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Paris. Yep, Pâââââris, Fraaaaaance.A big topic. Let's do it, (and be short).
- education : of course traditionally good, but not perfect, with new stupid socialist laws aiming at suppressing pupils notation, more vacations, gender studies in pre-scool and elementary,too many minorities in certain districts (lowering the literacy level) etc.. 8
- safety : depends of the district. Overall average, but getting worse with roma pickpockets, the islamic threat and rampant anti semitism . 6
- things to do : I agree, a lot for those interested in culture-but pretty little if you are a nature buff like me . 8
- corruption : quite a lot of red tape in Town Hall - not to third world levels though ...7
- and my pet peeve : cleanliness : surprisingly good in touristy districts, awful in other parts of the city : 5
I live in the Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida metro area, in the suburbs.
Education: 8
Safety: 9- It depends where you go, as this area is very racially segregated between whites and African-Americans. Many black people live in the "ghetto" poor areas in St. Pete, Tampa, and Clearwater. Some of these areas may be dangerous for a white person to drive through. The suburbs are very safe.
Healthcare: 4- It's good healthcare (if you have it), but most of my family (my mom and sister) don't have insurance because their job doesn't provide health insurance. Medications and doctor's appointments are very expensive without insurance.
Things to do (cultural/nightlife/nature): 8. There's clubs in Tampa (in a dangerous area-Ybor City). We're real close to nice beaches, and it's always sunny here.
Corruption: 2
Cleanliness: 10.
Personally, I would give Tampa a 5 in that area, a 6 if I were being generous. It's a rather sleepy town with not much in cultural amenities. It does have AMAZING beaches though...probably the best on the continental U.S.
Safety more than a 8 and Cleanliness more than a 9
Seattle has around the same homicide rate (3.7 per 100k) "as reported" in countries like Sao Tome and Principe, Egypt, Uzbekistan and India
Higher than "reported" in countries where more than half of the population have to live on $2 per day like Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, Bangladesh and Timor-Leste
My country has a homicide rate of 0.9 per 100k and i would barely give it a 8 for Safety.
I don't think there are any million metro's in the world that score higher higher than a 9 in Cleanliness, maybe some city in Japan.
Education: 2. The public education in Yonkers is abysmal by American standards. Everyone who can sends their children to private schools.
Safety: 4. This score is highly dependent on where in Yonkers you live. Where I live (on the Hudson, near Hastings), it's a 7 or 8. In some other parts of Yonkers, it's probably a 3. So I split the middle.
Healthcare: 8. Great hospitals in the area. This score is, of course, assuming you have good insurance (probably true most anywhere in the US).
Things to do (cultural/nightlife/nature): 9. I live 36 minutes from Grand Central via MetroNorth. There's so much to do here that I really have to think about how to spend my free time. I only dock off a point for that 36-minute 'commute'.
Corruption: 6. New York has the worst bureaucracy I have ever experienced in the US. With bureaucracy comes corruption (I have plenty of experience with this from Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, India, etc.). This is how I come up with this score.
Cleanliness: 4, Like "Safety", this is highly dependent on which part of Yonkers you are in. Where I live, I'd give it an 8. In other parts of town, it's definitely a 3 or 4.
Overall: 5.5
NYC, like many huge cities, is hard to give such ratings for. Yonkers is essentially a northern extension of the Bronx and a southern extension of the rest of Westchester, so it can vary so much. Contrary to popular belief, more of Yonkers is nice than it is dumpy.
Education. Public education is very good, but under strain from budget cuts. A work disruption made a late start to the school year.
Three universities that are fairly well respected. BCIT a good polytechnic is also well respected. Several community colleges as well.
Safety. I'd say 10. Bad things can happen anywhere, but Vancouver is a safe city. Women and the elderly are seen walking alone at night. In some of the darker suburbs, maybe not as much…but then most of those suburbs aren't a walkable as Vancouver's downtown is. I don't feel unsafe anywhere.
Healthcare I'm a very lucky and healthy person, so my personal experience is small. However I have always received prompt care. Access is incredible. Many, many walk-in clinics and several hospitals in the area.
My family and friends who have had much more involvement in healthcare have received excellent care. One friends throat cancer experience was an example. He raved about he was just guided through the whole thing by caring people. He is now cancer free. My mother has had much, much more with a brain tumour, breast cancer, both hips replaced…she has survived all this amazingly. She now receives home care at a very low cost through her local government health unit.
Corruption Hard to say. At a city level I would assume it's non-existent or pretty low. There is a group in my neighbourhood that is taking the city to court over an alleged illegal deal made to get a new tower put up in our area. They are upset over the height mostly.
Cleanliness Very clean. The rain helps with that There is a few blocks though in the downtown eastside, which always seem grungy and littered. Tourists remark a lot on who clean the city is. I guess it depends where you come from.
Weather. 9. I know people HATE rain, it's raining right now actually, but I don't. Vancouver's rain is more drizzle than downpours and freshens the air and makes the area incredibly verdant. Summers are usually good, this summer was excellent. However as shocking as it is for some people to believe, many of us here welcomed the rain after such a dry summer. Give us a few weeks though and we will complain, until the next sunny day when we look across the harbour to the mountains, and forget all about it again.
We don't get much if any snow in the winter, but it's always available on the mountains if you crave it.
Cost of Living. VERY subjective. For me, I'm fortunate and am at a stage in my life where the mortgage is done, and my partner still works. Our daily expenses are cheaper than if we lived in Toronto. Property tax etc is cheaper here. I find restaurants as well seem overall to be less expensive in Vancouver than Toronto. I'm using Toronto as a benchmark, since it's probably the only other city in Canada I would live in, even though I LOVE Montreal and haven't' been to Halifax yet.
I must of been out to lunch yesterday…I only gave weather a grade.
Education 8
Safety 10
Healthcare 9
Corruption 9
Cleanliness 9
Cost of Living 8
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There is a few blocks though in the downtown eastside, which always seem grungy and littered. Tourists remark a lot on who clean the city is. I guess it depends where you come from.
