Article: Twenty better places to live than Brisbane

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail click here!

Twenty better places to live than Brisbane

Twenty better places to live than Brisbane

    Andrew Macdonald
    From: The Courier-Mail
    August 31, 2011 12:00AM

BRISBANE has failed to sneak into the top 20 of a new list of the world's most liveable cities, despite four other Australian capitals making the top 10.

According to Economist Intelligence Unit's latest survey, Melbourne has taken top honour, with Sydney (sixth) and Perth and Adelaide (tied eighth) also rating honourable mentions. Brisbane came in at No.21, with a score of 94.2 out of 100, compared with Melbourne's 97.5.

The survey rates cities on political and social stability, infrastructure, transport, crime rates and the quality of health care. The standard of cultural events, the environment, recreational facilities and diversity are included.

Survey author Jon Copestake said although Brisbane had finished lower than other capitals, the difference in liveability between the Australian cities was not huge.

"In terms of all the Australian cities, there really is very little in terms of points scores and we regard any scores over 80 as achieving the very top tier of liveability so at above 90, you are very well into that area," he said.

"The areas generally where a smaller city does worse are things like recreational availability and cultural activities.

"It's just that there's slightly less to see or do."

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said that while the surveys made interesting reading, the events in Brisbane this weekend highlighted its liveability.

"On Saturday we will have Riverfire to signal the start of the Brisbane Festival and on Sunday there will be 52,000 at Suncorp Stadium for Darren Lockyer's final home and away match for the Broncos."

[ozbob]

A Summary of the Liveability Ranking and Overview August 2011 click here!  (External PDF)

[cartoonbirdhaus]

There's not much difference between scores of 94.2 and 97.3, really. In other words, Brisbane is being given too much credit in this survey! Only slightly less to see or do? That's an understatement! Before anyone starts on the "If ya don't like it, leave!" thing: I'd get out of here if I had the means to do so. Not all of us are here by choice.

By the way, Google Street View's new HD coverage shows the "World's Most Livable City" signs at the council boundary have been taken down. About time.

[SurfRail]

"On Saturday we will have Riverfire to signal the start of the Brisbane Festival and on Sunday there will be 52,000 at Suncorp Stadium for Darren Lockyer's final home and away match for the Broncos."

Bread and circuses, in other words.

[SteelPan]

"On Saturday we will have Riverfire to signal the start of the Brisbane Festival and on Sunday there will be 52,000 at Suncorp Stadium for Darren Lockyer's final home and away match for the Broncos."

Bread and circuses, in other words.

Yeah, here it is 2011 and even the Lord Mayor can only come up with "fireworks" and "thugby league"! 

[AnonymouslyBad]

There's not much difference between scores of 94.2 and 97.3, really. In other words, Brisbane is being given too much credit in this survey! Only slightly less to see or do? That's an understatement! Before anyone starts on the "If ya don't like it, leave!" thing: I'd get out of here if I had the means to do so. Not all of us are here by choice.

What is there to see or do in the other cities?
It's easy for people to complain about the city they live in and think it's "boring", but that's just because they're used to it. It doesn't matter what city it is.

I can't speak for Adelaide and Perth, but tourist attractions notwithstanding I'd be hard pressed to find more to do in Sydney than in Brisbane, despite it having three times more people. I'm not sure if that's a compliment to Brisbane, or an indictment of Sydney

Infrastructure is an area that must bring Brisbane down somewhat (relevant to this forum ).

To be fair to Brisbane, number 21 in the entire world is not exactly a bad rating.
Melbourne obviously deserves its place, and it does well pretty consistently on these "quality of life" surveys, but the other cities seem to fluctuate with each one.

[somebody]

I think there is plenty more to see in Sydney than Brisbane.  Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, Manly Corso, Palm Beach (if you are keen), Centrepoint, Opera House, Harbour.  After removing things with a parallel.  South Bank is debatably worth seeing, but the markets are really only comparable to The Rocks markets.  Then there's the sleaze element which many at least drive by.

[Golliwog]

I don't have a problem with Brisbane. Theres plenty to see and do if you know where to look.

[Cam]

This liveability ranking places far too little emphasis on climate. If it wasn't for Brisbane's considerably better climate for most of the year & cheaper housing than Melbourne and better climate & considerably cheaper housing than Sydney then I wouldn't be living in Brisbane. I've lived in the three cities. I have no allegiance to Brisbane.

If I knew that Brisbane wouldn't have both daylight saving & a considerably better passenger rail service in the next 5-10 years, I'd be relocating my family elsewhere. However, there are improvements in the pipeline for public transport. Also, the proportion of the population of SE Queensland that wants daylight saving is more than 2 to 1 compared to those that don't & this figure is growing every year. It's only for political reasons that we don't have it now. The majority of the population can't be ignored by both major parties indefintely.

[AnonymouslyBad]

I think there is plenty more to see in Sydney than Brisbane.  Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, Manly Corso, Palm Beach (if you are keen), Centrepoint, Opera House, Harbour.  After removing things with a parallel.  South Bank is debatably worth seeing, but the markets are really only comparable to The Rocks markets.  Then there's the sleaze element which many at least drive by.

The beaches - fair enough. No way you can get that in Brisbane so close to the city (though just as many people make the pilgrimage to the Gold Coast).

A lot of the others I'd count as tourist attractions more than anything else; it's good to have them and they make it a nice place to visit, not sure it has much impact on livability though. You don't go up to the top of Centrepoint every Saturday to take in the festivities (there are none).

I don't know, I know Brisbane better than I do Sydney, so it's hard for me to judge. But I know few people (including Sydneysiders) who would rank it as a particularly "weekend friendly" place. To be fair, I think scale has a lot to do with it; for example Brisbane crams so much into the South Bank precinct and a few blocks of the city centre whereas you can find the same things in Sydney, they just might be an hour walk apart. And possibly less patronised as a result.

Wow, I never thought I'd be trying to sell Brisbane.

If I knew that Brisbane wouldn't have both daylight saving & a considerably better passenger rail service in the next 5-10 years, I'd be relocating my family elsewhere. However, there are improvements in the pipeline for public transport. Also, the proportion of the population of SE Queensland that wants daylight saving is more than 2 to 1 compared to those that don't & this figure is growing every year. It's only for political reasons that we don't have it now. The majority of the population can't be ignored by both major parties indefintely.

The problem is that daylight saving would presumably be implemented for the entire state, and there's no way you can get away with giving north Queensland daylight saving. Daylight saving is not suitable for tropical areas.

I know there has been popular debate about giving SE Qld (and only SE Qld) daylight saving, but this would create almost as many issues as it fixes. I'm not opposed to it (I think I'd rather have daylight saving, personally) but I can't see it happening.