Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I agree, at the end of the day I'd choose Oz out of all three...the UK is close to Europe, but is crowded, kinda gloomy and depressing. NZ is beautiful but just too isolated. Australia has the best weather, best economy, most open people (though changing), most diverse.etc.
I feel the same way too. The UK is beautiful but has far too many people living there for such a small island. New Zealand is very isolated, the nearest place to it is Australia so it makes sense to live here if the isolation gets to you and you need to feel more connected to the rest of the world. New Zealand seems to pride itself on its remoteness and not being affected by global affairs: it's very easy to feel forgotten about there. There's a psychological remoteness not just a physical one.
Having lived in all three I think I agree with the relative rankings. Not that you should place much credence in these type of surveys, especially when they appear to contradict each other. There's no substitute for personal experience imho.
and at the end of the day what has it got to do with the price of feijoas? Let's deal with the real issues here people
Getting back on track here.
I saw NZ feijoas in a local fruit and veg shop today, it's starting to look like a trend rather than an isolated import by a large supermarket chain. Long may it continue!
It's great to see more NZ fruit and veg in the shops, I miss Maris Pipers and Bramley cooking apples it's the little things like being able to put food on the table that add to one's quality of life, not statistics.
I feel the same way too. The UK is beautiful but has far too many people living there for such a small island. New Zealand is very isolated, the nearest place to it is Australia so it makes sense to live here if the isolation gets to you and you need to feel more connected to the rest of the world. New Zealand seems to pride itself on its remoteness and not being affected by global affairs: it's very easy to feel forgotten about there. There's a psychological remoteness not just a physical one.
I lived in Perth, Western Australia, similar sort of feeling, but I guess at least we're closer to Asia by air.
The US the largest Western first world nation, its nearly 6x the population of the UK, and you can get there faster from NZ, but we are arguing semantics. NZ is faster to North America including Canada, I believe faster to South America, Mexico etc.
Australia is every bit as isolated as NZ AND that's if we were talking about 1800's lol. As it turns out this is the year 2014 the age of jet travel and modern communications, neither Aus or NZ are isolated any more.
Oh come on, but just as many Kiwis still go to the UK...but it's obvious, NZ is just more isolated than Australia...even the advantage going to the US isn't much since you guys are further SOUTH. 1 hour 20 minutes isn't going to make a big difference on a 13 hour flight. Whereas it's 3 hours going anywhere west. Bangkok is considered close to most Australians yet for Kiwis it's a 12 hour flight. 12 hours for cripe's sake! That's almost like London to Singapore!
Apparently, you didn't even bother to READ THE ARTICLE. As the U.S. ranked #6.
"But there is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest – the top 20% of the population earn approximately eight times as much as the bottom 20%."
My comment was around wealth distribution in the US, its pretty well established amongst economists, you can likely google hundreds of links yourself.
The OECD better Life Index has been discussed here before and was a good attempt at understanding the true quality of life between countries along with the HDI index. Neither go far enough but I admire both as they are pretty much pioneers leading up to the World Social Progress Index.
Yeah, great QOL in the US if you have a lot of money. For everyone else it's long hours at work for not a lot of reward.
People in the US are generally really open and friendly (a lot more so than Oz) but can also be really uptight culturally . . . and then there's the politics.
Overall it's an OK place but not really where I want my kids to grow up.
Where's your ideal place, if you didn't have to worry about working, money etc?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
