Top Ten Livable Countries

I'll second that motion . . . although Lovey wouldn't agree . . . i was born in NYC, but it must have constituted a "birthmark," i've never liked cities . . .

Nobody seconding Stockport then?

Stockport, so good they named it once.

Actually not quite true for the bit of it where I grew up. Hazel Grove used to be called Bullocks Smithey. They changed the name because it sounded better, can't think why.

As a guide to the newcomers, here's the list again (it's much longer but these are the top cities). Let's talk rural when we get to choosing a country outside the U.S. or, hey, why not now?

City you would choose to live in the U.S. other than your own, (2) city outside of the U.S. and (3), country outside of the U.S.

Most liveable cities
October 4 2002




1. Melbourne Australia

Vancouver Canada

3. Perth Australia

4. Vienna Austria

Toronto Canada

Geneva Switzerland

Zurich Switzerland

8. Adelaide Australia

Brisbane Australia

Sydney Australia

Copenhagen Denmark

Dusseldorf Germany

Frankfurt Germany

Oslo Norway

Montreal Canada

Others of note:

21. Tokyo Japan
Osaka Japan
24. Hamburg Germany
Munich Germany
Auckland New Zealand
Wellington New Zealand
32. Lyon France
Paris France
44. Hong Kong China
Portugal Lisbon
Madrid Spain
London UK
San Francisco US
52. Dublin Ireland
New York US

I'd have to learn German, but Vienna looks very attractive to me.

The list again was compiled through a survey under the auspices of Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of The Economist magazine.

The United Nations survery results of most livable countries is on Page 1 (fbaezer had to post it as I erred in including the list in my topic post).

I'm not a newbie to this thread, but I'll answer your question anyway, lightwizard.

City I'd choose to live in, if I lived in the US:
1. Boston
2. San Francisco
3. New York

City I'd choose to live in, outside the US (and outside Mexico):

1. Modena, Italy
2. Madrid, Spain
3. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Country outside Mexico:

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. The Netherlands

(the US would come out around 9th place)

Firenze, that fits my town, northwest, and ...oh, two hundred miles from a large city. Great, I love it.

Modena, I liked Modena too, although I was there on a rainy couple of days. I think that area has a lot of smog in the summer, but I'm not sure.
I also loved Parma, which isn't far away from Modena. Among other things, these cities are homes for really great food....

Oz sounds interesting.
Is it Summer there?

I used to think I'd like to live in the states but i grew out of it. I like visiting places like Chicago and Boston, but can't imagine living there.

I think I'll stay where I am, though Copenhagen continually intrigues me. I know I wouldn't be able to handle the dirt of most European cities. Maybe someplace on the Baltic? They'd look like home to me.

ossobucco,
I lived in Modena for 4 years in 2 different periods of my life.

It has terrible weather. Short, lovely, but rainy spring; very hot summer; autumn is nice for only a month, then comes the thickest fog you can ever imagine; winter is snowy and often on the 10-20s degrees Fahrenheit. And it's always humid.

But the city is affluent, has a perfect size, services that work perfectly, social equality, a vivid cultural life given the size, tollerance, almost everybody participates in the community without being pushed to it, and the people are friendly.

Some one said the awful climate is a godsend to Modena. If the weather was good, it would have a million inhabitants.

Then you've likely tasted the real balsamic vinegar, fred! Is it all it's cracked up to be?

I just got your e-mail, telling me about the 3rd part of this topic, so I believe I'll say it's a toss-up between Brazil, (fascinating culture) and The Philipines, (most beautiful women in the world.) :wink:

It's superb.
Specially Il Duca, the one in which they leave the "mother-root" for 28 years in the barrel.
They use balsamic vinegar for everthing, from meat seasoning to desserts (strawberries with balsamic vinegar are excellent).

[Note: vinegar is to be diluted in sugary water for the strawberries]

I gave GW, a wink, in my last submission, because I shared a secret with him. In my younger, chemically active days, I used to often make a half facetious statement, while indulging in my two favorite drugs. "When I get rich, I want to settle down, and buy two farms; one in Turkey, and one in Peru." Hey, what's wrong with a gentleman farmer growing poppys, and coca trees, with no intention of selling his crop?

The colored, flavored Balsamic available in our supermarket is a far dry from the thick, aged varieties that one has to go to a specialty market to get or it is available online. It's expensive! I've found Colvita to be one of the better faux Balsamics (the flavoring and color being derived from aged root elixir). The trick is they lable the products "Balsamic Vinegar of Modena" instead of "from Modena" so they don't really come from Modena.

LW, so what kinda cost are we talking about? I love the faux pas stuff. In the past, I've found the cheap stuff is good enough until I try the expensive stuff (such as caviar) - after tasting the real stuff, I don't want to go back. In other words, if it is too expensive I'll just skip the experience until I'm on my death bed. Of course, I already got about 30 items on the list for that day (Jennifer Lopez, just stay young)!

Try this for a range of prices on Balsamics. The real stuff is very potent so has to be diluted. It's great in the Northern Italian sauces that ask for Balsamic as you only use a few tablespoons. So gauge the amount you have to use against the cost. The supermarket variety is already diluted in several ways and so are some on this site. Wish they had a disclosure about how the vinegars are produced and what they are diluted with (like most of them are diluted with cheap white grain vinegar.) I actually prefer the flavored rice vinegars for salads -- Paul Newman's Balsamic is okay for a premixed. And yet another topic to split off into the Food category! (Politics, however, would be that one gets more with honey than vinegar!)

Link to Balsamic VInegars

Lightwizard - I too like the flavored vinegars, especially the mild, delicate, rice vinegar I now use in potato salad. Much more delicate and allows the other herbs added in to more activately provide the flavor.

As to balsamic vinegar - I've used it for about 6 years now, usually with the $5.00 bottle from the grocery, and even at that it was sparing use. What to do, what to do - my son, a chef, gave me a bottle of $60 balsamic vinegar that gourmet restaurants use. Now, this was last spring. Is this bottle open yet? I think NOT, lol!

You can dilute that with another vinegar (and unflavored rice vinegar is ideal) and use it in recipes that call for a Balsamic vinegar where it is cooked into a sauce or is in a marinade. I think I'll have this split off into a discussion of Balsamic vinegar and solicit some recipes!

Actually, it's easier and I think better to start the topic and give a link here.