Top Ten Livable Countries

What about the famous Literary Expatriates in Paris in the 20's-30's? From the website:

http://ntsrv2000.educ.ualberta.ca/nethowto/examples/bradley/mansfiel/paris.htm

"Innumerable artists, writers, and intellectuals have found exile in Paris over the years: the list includes figures such as Marx, Heine, Turgenev, Hemingway, Strindberg, Rilke, Oscar Wilde, Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Djuna Barnes, and of course, Anais Nin, and Henry Miller.

"While the tradition of literary exile extends back to the Classical period, the condition of expatriation has become pervasive in the twentieth-century. Displaced writers of the twentieth-century have largely converged upon a half-dozen great urban centers, presumably finding in them a range of experience and stimulation conducive to the production of great literature. Paris, more than any other location, has been the preeminent city of exile since the mid-nineteenth century."

Margo

I understand why you might want to remininsce about the the good old days of bum waxing, but don't you have more important things to do right now, like putting out fires?

remininninsice? Sorry cant remember

While driving home from Sacramento for a funeral for a pharmacist that I worked for when I was attending high school, I learned that our esteemed city of Sunnyvale, CA, is considered in the top five "safest" city in the US. I know this is a forum on top livable countries, but I'm sure most of you wouldn't mind this tidbit of good news. c.i.

Welcome, Porfavor! :-D

Thanks Jespah... there is life after all!

here's a bit more... Americans could living in relative affluence in Paris where, in 1925, one American dollar would buy 22 French francs.

... the availabilty of liquor was undoubtedly an important factor in some decisions to move to Paris; America was in the throes of the Prohibition at this time.

(I suppose that is why more Muslim countries are not on our list today.)

....and the sun also rises!

It's interesting to read about the expartriate artists and writers lived in Paris during that period -- remember they were referred to as "The Lost Generation."

In the 50's and 60's, New York became the bonefide art center of the world with the movement of Abstract Expressionism forging into new artistic territory. It's really never lost that stature -- the art coming out of Europe is just now catching up, although one famous painter, Paul Jenkins, moved to Europe and I'm sure there are others. It brings up the question -- where do we put down roots and why do we stay there?

Why?

Jobs money sex friends family (may be reason to move)

Steve

You mean, at the new or at the old place?

Walter I mean all of the above are carrots, family is often the stick.

I see :wink:

Quite jealous of your Xmas avatar Walter. Last time I tried such a thing (picture of a fossa) it threw the whole of a2k into a fit, so am a little reluctant to try again, however...

A friend of mine who has lived in Sweden as much as the U.S. in his adult life is visiting know with his new Swedish wife who has been looking in the Newport Beach area for a residence to buy to move back to the area for the prime reason of...climate. Of course, if you are on the seacoast here, the pollution is not as much of a factor because of all those positive ions! We were at the beach on the peninsula and his wife put on a jacket saying it was cold. I was in a polo shirt and wasn't cold so I joked with her about going back to Sweden in three days where it's about 20 deg. above zero. This is cold? Anyway, the sunset over the Pacific was pretty incredible -- I think I'll stay. I'll say it again -- it is family, friends, the climate, the relatively low crime in this area anyway and being a very healthy person, I can't exactly relate it to how good the health care system is except my Mom who I take to the doctor. In that experience, I can't see it being graded as anything but just average and expensive (in time and money). Transportation -- the automobile in this area, any other forms are just barely adequate and there is a lot of territory to cover to get from one community to the other. From here, Laguna Beach is about forty minutes, San Diego about two hours. The AMTRAK is one of the best connections we have for getting to San Diego, for instance and you can pick that up at Santa Ana or San Juan Capitrano.

I've been mulling all of this over as i've been going about my business lately. I realized that i'd have difficulty living anywhere where i couldn't walk to a laundry/dry cleaner, at least a couple of dozen restaurants, and a grocery store. I'd also have to have access to decent 24 hour public transit. I'm trying to give up my car completely, so these things are important to me. I can walk to Lake Ontario from my house, and am about 20 minutes from a huge ravine system, so i've got good access to 'nature'. Walking is what it is about for me. I've lived in smaller communities where there is barely any public transit - it meant driving everywhere, which feels more and more wrong to me every year.

Sounds beautiful to me -- you know that Laguna Beach is a winter destination for many Canadians.

[Looks nice, you avatar, Steve! And even "New Labour! New Britain! on it - whow!]

ehBeth

I'm pretty happy too with how much is so close to me in the city. Within (no kidding) one block in two directions I have ten places to dine, a large grocery store, an all-night convenience store, dentist, doctor, laundry, two photo processers, and more. For electronics, I have to go three blocks, which is one block more than to Stanley Park of to the beach. If not for work, friends/family who live in odd places and activities such as skiing, I could walk and bike through 90% of my life, and happily.

Although I'm a typical Southern Californian, joined at the hip to my car, I could walk to the supermarket and all sorts of stores where I could find virtually anything or get almost any kind of restaurant food! Within a half-hour to forty minutes, I can be on the beach at a restaurant or other activity (in the car, no not walking!)

I can walk for five minutes and find Thai,French,Japanese,Italian,American,Korean and Danish restaurants of repute.I can cycle for ten minutes and be on a beach.If I wanted I could catch a train and be in Sweden in half an hour.
If I really wanted I could be at the airport in twenty minutes and fly anywhere I pleased.
Which of course I don´t because Copenhagen is where it´s at.