<p>I hate NYC, including Manhattan, always crowded, smelly, plain crazy, not relaxing.</p>
<p>NewHope33- I know I would like Cheyenne, but transportation to other areas is expensive and difficult and medical care is not what I would consider good enough for retirement aged people. There are so many things to consider.</p>
<p>Agree about college towns. We have to wait because a) we can’t afford retirement while our kids are in school and b) I wouldn’t invade his space (even though we’d dreamed of retiring there long before he even thought to apply!). At least we get to visit in the meantime! :)</p>
<p>^^ MOWC - I agree, there are so many things to consider. What makes me like DC and dislike Atlanta? I’m not even sure I can explain it.</p>
<p>To me, any large city is not livable. This is an example of a wonderfully livable city:</p>
<p>[City</a> of Kirkland - AAA rated by S&P](<a href=“http://www.kirklandwa.gov/News_Room/NR081611SPRatingAAA.htm]City”>http://www.kirklandwa.gov/News_Room/NR081611SPRatingAAA.htm)</p>
<p>Has beautiful parks, tons of great restaurants, public library, commulity center and pool, nice schools, fast access to two major hospitals with sophisticated, state of the art facilities and great specialists, four Nordstroms within 15 mile radius… Why would I want to live in a concrete jungle?</p>
<p>Exactly, “any large city is not livable”.</p>
<p>Now the 4 Nordstoms is a definite plus. I might sacrifice the medical care for that! Nashville is getting Nordstrom for my birthday in a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Paris is large and livable. But expensive. Very expensive. I am reminded of this little CBS report on Paris life (from a dogs point of view)
[Orson</a> - Our Dog In Paris by David Turecamo 6-5-11 CBS Sunday Morning (3:04) - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>I may join Orson any day now.</p>
<p>Maybe for you, not for me. City is a city, Paris or not.</p>
<p>but the list is for livable CITIES…personally I live in a small town BUT it is within 20 minutes of a city. No symphony, opera, museums,? No thanks!</p>
<p>Symphony, opera, museums are everywhere and all people are driving, do not even need to share crowded public transportation. Whatever is your entertainment is more up to you to obtain (in close proximity to every place). However, I am not saying that everybody hates city life, many love it, they love the crowd, the smell, the dirt, the noise, living in apartment, all of it. To me, cities are not livable, no matter who rank them in what sequence, they are all misearble places.</p>
<p>four Nordstroms within 15 mile radius.
I grew up in southeast Kirkland & I only go to Nordstroms to buy underwear ;), however give me someplace where I can walk/public transportation so good I don’t even have to think about it ( which Portland & Vancouver both have on a larger scale than the Puget Sound area)</p>
<p>I think I would like to move to an area with a depressed economy, the remodeling all my neighbors are doing around me this summer is driving me bats! ( I am planning on visiting one of my daughters myself so I don’t have to listen to our own handymen!)</p>
<p>EMK - I have just the depressed area you’re looking for … DW’s home town. Small enough to walk around, cheap, and zero crime. It has a couple limitations: No Symphony, no Opera, no movie theatres, no Malls, no restaurants, no fast food places, no stop lights. It does have a water treatment plant … oh, and a juke box at the Sportsman’s Bar … and catfish sandwiches every other Friday at the KofC hall.</p>
<p>NewHope,
How about jobs, at least in one radius distance? If there are jobs that will take me, my type of place!!! I can drive to museum, other places I really do not care about, the less, the better. So, all need is place to work and museum, wow, just noticed there is even water treatment, so no wells needed, this is almost luxury.</p>
<p>Actually, I don’t believe that Finland is technically in Scandinavia either. So that makes two of three.</p>
<p>To me Tokyo is the outlier on the list …</p>
<p>Barcelona = terrific
Copenhagen = terrific
Vancouver = very nice … 20 years ago I liked Seattle better
Portland = very nice also … same comment about Seattle
Zurich = visited as a teen and loved it</p>
<p>Overall, some terrific cities on the list … the health care requirement makes it tough for any US cities.</p>
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<p>While all these places certainly have a lot to recommend them, you can’t be a big fan of sunshine in any of them. Ditto Finland, Sweden etc.</p>
<p>I vote for La Jolla, CA ca. 1976 or so</p>
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<p>Yup, they do vote with their feet. That is why where we live, one of the ‘top cities’, houses average over $1mil (great for us who bought long ago, sucks if you want to move here…and of course, those prices make it ultimately unliveable, and so the rankings change with time, lol).</p>
<p>As for Helsinki and retirement, it cracks me up how Americans think they can just go live anywhere they please with a US passport. </p>
<p>I was just saying the other day that Finland seems to have it all figured out though. Fantastic healthcare, super duper education, low crime rate. As for tax rates, that is more of a preoccupation for Americans, whereas the rest of the world sees the great benefits associated with them, like great education and healthcare!</p>
<p>^Except for the high rate of alcoholism. Article is a couple of years old, but I doubt much has changed.</p>
<p>[BBC</a> NEWS | Europe | Alcohol now Finland’s top killer](<a href=“http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6106570.stm]BBC”>BBC NEWS | Europe | Alcohol now Finland's top killer)</p>