Friday, February 25, 2011

10 Best Places - Cities - to Live Abroad

The Economist Intelligence Unit has just released its latest research of the Best Places to Live Abroad - more specifically the 10 Best Cities to live in. The index is a very helpful resource for those thinking that a move abroad may be in their future. It shows the best places in the world for quality of life, aka The 10 Best Cities.

Like the International Living Quality of Life Index the Economist Intelligence index is based on a variety of data relating to stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Just like the International Living list it's pretty comprehensive. Not only that but the key considerations are likely the most important factors any potential ex-pat would want to explore when they look around for the best place to live.

Whether you're looking for work abroad, simply want to know where to relocate your family for the best quality of life or discover the best places to retire and live in comfort, this information will come in handy.

Today we're going to tackle part one by simply presenting the list of Top 10 Places to Live Abroad in it's entirety. Then over the next few days I'll follow up with more details on the reason each place was chosen.

Before we get started I just wanted to point out this first part of the list may appear to have a basis towards Canada with three of the top five best places to live - but for good reason. When one thinks of Canada one can't help but acknowledge the quality of life Canadians enjoy. Just to validate the index even more Vancouver was recently honoured, for the second year in a row, with the recognition of being the World's Most Livable City. The other interesting thing to note is that Australia has four cities in this top 10 list. It just confirms, and no one could deny, that Australia and Canada truly are fantastic choices for the pursuit of quality living.

The 10 Best Places to Live Abroad according to The Economist

  1. Vancouver, Canada (Who can forget the 2010 Winter Olympics!)
  2. Melbourne, Australia (Oprah certainly put the Aussies on the map this year!)
  3. Vienna, Austria
  4. Toronto, Canada
  5. Calgary, Canada (more memories of past Olympics Canadian style!)
  6. Helsinki, Finland (and yet another former Olympic venue!)
  7. Sydney, Australia (and more Oprah!)
  8. Perth, Australia
  9. Adelaide, Australia
  10. Auckland, New Zealand
Editors note: As a Canadian I often notice how 'America-centric' the internet can be. Although this article and the indices we have discussed talk about 'The Best Places to Live Abroad' there is an obvious slant or American perspective. Most of these indices are written to an American audience. Perhaps a more accurate way to describe the index would be, "The Best Places to Live Abroad for Americans".

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