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I'd suggest that those two cities would definitely offer some of the highest living standards in the world, and I like their cold winters, so I would enjoy living there for more reasons than one. I much prefer snowy winters to rainy winters (like the ones I have now - yawn), and weather is a rather negligible factor when it comes to quality of life - look at how highly the Nordics rank in quality of life surveys despite being so cold, and how poorly places like Spain and Portugal compare..
I don't agree with the ranking though. If you are including immigration, tolerance, talent and amenitites, then London, Paris and New York will top. Even including quality of life, where bigger cities may fall short, I would not place Seattle or Ottawa above London, New York, Paris, Berlin or Madrid, as a few examples. They are all highly developed cities in highly developed countries, but are clearly very exciting places and I would wager that they have a lot more to see and do than Calgary or Tel Aviv.. while providing a good quality of life.
I'd suggest that those two cities would definitely offer some of the highest living standards in the world, and I like their cold winters, so I would enjoy living there for more reasons than one. I much prefer snowy winters to rainy winters (like the ones I have now - yawn), and weather is a rather negligible factor when it comes to quality of life - look at how highly the Nordics rank in quality of life surveys despite being so cold, and how poorly places like Spain and Portugal compare..
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Good points. And not everyone in the world likes hot weather. Different strokes for different folks.
Some people prefer it to be cool or even cold because at least you can add layers to adapt to it. Once you reach bare skin in really hot weather - it's still scorching hot. There is no way around it except for air conditioning of course, and what's the use of having hot weather if you are always indoors in the AC?
While the prospect of warm sunny days year round is appealing, most of the places that have fairly warm climates (except for very rare places like Hawaii which are always between 20-30 C) will make you pay dearly for the privilege with scorching heat and suffocating humidity for a good portion of the year.
Personally I like the changes in seasons, and I love hot and sunny summers with many days around 30C. I couldn't live in a place where a summer day has a max of 18 C, which is not a real summer for me.
On the other I am OK with winter and the gradual cooling off and then the arrival of snow is nice, although in my region it does tend to overstay its welcome and by March I am ready for spring.
The change in seasons is also good in that it brings renewal and change that is especially exhilarating in the spring. And everybody will tell you the summer months in places with cold winters are a lot of fun because it's seen as a special season that you have to take advantage of to its maximum.
It's not really the case in places where the weather is basically the same from one day to the next, and especially one season to the next.
We are in agreement on that AJ.. i dont like weather where i'm sweating just sitting in the shade, my 20+ years spent in Florida mostly construction jobs and having to endure temps in the mid 90's and all the humidity everyday for 8-9 months a year cured me of liking hot weather, to me a winter day is always preferable. I'm dreading my upcoming end of September trip to Florida, its going to still be full summer down there,i can only hope Mom and Dad have that A/C unit set at 70..
We are in agreement on that AJ.. i dont like weather where i'm sweating just sitting in the shade, my 20+ years spent in Florida mostly construction jobs and having to endure temps in the mid 90's and all the humidity everyday for 8-9 months a year cured me of liking hot weather, to me a winter day is always preferable. I'm dreading my upcoming end of September trip to Florida, its going to still be full summer down there,i can only hope Mom and Dad have that A/C unit set at 70..
In the vast majority of warm places in the world, there is a price to be paid for 18-22C days in midwinter, and that's stifling heat during the summer months and even beyond.
In the vast majority of warm places in the world, there is a price to be paid for 18-22C days in midwinter, and that's stifling heat during the summer months and even beyond.
and weather is a rather negligible factor when it comes to quality of life - look at how highly the Nordics rank in quality of life surveys despite being so cold, and how poorly places like Spain and Portugal compare..
Weather is probably negligible when it comes to those expert arbitrary "rankings", in when it comes to real people, it usually is very important. Those quality of life rankings, let's just ignore them - they are out of touch with reality and only use a fixed set of standards.
Weather not important? I have heard so many people reject the idea of moving to Canada due to the cold and long winters. that's a fact. And if I left someday, it would be largely because of the long winters as well.
Speaking of Nordic countries, they are mostly not as cold as most Canadian cities such as Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal/Calgary. Oslo/Stockholm has warmer winter than Toronto, not to mention the other CA cities. We probably can't find any large EU cities that are as cold as Montreal/Ottawa/Calgary.
Spain and Portugal, well, this has more to do with how they managed their economy and has nothing to do with weather. I don't know why you bring them up. Norway has a per capita GDP of $100,000, compared with 30K and 20K for Spain and Portugal. It has higher quality of life because it is much richer.
Weather is probably negligible when it comes to those expert arbitrary "rankings", in when it comes to real people, it usually is very important. Those quality of life rankings, let's just ignore them - they are out of touch with reality and only use a fixed set of standards.
Weather not important? I have heard so many people reject the idea of moving to Canada due to the cold and long winters. that's a fact. And if I left someday, it would be largely because of the long winters as well.
Speaking of Nordic countries, they are mostly not as cold as most Canadian cities such as Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal/Calgary. Oslo/Stockholm has warmer winter than Toronto, not to mention the other CA cities. We probably can't find any large EU cities that are as cold as Montreal/Ottawa/Calgary.
Spain and Portugal, well, this has more to do with how they managed their economy and has nothing to do with weather. I don't know why you bring them up. Norway has a per capita GDP of $100,000, compared with 30K and 20K for Spain and Portugal. It has higher quality of life because it is much richer.
I agree that weather does factor into quite a few people's decisions about where to live but I would argue that it probably bears *too much of an influence*.
Most people do not require (and would not take advantage of) a warm sunny beach regularly enough for it to be a deal-breaker about where they live.
I mean, if you look at places like Ontario and Quebec, if people were so unhappy being cooped up inside during winter how come they aren't eating dinner outside every single day of the summer - or even once a week? But most people in Ontario and Quebec don't eat outside and take advantage of the good weather, right? They do it a few times on warm spring days because of the novelty and then they go back to their indoor habits. How many people are eating dinner outdoors or taking advantage of the good weather in Nice tonight? Or Myrtle Beach? Or Hawaii? As a total percentage of population? Not that many.
The truth is, only a fraction of us really take advantage of the good weather, whether it occurs four months a year or 12 months a year. And in places like Canada, those taking advantage of the good summer weather are almost always those who take advantage of the snow as well in the wintertime.
For the vast vast majority of people, their lives and lifestyles would not really change if they were to live in Miami as opposed to Toronto.
As for Calgary and Ottawa being the best places to live, i'd also have to vigorously disagree,Digby NS and Nanaimo BC would be preferable IMO
Wow. As a born and bred Nova Scotian, even I'd have to question that particular choice. You'd really have to want to live in a place where nothing is happening.
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