Numbeo sent me this by email. The most expensive countries in the world to live in.
| Top 10 | Cost of Living Index |
|---|---|
| Bermuda | 146.04 |
| Switzerland | 123.35 |
| Norway | 100.90 |
| Iceland | 94.86 |
| Barbados | 92.37 |
| Jersey | 92.02 |
| Israel | 88.05 |
| Denmark | 84.12 |
| Bahamas | 84.00 |
| Singapore | 83.98 |
I would have thought Singapore, but I knew Norway was up there.
I am thrilled to see Colombia as a dark green country. It’s cheap there. I love it.
By the way, Colombia just got rid of all its investor visas. They don’t want rich westerners going there and driving up the prices. It’s brilliant.
i wonder if norway would be up there if their price of alcohol wasnt that high 
it goes without spaying that it is needless to sway
if i do slay so myself
it needed to be staid
Numbeo’s cost of living index is out for 2022. Vancouver is 103 on that list. Most things here are relatively cheap except property.
| Top 20 | Cost of Living Index |
|---|---|
| Hamilton, Bermuda | 142.1 |
| Basel, Switzerland | 127.0 |
| Zurich, Switzerland | 120.8 |
| Lausanne, Switzerland | 119.7 |
| Zug, Switzerland | 118.5 |
| Bern, Switzerland | 116.1 |
| Santa Barbara, CA, United States | 112.2 |
| George Town, Cayman Islands | 107.2 |
| Geneva, Switzerland | 107.1 |
| Honolulu, HI, United States | 102.7 |
| New York, NY, United States | 100.0 |
| San Francisco, CA, United States | 99.6 |
| Nassau, Bahamas | 97.0 |
| Oslo, Norway | 93.5 |
| Seattle, WA, United States | 92.9 |
| Stavanger, Norway | 91.0 |
| Oakland, CA, United States | 90.1 |
| Bergen, Norway | 90.0 |
| Anchorage, AK, United States | 88.0 |
| Trondheim, Norway | 86.7 |
i call bs, there is no way that living in amsterdam is cheaper than 3 other dutch cities lol
edit: nevermind its all correct lol
quality of life via their menu, surely thats the only stat that really matters 
That is foolish nonsense. As if quality of life can be measured by:
Those are the metrics they use. They are all important, but nowhere near complete.
You can add to that?
I can easily add to it, but only with items that are not easily quantifiable.
All of these things are critical for quality of life, at least for mine. That’s just off the top of my head. I bet I could come up with many more but those will do for now.
You’ve made some excellent points here. Let’s look at them.
Define ugly area? Inspired to do what? And why is this a huge issue to you?
Beauty can be found anywhere, if you look for it.
I can’t imagine anyone loving cold weather and I’m guessing that’s the worst part of living in Canada.
I thought this was an especially interesting point because I wonder why you would need recreation to be included in quality of life. I mean, I believe everyone needs to be able to have fun but like beauty it can be found anywhere.
Is it a fail if you can’t or your city isn’t?
I suppose you have to know your community to answer that.
Your wording is offensive here. Every educated person I’ve ever met was a buffoon.
You need a bike lane to experience good quality of life?
And with this last point I can tell you I must be suffering from a terrible quality of life because apart from loving the weather here, none of these points offer me a better quality of life. I’m guessing that apart from the cold weather you all experience, all those points provide you with the best quality of life anyone could hope for.
Well, I think each of us has to choose for ourselves what we find beautiful and what we find ugly. I generally find ocean-shores beautiful, but my years in Bogotá and MedellĂn taught me that I could also find great beauty living in the middle of the mountains. I found far less beauty 25 years ago when I lived in the foothills of Calgary. I’m surprised I need to explain it but the reason this is a huge issue to me is because I love beauty. I love looking outside and remarking to myself how stunning the North Shore mountains look when they’re snow-capped or how pretty the ocean is. I miss that in places I find ugly.
I don’t think beauty can be found everywhere, honestly. At least not the type of beauty I can appreciate. If others see beauty in places I find ugly, more power to them.
Correct. It is absolutely horrible in most of the country. Vancouver is pretty good (Seattle weather) and we usually get no snow, but it’s still rainy and cool-ish for 4 months which drastically affects my quality of life. I get fat every year around this time and lose it all in the summer. It’s stupid.
Again, I’m surprised I need to explain this but to me (and to many), recreation is totally critical to quality of life. We ride our bicycles and scooters through some of the most beautiful areas in the world. I live a couple of minutes from an Olympic-size pool complex with separate diving pools and hot soaking pools. A few meters from our office is the art gallery and the concert hall. We can rent a couple of kayaks for $8/hr and take them out on the Pacific Ocean (or a sheltered inlet) any time we want. I value that these opportunities are available to us here., and these things greatly improve my quality of life. Others may value things like shooting ranges or racetracks. I don’t care about those things but I understand that those who do will have a better quality of life if those things are nearby.
Vancouver isn’t a friendly city. I would definitely prefer it to be more friendly. It’s not a deal-breaker but it’s something I would change if I could.
I can honestly say Vancouver’s culture doesn’t match mine, nor does it match the culture I hope to cultivate within myself. Again, not a deal breaker as I still live here, but I would prefer if we matched a bit more. Everything is becoming race-based here. Natives get special rights. I disagree with all of this and prefer a colour-blind world like the one our generation tried and failed to create. I settle for having sets of friends who better match (or at least coexist well with) my cultural ideals and the ideals Isa and I hope to cultivate.
My wording may have been offensive to you but the point stands wherever you land on the wording. Do you meet people you find interesting to talk to or not? In Vancouver (and anywhere in Canada), I definitely do. They are usually not friendly but they are educated, sophisticated, well travelled people that I enjoy talking to. If you prefer talking to people who have different traits, living in an area where you encounter those people will improve your quality of life.
I do, yes, but your needs may be different. I know people whose quality of life is drastically affected by how many ice hockey rinks are nearby and open for public use. I know others whose quality of life is affected by how many drive-through fast-food places are nearby. Everyone has different needs. Bike lanes are one of my needs, but they may not be yours. If they’re not, you will likely have different needs that I don’t care about.
Michele, my needs for a high quality of life are obviously different from yours. That doesn’t make either right or wrong. My main point is that the short list that Numbeo uses is not sufficient to gauge quality of life.
i prefer colder weather over hot weather and would welcome a nice pack of snow… havent seen one in years
the netherlands is on top of the list of countries with best quality of life… its a perfect list!
I can describe with accuracy the beauty in every place I’ve ever lived and I have a very beautiful view from my sunroom. The point is, you found beauty in Calgary, even if not as much, so what was beautiful there?
You don’t need to explain anything. I completely understand where you’re coming from. It is just nice to read your world view instead of your political rant.
So weather there affects more than your quality of life. It affects your weight but clearly a beautiful view trumps nasty weather which tells me weather shouldn’t even be on your PowerPoint list of things that are important to quality of life.
How often did you take advantage of those city amenities last year?
That’s a shame, especially if you live in such a beautiful place. That is one of the nicest things in Oklahoma. Everyone is friendly and helpful.
That is unfortunate when you have all those art museums and concert halls to explore every day.
With the advent of the internet, interesting people are a click away. Amazingly, not all are educated nor do they have to be, imo. That you think interesting people must be educated is narrow and tells me exactly what you think about people less educated than yourself and that’s just not pretty, Reg, although I can easily overlook your flaw because I know you’ve been brainwashed by the educational institutions.
No doubt. I’ve never lived near any bike lanes so it’s nothing I miss. Where I live, you have to go uptown to find traffic so there’s plenty of space to ride the road. For me, a grocery story nearby is important and a body of water.
They say an ice bath resembles cold weather.
lol yes they say the same about taking cold showers, but i have to disagree
Calgary is clean, shiny, safe and new. Banff is two hours away. There’s very little homelessness or visible drug use (and there’s plenty of both in Vancouver, the latter being the sole cause of the former). Calgary is a good place to live, but I am happy I left it 22 years ago. Everyone has their preferences.
Of course weather should be on the list. That doesn’t mean it will always prevail in my decision making, but it needs to be considered. My current hope is that I can go back to spending winters in Colombia but several things have to work out for that to happen. If I achieve that, I hope to live in Cartagena which also doesn’t have perfect weather (it is often too hot) but at least I can cycle and swim there year-round.
Perhaps 50 or 60 times. At least once a week.
The USA is more friendly in general than Canada. Our eastern provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) are all very friendly but Vancouver is not.
Michele, education comes in many forms, not just from institutions. Some of the most educated people I have ever known have never been to school. That said, as a general rule, I prefer people who speak and even think in an educated way, regardless of how they gained those skills.
Me too! The grocery store should be a walk away, ideally.
