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Where in the world would you live?

Venti de Milo

Venti de Milo

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Ok, this is not a poll, more like a survey.

If you can live ANYWHERE in this world, where would you like to live and why?

I've travelled to many places and to be honest, not many places in the world I'd want to live or can. I love Paris, Venice, Rome etc. It's nice to visit, but I don't see myself be able to live there. My top 3 would be

#1 Toronto - yes, even though I like to bitch about the city from time to time...it's a great place to live. Not as exciting as Hong Kong or New York, but not as boring as other smaller cities either. I think it's quite a balance and many of us are taking the city for granted :p

#2 London U.K. - my fave European city. Don't know why but I always want to go back to London, maybe for sentimental reasons. I can see myself living there for short-term only though.

#3 Vancouver - the only thing is that it rains too much. I can see myself live there and retire there.
 
1. Toronto. I have been able to eat really good food from around the world all my life and visiting other cities in the world I find that I become quickly bored with local fare and high prices for anything "foreign". I really find it difficult to eat the same food type multiple days in a row. It is a very safe city in terms of storms, earthquakes, crime, etc. The city is exciting to watch grow. There is no shortage of things to do here.

2. Tokyo. I love the energy and transportation system. There are quiet neighbourhoods and neighbourhoods busier than can be put in words. A ride north on the Shinkansen and you are in ski country. I would have to become more proficient in Japanese to live there but I love the place. The food becomes boring quickly to me though and not being Japanese would prevent my ever fully fitting in since there really isn't any immigration there and getting citizenship is unlikely. I would love to live there for a couple of years.

3. San Francisco. I love the city. I don't think I would ever choose to live there though with prices so high yet a social system so low. Many of the busses and trolley busses look like they have been out on the road way past their prime. The food selection is good, winter sports require a major trip. Since 9/11, the Republican response, and the growing religious right has soured my feelings about living in San Francisco, Manhattan, Seattle, and Honolulu (my top US picks).
 
1. Toronto - Aside from the Winter, I love this city. It's constantly changing, has some truly unique neighbourhoods, the grub is good, a nice mix of densities, lots and lots of greenery. I love the contrast between our streetcar suburb 'towns' and the downtown.

2. New York - Although Manhattan is a bit too air brushed to be as enjoyable as (I hear) it once was, it's a fantastic, almost claustrophobic urban experience. Endless amounts of things to do. It's expensive as hell, but possibly worth it.

3. Berlin - I was thinking between London and Berlin, but Berlin is cheaper, and right now more exciting. The Germans are big believers in civic pride and their projects are big and bold almost to the point of megalomania. A very exciting time to be in this city right now.
 
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salvius said:
3. Berlin - I was thinking between London and Berlin, but Berlin is cheaper, and right now more exciting. The Germans are big believers in civic pride and their projects are big and bold almost to the point of megalomania. A very exciting time to be in this city right now.
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Gulp.

42
 
If I were banished from Toronto, I would happily move my court to a medium sized city such as Bath or Florence.

In Bath, the Royal Crescent would suit me just fine.

In Florence, I'd move into the Convent of San Marco. That main floor gallery with the beautiful Fra Angelico paintings would be ideal for small parties. The simple monastic cells with their lovely frescoes would double as guest rooms. I'd live an austere life in Savanarola's former cell.
 
3. Berlin - I was thinking between London and Berlin, but Berlin is cheaper, and right now more exciting. The Germans are big believers in civic pride and their projects are big and bold almost to the point of megalomania. A very exciting time to be in this city right now.
Click to expand...
Although job prospects are few and far between in Berlin. Too bad the London economy couldn't be mixed with Berlin's infrastructure and bohemian nature.

I'm going with six. BTW, my choices are based on where've I've felt most "in my element" and not necessarily based on the city's economics, politics or infrastrucutre.

1. Toronto
2. London
3. New York
4. Berlin
5. Montreal
6. Paris
 
Darkstar, we share the top 2 spots :)

Remember, it's "if you can live"...so assuming finance is not an issue...
 
But Urban Shocker, Bath and Florence are hardly suitable cities for lovers of modernism.

My top three would be:

Toronto
New York
London
 
While the city is important, I also find regions as whole just as interesting so my list includes areas where there are a number of places I would like to live.

1. Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Eindhoven - Three wonderful cities which all have their advantages. They are also close enough that you can live in one and still enjoy the others with relative ease (along with other cities just in and out of the Randstad). Dutch culture is wonderful (the language is actually not as difficult to learn as it first seems) and you are also within easy reach of other major european cities by high speed rail.

2. Montreal...followed by Toronto/Ottawa/Quebec - The neighborhoods and people of Montreal make the city what it is and it will always be my top choice for that region. But the whole area from Toronto-Quebec is becoming quite interesting, and will only get more interesting as the population of it grows. The other 3 major cities in the region all have their goods and bads and I could live in any one of them equally.

3. Stockholm - A beautiful city and I really like Swedish culture. And, outside of Amsterdam, one of the most interesting examples of 20th century social-democratic oriented planning.

I could probably live in most cities for 6 months too a year. But when I start thinking in terms longer than that and consider culture, politics, health and well being, equality, education, raising a family, etc, then the list is actually pretty short (probably not much longer than the one above).
 
I'd go with

Toronto
London
New York (doesn't have to be Manhattan, I could dig Williamsburg)

Further down the list, I could go:

Vancouver
San Francisco
Ottawa

And whereever I go, I think of places that I could tolerate if I lived in a specific neighbourhood(s) - Chicago, I'd have to live in Oak Park or the mid-north side. LA, I could tolerate, if I lived in Santa Monica, Westwood area, or Pasadena. Montreal, NDG. And that'd be about it.
 
ganja: I'm quite happy living at some remove from the downtown core of Toronto, hence my attraction to smaller metropolitan centres such as Bath and Florence. Sometimes the distance - the negative space - between things ( city/country ) can define them just as well as immersion can.
 
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