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Four way battle between these cities, which are fairly comparable.
Comparing using the following criteria or your own:
Location
Scenery
Climate
Urban layout
Parks
Public transport/road infrastructure
Architecture
Streetlife
Entertainment/Nightlife
Dining/Cuisine
Culture (Museums, Art.etc)
People (Friendliness.etc)
Cost of living/Livability
Amenities
Tourist attractions
In my view, Rome comes out on top in all major respects, except for location, where Milan probably beats them all, followed by Barcelona, from a pan-European perspective rather than a strictly national one.
Having said that, Italy has fallen behind in infrastructure investment over the past 20 years or so, while Spain has been relatively dynamic. Hence both Madrid and Barcelona, especially the respective metropolitan areas as a whole, may beat both Milan and Rome in terms of road infrastructure and amenities, even urban layout. Also, while I am sure that Milan is more expensive than Rome, not sure how they compare to Madrid and Barcelona, and how the latter two compare to each other. On those aspects I would defer to someone who has lived in at least one city in both countries and has studied all four in terms of cost of living.
To give an example of the practical problems in Rome, they cannot build modern underground garages because there is almost a 100% probability of making major archeological discoveries, which would bring any such project to a halt. As a result, triple, even quadruple parking, on the sidewalk and into the street, is quite common, and on some very narrow streets, making even walking with a stroller, for example, almost impossible. It's not so bad in Milan where double parking is common, but not triple, even quadruple. Not sure of the situation in Madrid and Barcelona.
You left out one major criteria, the probability of scoring gainful employment, in which respect I would feel more confident about Milan than any of the others.
Otherwise, on balance, I give the advantage to Rome.
Location: Near Tours, France about 47°10'N 0°25'E
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
Four way battle between these cities, which are fairly comparable.
Comparing using the following criteria or your own:
Location
Barcelona
Scenery
Barcelona, sourrounded by hills, open on the mediterranean, with Pyrenees not far behind.
Climate
Barcelona or Rome. About the same climate.
Madrid too hot in summer, and bit cold in winter. Milan is too hot/humid in summer and can very cold in winter.
Urban layout
Barcelona far ahead. Exceptional architecture of all periods. Birth of modern urban planning was there (Cerda), modernism (Catalan "art nouveau"). Many exceptional architects.
Parks
Maybe Madrid for the Retiro or Rome for the Villa Borghese that lies in the very center
Public transport/road infrastructure
Madrid. Very good, clean and modern metro, wide afficient Avenues. Barcelona not far behind. Worst is Rome, it is just impossible to move in that city, where public transport of almos non-existant.
Architecture
Barcelona has everything an architect could dream of. Rome is obviously exceptional for its antic ruins, and the renaissance architecture, but seem nothing happened there since the 1700's.
Streetlife
Madrid or Barcelona. All kind of streets; big tree-lined Avenues from tiny medival streets. Passeig de Gracia, Gran Via, etc. Nothing like that in Rome or Milan.
Entertainment/Nightlife
Madrid or Barcelona
Dining/Cuisine
Madrid or Barcelona. Italian food is extraordinary, but unfortunally Rome seems now to have only horrible fast foods for tourits.
Culture (Museums, Art.etc)
Madrid. The Prado is probably one of the 3 or 4 best meseums in the world. Also Madrid is the heart of the Spanish-speaking culture in Europe.
People (Friendliness.etc)
Madrid
Cost of living/Livability
All of them are very expensive
In my view, Rome comes out on top in all major respects, except for location, where Milan probably beats them all, followed by Barcelona, from a pan-European perspective rather than a strictly national one.
Having said that, Italy has fallen behind in infrastructure investment over the past 20 years or so, while Spain has been relatively dynamic. Hence both Madrid and Barcelona, especially the respective metropolitan areas as a whole, may beat both Milan and Rome in terms of road infrastructure and amenities, even urban layout. Also, while I am sure that Milan is more expensive than Rome, not sure how they compare to Madrid and Barcelona, and how the latter two compare to each other. On those aspects I would defer to someone who has lived in at least one city in both countries and has studied all four in terms of cost of living.
To give an example of the practical problems in Rome, they cannot build modern underground garages because there is almost a 100% probability of making major archeological discoveries, which would bring any such project to a halt. As a result, triple, even quadruple parking, on the sidewalk and into the street, is quite common, and on some very narrow streets, making even walking with a stroller, for example, almost impossible. It's not so bad in Milan where double parking is common, but not triple, even quadruple. Not sure of the situation in Madrid and Barcelona.
You left out one major criteria, the probability of scoring gainful employment, in which respect I would feel more confident about Milan than any of the others.
Otherwise, on balance, I give the advantage to Rome.
Please... if there wasn't such a bad unemployment, there wouldn't be any doubt: Barcellona is by far and by large more livable than Rome and Milan.
Rome offers more archaeological areas, but that's all: when it comes to streetlife, nature, recreational opportunities Barcellona - compared to Rome - is on another planet.
I lived in Rome for five years; it's really a stressful, exhausting city.
Also - outside its small historical center - it's even an ugly city.
Last edited by italianuser; 03-04-2013 at 06:35 AM..
Urban layout: Rome. They've done a good job of mixing the old with the new.
Really? I guess you haven't seen the real Rome outside the historical center
New architecture in Rome is AWFUL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by domfromco
Parks: Rome. I haven't seen anything on the level of Villa Borghese in the other cities
Never liked Villa Borghese.
Never.
Dirty, gritty and quite neglected... also, there's a lack of facilities compared to other urban parks such as Central Park.
In five years that i lived in Rome I strolled through Villa Borghese maybe ten times: I din't see the appeal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by domfromco
Architecture: Rome. Walking through neighborhoods like Trastevere feels like you're on the set of a movie.
Yeah... if you like graffiti, decay and filth
Quote:
Originally Posted by domfromco
Streetlife: Rome. Definitely the most exciting of the cities I named.
Yeah... streetlife in Rome is amazing... if you like being surrounded by a chaotic rush hour that lasts 24 hours per day: traffic in Rome is comparable to some asian cities
Quote:
Originally Posted by domfromco
Entertainment/Nightlife: Rome. The Spanish party longer but I think Italians party the hardest.
Absolutely not...
Quote:
Originally Posted by domfromco
People (Friendliness.etc): Rome. Milanese are more northern. Catalans don't stand out. Romans are pretty friendly.
I lived in Rome for five years: the amount of rude people was unbelievable. And unbearable.
Last edited by italianuser; 03-04-2013 at 07:31 AM..
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