>>>On US TV the other night there was an "expert" commenting that people may have free public transport to free healthcare in Europe but they can't afford clothes. There seems to be a smug belief in some quarters that the US is superior in every respect and that you will lose out if the US starts to behave like other countries.
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>>>Meanwhile the latest expert review of quality of life has *again* given top billing to cities in Europe, Canada and Australasia. The top US city was at #39.
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>>>Perhaps the first step in understanding this glaring disparity is to consider what people actually want and how they judge their own quality of life/happiness compared to others.
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>>Are you referring to the Mercer index?
>>http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr
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>I wouldn't put London higher than Paris for infrastructure.

I agree. However, London is not someplace I could judge. I have friends who live in London and come here yearly on vacation and their opinion is quite different. They think the quality of life is much higher here than in London. It is interesting to note what constitutes (according to the indices) quality of life. I've spent some time in some of those cities and lived in a couple. I won't point fingers, but some are not as high a quality of life (IMO) as others lower on the list or many cities here and elsewhere in the world. Some things high in the quality of life standard are not a requirement for me while on the other hand, I've grown accustomed to certain things that would be considered an unecessary convenience in other parts of the world.