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To make matters worse, there is virtually no summertime. Yes there is a season called summer, but a high of 70 degrees is hardly summer weather. After a long, cold, dark winter, 70 degrees is honestly quite pathetic..
I beg to differ. I love summers in Scandinavia, precisely because they don't get too hot. Seattle, on the other hand, has a heat wave every summer that stays in the 80's and 90's. No thanks.
OK, maybe Anchorage doesn't compare, weather-wise. I wouldn't know, exactly. But maybe southwest Alaska, i.e. Ketchikan. It's more like northern British Columbia.
In any case, the cost of living in AK is definitely comparable to Scandinavia. British Columbia is more like the lower 48 states of the US, COL-wise.
OK, maybe Anchorage doesn't compare, weather-wise. I wouldn't know, exactly. But maybe southwest Alaska, i.e. Ketchikan. It's more like northern British Columbia.
In any case, the cost of living in AK is definitely comparable to Scandinavia. British Columbia is more like the lower 48 states of the US, COL-wise.
Nah.
Ketchikan: precipitation 153" a year, winter average high (Dec-Feb): 40F, summer average high (Jun-Aug): 63F.
Helsinki Airport: precipitation 27" a year, winter average high (Dec-Feb): 29F , summer average high (Jun-Aug): 70F.
Alaska population: 735k
Helsinki population: 615k
Distance to NYC: Anchorage 3359 miles, Helsinki 4109 miles.
Median household income: Alaska $64,3k (pre-tax I think?), Helsinki $42k after tax. In neighboring Espoo $55,5k after tax.
Alaska: $, ", ft and miles. Helsinki €, cm, m and km.
Alaska, no thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here
The QoL is very high in the Nordic countries, but providing I have enough money, I'd rather live in London or Paris than Stockholm or Copenhagen, and the choice of interesting, decently-sized cities beyond the capitals is pretty limited.
Wasn't Stockholm the heaven on Earth for you just a half a year ago or something?
When it comes to Canada vs. the Nordics, nowhere has a Hawaiian climate so it becomes a question of personal preference and what you value most and are prepared to compromise on.
If you really hate cold more than you want sultry summer weather, then the Nordics are for you.
If the difference between -2c and -7c doesn't mean that much to you but you like nice warm to hot summers, then go for Canada.
Especially in Ontario and Quebec, humidity makes a big difference in how warm it feels. Tonight it was 24C with a humidex of 31C and my kids were in the pool with their friends until 8 pm.
This is not abnormal even for early June here. You even get quite a few days like this in May normally but this year May really sucked.
Well Norway is an extreme example. The COL is 30% higher than in all the other Nordic countries, and not comparable with the region as a whole.
I understand that high taxation may be annoying for a person who works only a year, and don't see a return of the tax money, but the general populace is quite content. Free education, good pensions and social handouts, good public transport and the safety as a whole. You can't starve to death in the Nordic countries, so there's no reason to go burglaring or mugging. The taxation is also highly progressive, and actually you pay a couple of % less income tax in Finland than in the US if you're working poor. The middle class pays quite the high a tax, but as I said, you also get so much in return that has to be considered. I'll rather have it this way than save 20,000€ for college funds so my kids can get an education.
I think your friend's exaggerating a bit. Considering that the Nordic countries consume one of the most meat per capita in the world, it can hardly be considered a luxury product. If you pay 10€ for 500g of tenderloin, I don't think anyone will file bankruptcy for that.
Coming from Texas, the change in daylight may come as a shock, I admit that, but for someone coming from the mid-latitudes it's not that dramatic. November and December are usually extremely gloomy and the days short, but come January there's usually some snow on the ground that lightens up the environment. Oslo gains almost 2 hours of daylight in January alone, and 2 hours 20 minutes in February, so the days grow longer quite rapidly. So it's not like it's pitch dark the whole winter and suddenly *boom* the daylight is doubled overnight. And of course, we benefit from it in summer, it's nice to have daylight at 22:00.
Most people in the Nordic countries are very well off with a good purchasing power. The capitals are clean, safe and effective with excellent housing, infrastructure, environment and functionality. I don't wonder at all that they fare well on the QOL indexes.
So if you think the Nordics are poor and strangled by enormous taxes, that is just false. And where do you think the tax money goes? They come from the people and given back to the people. It's not like the governments put the money in a bank to rot or buy nuclear weapons with them.
Limited dining and entertainment options compared to where? Oregon? Texas? Birmingham? Budapest? Calgary? Why do you think the Nordics are among the happiest and most content people in the world? Because they have no reason to complain. And if the people would want to pay a lot less in taxes, they would've had time to elect different governments during the last 50 years. Trying to dissassemble the Nordic Welfare Model is a 100% guarantee of losing the elections. People actually want to pay high taxes, it hasn't been forced upon them.
I'm so jealous.Glacial wonderland tbh.Taiwan is such a hell hole compare to the Nordics,literally.
I'm so jealous.Glacial wonderland tbh.Taiwan is such a hell hole compare to the Nordics,literally.
The QOL is good, better than in most of the world, but it's not a paradise here. We still have our share of mental health issues, the economy in Finland and Denmark isn't that good, there's unemployment, marginalisation, violence and corruption. But I think our biggest asset is that people and the society want to strive for the better, and not sink into apathy and shove the difficulties under the carpet. Didn't do any good for Greece.
The QOL is good, better than in most of the world, but it's not a paradise here. We still have our share of mental health issues, the economy in Finland and Denmark isn't that good, there's unemployment, marginalisation, violence and corruption. But I think our biggest asset is that people and the society want to strive for the better, and not sink into apathy and shove the difficulties under the carpet. Didn't do any good for Greece.
Still,the pros easily outrank the cons,and people's state of mind is the key.
And I don't think there is any other country less corruptive than the Nordics.Transparency never hurts.While Taiwan is just as corruptive as a country could get.No better than PRC or any other corruptive states.
I am from Norway and is currently living in Denmark and have a lot of knowledge about Sweden.
Norway can feel a little bit remote, try to get anything that Norwegians normally don't buy and you are out of luck. Prices for nearly everything is very high, and even if you import from abroad you need to pay a lot extra in taxes and fees. The only place that doesn't feel remote is Oslo, but it also has more social problems. Summers are beautiful, warm and nice, and winters are cold and dark. You will not enjoy the winters if you don't go skiing. Norway is a very beautiful country, and if you can enjoy the smaller communities then it is certainly the best country as well. Norway has high salaries, low unemployment, and few social problems,
Denmark is much more European than Norway. If you don't like small towns, you will find Copenhagen much more interesting. But being more European, also means more social problems. That is quite obvious when you go on the subway in Copenhagen which is badly maintained. It works well, but there are plenty of garbage and graffiti. It is a tougher country for foreigners because house prices are regulated, which makes it hard to find a cheap place in the private market. For cheap places you need to wait several years. It is harder to find work in Denmark, but the Danish economy is recovering. People in Denmark are quite nice, the only exception I have noticed, has been old men who are often grumpy.
Sweden is very organized, infrastructure is good, a lot of services are digitized, and looks like a very good country, but it also has a lot of problems hidden below the surface. For instance it has a lot of no-go areas with high crime rares. Just last year Sweden had a week long riot and after the incident it was totally ignored. Norway and Denmark hardly ever have riots, and if we do have one it only last an evening.
What about the property market? It is really hard to find a place to rent in the big cities, and if you do find one it is going to be really expensive. While in Denmark about half of the apartments are rent controlled, nearly all apartments in Sweden are rent controlled. Waiting lines for apartments in Stockholm are often over 10 years, even in mediocre areas. The job situation is also much worse than the rest of Scandinavia.The youth unemployment in Norway is 8%, Denmark is 12.6%, US is 12.8% and it is 24.3% in Sweden. Sweden is a country that only works for insiders who have already got an rent controlled apartment, or have a job or receive benefit from the government. Foreigners without any help will struggle a lot.
What about the property market? It is really hard to find a place to rent in the big cities, and if you do find one it is going to be really expensive. While in Denmark about half of the apartments are rent controlled, nearly all apartments in Sweden are rent controlled. Waiting lines for apartments in Stockholm are often over 10 years, even in mediocre areas.
Are you sure about this? I knew about the waiting time for Stockholm, but not that rent-controlling is that usual. Wow.
Are you sure about this? I knew about the waiting time for Stockholm, but not that rent-controlling is that usual. Wow.
Yep, the price of apartment rent is regulated per square meters. The few places who are exempted are not actually places to rent, they are apartment hotels and similar.
Sweden has experienced a lot of immigration lately. Combine that with rent control which makes it unprofitable to create new apartments for rent, and you will end up with disaster.
In Sweden, landlords are not allowed choose how much they charge their tenants. The rent happens to be determined by the local housing council. This NGO fixes the rent according to the market rental value of public goods. Rents cannot exceed 5% of the rental price of public housing.
Yet in 2005, following two complaints lodged by the European Property Federation, the European Commission judged that the Swedish rent control policy harmed competition in real estate.
This policy can only work if there is enough public rental housing available"
says Karima Delli, vice-president of the Urban Intergroup at the European Parliament.
Nevertheless, rents in Stockholm have remained fairly low. The rental value of a square meter in the city is 16,67€ although "the market is extremely tense and the city faces a real housing crisis" says Delli.
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