a statement from the EIU—but otherwise, life in Vienna is top-notch.”
The EIU’s Criteria. Kuta describes, “Founded in 1946, the EIU is a part of the Economist Group (the publisher of the Economist newspaper) specializing in research and analysis. Every year, the group studies 173 cities worldwide to help quantify the ‘challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle’ in those locales.…The group’s researchers analyze several factors to calculate a livability score: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.”
This Year’s Top Ten. EIU’s rankings are 1. Vienna, Austria; 2. Copenhagen, Denmark; 3. Melbourne, Australia; 4. Sydney, Australia; 5. Vancouver, Canada; 6. Zurich, Switzerland; 7. Calgary, Canada, and Geneva, Switzerland (tie); 9. Toronto, Canada, and 10. Osaka, Japan, and Auckland, New Zealand (tie).
Kuta writes, “Across the board, living conditions seem to be improving: The EIU’s average livability score reached a 15-year high this year at 76.2 out of 100, compared to 73.2 last year. Improvements to health care are largely driving these gains, followed by education, culture and entertainment and infrastructure.… On average, stability experienced a ‘marginal decline’ because of increasing costs of living, crime and ongoing civil unrest in some places, per the EIU.”
U.S. Rankings. “Two American cities—San Diego and Los Angeles—tumbled in the rankings this year. San Diego is now in 61st place and Los Angeles is 57th place, both down 17 spots compared to last year,” Kuta observes. She cites the EIU about these and other cities moving lower: They “have not seen a particularly sharp decline in their index scores, but they have failed to make the gains that many other cities have made in the past year.”
“Honolulu, Hawaii,” Kuta notes, “was the top American destination on the list. At 25th place, the city jumped six spots compared to last year.”
Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll travel back to old Austria, by way of Baedeker’s 1905 and 1929. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023
Simanaitis Says 
Vienna’s “one downside” Kuta mentions is surely anything but. In an early ’90s TIME Magazine cover feature, notable Americans were asked what most needed to be changed about the US. John Updike’s reply was “less sports.”
I’ve lived in Vienna for 30 years, and fully support this ranking. Both my wife and I came and met here after living in multiple cities in the US and Europe (respectively). I’ve lived in a couple of other cities in Europe, but only part-time.
Vienna has everything to make life nice, as long as you’re not looking to be the next Musk or Bezos. It is not legal to exploit your workers like they do. As I’ve said many times, “It is hard to get really rich here, but it is also hard to get really poor here.”
You can get wealthy, no doubt, but not obscenely wealthy. My employees are all well paid (everyone has a collectively bargained work contract), 5 weeks of paid vacation (+ 13 state holidays/yr), pretty much unlimited sick days, full health care, pension, severance pay, etc., etc.
Gov’t services are awesome. Lots of parks. For those who like it, two very popular city soccer teams with a long rivalry. There is even American football (The Vienna Vikings).
Where I live is a “15-minute walkable city” or whatever the term is.
Yes, you will pay more in taxes for the same income in the US. But all in all, a middle-class to upper-middle-class life is much cheaper here. My wife got her bachelor’s degree, our son is finishing his master’s. The cost is a couple of hundred Euros /yr. I had two semi-emergency eye operations last year (detached retina x2), and my out-of-pocket expense for each, including a couple of days in the hospital was €39 (per operation). I had a double hernia operation a few years ago: €14.65 (why such a uneven sum I have no idea!).
People that don’t earn so much can get really nice gov’t subsidized housing.
I could go on for hours about why I like it here, particularly all the social services/advantages.
I came here by chance, not planning to stay. I was VERY lucky in that sense. Of course Vienna is not perfect, but it is VERY livable.
Jack, I thought of your regular readership when I read The EIU news. It’s good to have its ranking confirmed firsthand.
Vienna also won the Mercer “Quality of Living” award 10 years in a row.
https://mobilityexchange.mercer.com/Insights/quality-of-living-rankings
We have been visiting Vienna several times a year for about two decades. I truly cherish our time there, especially the festive atmosphere during the Christmas season. It’s hard for me to imagine a Christmas without visiting the market. However, my comfort level has changed in recent years. The rising influx of migrants and the younger generation are particularly noticeable in the streets. Yes, compared to Berlin, or God forbid Paris, it’s still a relatively safe city, but I wouldn’t want to live there. There are much better and safer places to live in 🙂