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# grass is greener
Living in Australia or Canada? Good choice says The Economist, Dublin not so much
Melbourne is the best city to live worldwide but Dublin is way down the list.
IF THERE’S ONE thing that can be said for Ireland’s emigrants, it’s that they know how to pick them, cities that is.
Some of the most popular destinations for emigrants make up most of the top places in The Economist’s liveability index, a survey which has Dublin way down the list.
Among the 140 major cities surveyed, Dublin is in 46th place worldwide and scrapes into the European top 20 on the number.
The index judges Melbourne as the best place to live worldwide, beating Vienna into second followed by Vancouver, Toronto and then Adelaide.
The top 10 is completed along similar geographical lines by Calgary, Sydney, Helsinki, Perth and Auckland.
Melbourne is in the top spot for the second year running and with 20 cities having seen changes over the past year.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Syrian capital Damascus comes in last place with Tripoli also in the bottom 10.
“Events in Ukraine, in particular, have had significant knock-on effects for cities such as Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg,” the survey reports.
Source: The EconomistThe quality of life of a city is judged by five different categories including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
The report points out that although wealthier countries obviously feature near the top, other features like population density are also important.
The survey says that mid-sized cities in wealthy countries tend to have much more recreational activities relative to crime levels and packed infrastructure.
Read: Patents and skyscrapers…what makes these 18 cities the most innovative places on Earth >
Read: Dublin, Cork and Limerick are the dirtiest cities in Ireland >
