Is Melbourne really the best city in the world?

from w
A survey - not by academics but by readers - puts Melbourne and Auckland as the best cities in the world. I wonder though.  (I was impressed with Auckland on the brief visit we had there, lots of South Pacific islanders and Fiji Indian shops which I like.) Melbourne has too much high-rise for me and some suburban areas are chockers with narrow streets like Prahran, a  bit claustrophobic for me. However there are delightful aspects - great sport, education opportunities, parks,  all kinds of people, every man has a castle to live in - well, not all.  Good food, music, art, libraries. Apparently people are mostly friendly  towards visitors compared with other places. Two are my photos, the one with the traffic is from the internet.

Of course Geelong wasn't mentioned - our city is too small to make the list, but certainly it's more liveable than Melbourne!  I wonder how Pacific cities rate, such as Suva.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine names world’s friendliest and unfriendliest cities

·         AUGUST 18, 2014 12:00PM

US AUSSIES and New Zealanders tend to get annoyed when our accents get mistaken for one another, but there’s one thing we do share. We both can lay claim to hosting the world’s friendliest city, with Melbourne and Auckland jointly taking top honours in a new survey.

Another southern hemisphere destination — South Africa’s Johannesburg — didn’t fare quite as well, being named as the most unfriendly.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s annual Readers’ Choice Survey says it was “no surprise readers adore Melbourne,” calling it Australia’s “capital of cool.”Aucklanders were praised by readers for their “humour” and a view on life that’s “something to aspire to attain.”

Australia scored a friendly city double, with Sydney also making the top 10 alongside a global scattering that includes Cambodia’s “awe-inspiring” temple gateway Siem Reap and “vibrant” Dublin.The United States fielded two cities onto the friendly list, with Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, each winning praise.

CN Traveler says its “subjective” survey asked readers to rate cities on a number of factors, including “friendliness.”It said the results didn’t always reflect the local residents.

Such is the case with Beijing, which made number six on the unfriendly list after being dissed for its “terrible pollution” and “dirty streets and hideous traffic.”

Stay away from Marseilles. Source: ThinkStock

The Chinese capital was joined by the French port of Marseilles (”Stay away! Threatening”), “overcrowded and ostentatious” Monaco, “rude” Frankfurt, “forgettable” Cannes and — to compound French ignominy -- “cold and aloof” Paris. Johannesburg was named most unfriendly because, despite being “one of the most beautiful” cities, “safety still remains a serious concern” with one reader calling it “a city of crime and contrasts.”South Africa didn’t come home empty-handed, however. Its coastal city of Cape Town placed eighth on the friendly list, with one reader describing it as “the most amazing place on Earth” thanks to its mix of nature, beaches and mountains.

World’s friendliest cities according to Conde Nast Traveler

1. (tie) Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand

3. Victoria, BC, Canada

4. Charleston, South Carolina

5 (tie) Sydney, Australia and Dublin, Ireland

7. Siem Reap, Cambodia

8. Cape Town, South Africa

9 (tie) Seville, Spain and Savannah, Georgia

11. Budapest, Hungary

World’s unfriendliest cities

1. Johannesburg, South Africa

2. Cannes, France

3. Moscow, Russia

4. Paris, France

5. Marseilles, France

6. Beijing, China

7. Frankfurt, Germany

8. Milan, Italy

9. Monte Carlo, Monaco

10. Nassau, Bahamas

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