It’s Always Sunny in Pittsburgh

Tuesday, 22 February 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Here’s a post snow-in-February question for you: Where would you rather live—Pittsburgh or Hawaii? No American cities managed to claw their way into the top 25 on the annual survey of the world’s most liveable cities but Pittsburgh is representing at number 29, making it the most desirable place—more than Hawaii—to live in the US says the Daily Mail.  Vancouver came in first for the fifth year running, scoring a nearly perfect 98 percent.

Editors of the list, which is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, say “mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion.” Cities are evaluated on several criteria including access to health care, culture, environment, and education. New York kept its 56th place on the list for the second year in a row. 

I’d like to note that three Canadian cities made it into the top ten for 2011:

1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Perth, Australia
8. Adelaide, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

The top US cities for 2011 are:

1.  Pittsburgh
2.  Honolulu
3.  Washington DC
4.  Chicago
5.  Atlanta
6.  Miami
7.  Detroit
8.  Boston
9.  Seattle
10. Minneapolis

The worst 10 places to live:

1. Harare, Zimbabwe
2. Dhaka , Bangladesh
3. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
4. Lagos, Nigeria
5. Algiers , Algeria
6. Karachi, Pakistan
7. Douala, Cameroon
8. Tehran, Iran
9. Dakar, Senegal
10. Colombo, Sri Lanka

The actual list is behind a pay wall but if you’d like to shell out $500, here‘s the link.