Aucks and Wellie better than Paris?

[MotherBear]

Auckland, Wellington, nicer to live in than Paris
10 April 2006

Auckland and Wellington are among the top 12 places in the world to live, according to an annual ranking of the world's cities by quality of living. Mercer's annual Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, covering 215 cities, helps governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments.

Each city is ranked based on 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services. Cities are compared to New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100.

Switzerland's Zurich was ranked the best city to live in, while Iraqi capital Baghdad was last on the list. Auckland and Wellington both moved up the rankings this year. Auckland went from eighth last year to fifth this year, on a score of 107.3 and Wellington moved up from 14th to 12th with a score of 105.8.

The moves were mainly due to strong internal stability relative to other cities.

How we compare to major cities:
1. Zurich, Switzerland
2. Geneva, Switzerland
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Vienna, Austria
5. Auckland, New Zealand
9 Sydney, Australia
9 Bern, Switzerland
12. Wellington, New Zealand
16. Berlin, Germany
17. Melbourne, Australia
24. Dublin, Ireland
27. Honolulu, United States
28. San Francisco, United States
33. Paris, France
35. Tokyo, Japan
39. London, England
46. New York, United States
215. Baghdad, Iraq