Comments on: Places to live http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/07/09/places-to-live/ chapter four - my 30s Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:37:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Going places – Who is Farhan Lalji? http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/07/09/places-to-live/comment-page-1/#comment-459 Going places – Who is Farhan Lalji? Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:27:19 +0000 http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/?p=183#comment-459 [...] the great things abt them for u?” for his blog. It’s a topic I’ve thought about, I wrote a bit of a critical post about Monocle magazine’s top 25 places to live a couple of weeks ago. So this blog post appears [...] [...] the great things abt them for u?” for his blog. It’s a topic I’ve thought about, I wrote a bit of a critical post about Monocle magazine’s top 25 places to live a couple of weeks ago. So this blog post appears [...]

]]> By: Farhan Lalji http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/07/09/places-to-live/comment-page-1/#comment-448 Farhan Lalji Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:40:15 +0000 http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/?p=183#comment-448 Bookstores and parks are on my list as well! Shared green space ranks high on my list, it's just not a deal breaker. You're right no city is perfect, that was what I was trying to communicate. A city might be perfect for one person but totally wrong for another. Everyone needs to find their own perfect city! Bookstores and parks are on my list as well! Shared green space ranks high on my list, it’s just not a deal breaker.

You’re right no city is perfect, that was what I was trying to communicate. A city might be perfect for one person but totally wrong for another. Everyone needs to find their own perfect city!

]]> By: Farhan Lalji http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/07/09/places-to-live/comment-page-1/#comment-447 Farhan Lalji Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:38:20 +0000 http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/?p=183#comment-447 Great comment Adrian. My thinking on this is that we all have different targets on the spectrum between each of the conflicts you've pointed out, so for anyone to say these are the most liveable cities, misses that element. I take special conflict with the fact that the Monocle writers write from the perspective of visitors, they all basically live in London! Look at who lives there, how happy they are, why they choose to live in those cities. My list is pretty short, I love London and Paris, would like to give New York and San Francisco a try. Would also try Sydney and Hong Kong as well. But that's my list. What's yours? Great comment Adrian. My thinking on this is that we all have different targets on the spectrum between each of the conflicts you’ve pointed out, so for anyone to say these are the most liveable cities, misses that element.

I take special conflict with the fact that the Monocle writers write from the perspective of visitors, they all basically live in London!

Look at who lives there, how happy they are, why they choose to live in those cities.

My list is pretty short, I love London and Paris, would like to give New York and San Francisco a try. Would also try Sydney and Hong Kong as well. But that’s my list. What’s yours?

]]> By: Natasja http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/07/09/places-to-live/comment-page-1/#comment-446 Natasja Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:09:26 +0000 http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/?p=183#comment-446 Kudos to Monocle for having a stab at it, though I don't agree with their list I have to say. For all the things I like to see in my favourite cities (good public transport, great museums, great music venues, good food both of the restaurant and the shop variety, great bookstores, good parks, good connections to other places), there's also that undefinable quality that makes a great city a great city to live in. That thing that is hard to quantify, even harder to describe. Something in the air, an energy. Which means that Zurich probably doesn't top my list, but London scores high. Why Barcelona for me doesn't do it, but Madrid does. Oh, and also, there has to be something that you trade off. No city is perfect. And I reckon it's hard to love something which is absolutely perfect. You have to have something that's less good to make you fall in love! Kudos to Monocle for having a stab at it, though I don’t agree with their list I have to say.

For all the things I like to see in my favourite cities (good public transport, great museums, great music venues, good food both of the restaurant and the shop variety, great bookstores, good parks, good connections to other places), there’s also that undefinable quality that makes a great city a great city to live in. That thing that is hard to quantify, even harder to describe. Something in the air, an energy. Which means that Zurich probably doesn’t top my list, but London scores high. Why Barcelona for me doesn’t do it, but Madrid does.

Oh, and also, there has to be something that you trade off. No city is perfect. And I reckon it’s hard to love something which is absolutely perfect. You have to have something that’s less good to make you fall in love!

]]> By: Adrian Short http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/07/09/places-to-live/comment-page-1/#comment-444 Adrian Short Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:12:52 +0000 http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/?p=183#comment-444 If you look at the magazine you'll find that many of Monocle's criteria are the same as your own. They include international air connections, qualitative assessments of public transport and tolerance, ease of starting a business and the murder and burglary rate. What all these things come back to is the fundamental promise and challenge of the city: to enable people to resolve their most basic conflicts. We have a need for individuality and community membership. Solitude and sociability. Work and play. To be connected to a place but not bound to it. It's a hard balancing act to pull off but I believe that mass urban living is the only serious prospect for sustainable and happy human habitation on this planet. It's good for Monocle (among many others) to bring these issues to the fore and encourage more people to join the debate and the action on how to make our cities great places to live. What are your favourite cities? If you look at the magazine you’ll find that many of Monocle’s criteria are the same as your own. They include international air connections, qualitative assessments of public transport and tolerance, ease of starting a business and the murder and burglary rate.

What all these things come back to is the fundamental promise and challenge of the city: to enable people to resolve their most basic conflicts. We have a need for individuality and community membership. Solitude and sociability. Work and play. To be connected to a place but not bound to it. It’s a hard balancing act to pull off but I believe that mass urban living is the only serious prospect for sustainable and happy human habitation on this planet. It’s good for Monocle (among many others) to bring these issues to the fore and encourage more people to join the debate and the action on how to make our cities great places to live.

What are your favourite cities?

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