2009 Mercer QOL Rankings: Honolulu & SF top US cities; Atlanta top US City for Infrastructure

[hsw]

Fairly meaningless rankings

Know many wealthy guys in US who are considering relocating to Geneva for tax reasons; has smooth roads and proximity to Germany for great driving, but crappy weather vs SF/LA

QOL in commie places like EU is arguably best for those who are lazy and want a well-paid government job from which one cannot be fired (or have a large inheritance)....sort of like the many $100K+/yr government employees in City of SF

If middle-income, would argue QOL is highest for guys who live and work in places like suburban Dallas or Chicago or Silicon Valley; these guys have co.-paid healthcare (and US has most of world's most talented and highly paid doctors); live in a newer house w/modern HVAC on plenty of land; drive a new Accord/Camry to office in a nearby suburb...and kids can pursue entry to world's leading colleges (and industries) which are all mysteriously based in CA or Northeast

US is land of upward mobility; most of today's wealthy (see Forbes 400 rankings and bios) in US grew up in middle-income households...Switzerland is a great tax haven and playground nr Paris, German autobahns and Monaco area for those who already have lots of bucks and are semi-retired/retired

[grapico]

Originally Posted by hsw

Fairly meaningless rankings

Know many wealthy guys in US who are considering relocating to Geneva for tax reasons; has smooth roads and proximity to Germany for great driving, but crappy weather vs SF/LA

QOL in commie places like EU is arguably best for those who are lazy and want a well-paid government job from which one cannot be fired (or have a large inheritance)....sort of like the many $100K+/yr government employees in City of SF

If middle-income, would argue QOL is highest for guys who live and work in places like suburban Dallas or Chicago or Silicon Valley; these guys have co.-paid healthcare (and US has most of world's most talented and highly paid doctors); live in a newer house w/modern HVAC on plenty of land; drive a new Accord/Camry to office in a nearby suburb...and kids can pursue entry to world's leading colleges (and industries) which are all mysteriously based in CA or Northeast

US is land of upward mobility; most of today's wealthy (see Forbes 400 rankings and bios) in US grew up in middle-income households...Switzerland is a great tax haven and playground nr Paris, German autobahns and Monaco area for those who already have lots of bucks and are semi-retired/retired

Yeah I stayed with a host family in Geneva, the people there I met aren't too wealthy, live pretty frugal and just have a nice city. The guy I stayed with actually sold high end bar equipment. I also dated a girl from Bern, same thing... not too wealthy, just very nice very clean cities. The swiss has always been concentrated on quality over quantity like Japan...they are both very clean and modern. Overall they put U.S. to absolute shame. Geneva I didn't see as really a SUPER rich area in the city proper, only around the lake, then you get into some very rich zones... Zurich yes, they have diamond encrusted bears just sitting all around city center... these might get stolen anywhere else. Monaco... oh yeah, same with Nice, Marseilles, etc. Munich and Salzburg have some very rich zones too.

I can't find the diamond guys, but here are some of the other ones and some cool shots of the city I just googled.

http://community.webshots.com/album/...HrKNVr?start=0

Street parade was also good that year!