Top 1000 Cities: Oxford Released Their Annual Top 1000 "Global Cities Index" (Spoiler Alert: USA Wins)
If you want me to take a list seriously, throw "Oxford" somewhere in the title. The University of Oxford is nearly 1000 years old (estimates put it at around 930). They make a dictionary. They do the word of the year (last year's was "brain rot"). That's about all I know them for, but for whatever reason I've always been inclined to take Oxford seriously. Had I seen a global cities index created by anyone else, I likely would have skipped over it. But a global cities index by Oxford Economics (which IS affiliated with the university, I looked it up)... I respect it just barely enough to squeeze a blog out of it. Even if I'm not entirely sure what a "global cities index" is.
According to Oxford Economics, their index is the world's foremost city benchmarking tool. They "bring together an array of indicators drawn from global forecasts and standardized qualitative datasets to assess strengths, weaknesses, and future potential of the world's 1,000 largest cities."
The 1,000 largest cities in the world are measured/ranked across 5 categories: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment, and Governance.
First things first, congratulations to us, the United States of America, for being home to the #1 city in the world – New York City.
1. New York, USA
2. London, UK
3. Paris, France
4. Seattle, USA
5. San Francisco, USA
6. Dublin, Ireland
7. Boston, USA
8. San Jose, USA
9. Tokyo, Japan
10. Zurich, Switzerland
The United States has more cities (30) in the top 100 than any other country. We manage to edge out Australia and Germany, who tie for 2nd place with 5.
1. New York City
4. Seattle
5. San Francisco
7. Boston
8. San Jose
12. Los Angeles
14. Washington D.C.
17. Dallas
28. Houston
31. Atlanta
32. Denver
33. Minneapolis
37. San Diego
41. Phoenix
46. Austin
47. Chicago
52. Miami
53. Portland
56. Philadelphia
59. Salt Lake City
66. Nashville
73. Charlotte
79. Baltimore
81. Orlando
82. Columbus
85. Raleigh
89. Las Vegas
92. Tampa
94. Riverside
95. Madison
Yikes, Chicago. Would have had them as a shoo-in for a top 10 city in America. Same with Miami. I also would have pegged Philadelphia as a better city than Portland, Oregon. I guess Portland has been on the up and up since making drugs illegal again and clearing out those autonomous zones.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, of the 1000 largest cities in the world, here are the 10 lowest-ranked in the United States.
282. Wichita, KS
283. Bakersfield, CA
286. Greensboro, NC
298. Syracuse, NY
300. Akron, OH
310. Dayton, OH
316. Baton Rouge, LA
319. McAllen, TX
324. Toledo, OH
387. New Orleans, LA
Damn, Ohio. Damn, Louisiana. I understand Akron, Dayton, and Toledo. I used to live in Toledo. It was sad. But I've always had New Orleans as one of my favorite cities in America, and they're near the bottom of the barrel in every metric. I guess you don't quite feel the effects of poverty when you're on vacation in the French Quarter.
My favorite of the five metrics to look at is 'Quality of Life'. To me, that's the only metric that matters. Assuming I'm competent enough to find gainful employment in one of the 1000 largest cities in the world, what else matters other than quality of life?
1. Canberra, Australia
2. Bergen, Norway
3. Singapore, Singapore
4. Grenoble, France
5. Bern, Switzerland
6. Oslo, Norway
7. Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
8. Dresden, Germany
9. Ghent, Belgium
10. Paris, France
Singapore, Singapore? Really? You mean to tell me there's not a city in the United States better than Singapore, Singapore?
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Oh, shit, that's right. Singapore is nice. I forgot about that. I think I briefly confused it with India. Singapore is beautiful and 100% spit-free, because anybody caught spitting has their left arm lopped off.
I would set the over/under for the number of times in my life I've heard Canberra, Australia referenced at 2.5. I know nothing of Canberra, Australia. You could have given me 1000 guesses to name the #1 quality-of-life city, and I wouldn't have come up with it. Check out this beautiful Canberra skyline.
This is the second year in a row Canberra has ranked #1 in Oxford's 'Quality of Life' metric. Apparently it's super affordable and easy to rent. There's tons of green space. It's one of the safest cities in the world. Public transportation is actually reliable. The air is fresh. Life expectancy is high. The schools are great. It has the highest employment rate in Australia. Shit. It doesn't sound like the most exciting city in the world, but allegedly they do everything right. Good for them.
And is the quality of life in Paris really that high? I understand the cities in Norway and Switzerland. I'm sure Grenoble, Dresden, and Ghent, Belgium are lovely. But I put Paris in the same category as New York and London. It's on par with them population-wise. I'm surprised a city of nearly 10,000,000 people was able to crack the top 10. Aside from Singapore, which is a little over 6M (also impressive that Singapore is there), the next highest populated city in the top 10 is Oslo, Norway at 750K.
Here are the top 10 quality of life cities in the United States.
13. San Jose
22. Seattle
40. Boston
50. San Francisco
86. New York
110. Bridgeport
120. Minneapolis
129. Omaha
130. Washington D.C.
135. Madison
Is Washington D.C. really that nice a place to live? Politics aside (which is enough in itself to keep me away) I've always heard it was ridiculously expensive and impossibly hot. But based on that list, they must not put too much weight on cost of living. San Jose also gets great marks across the board on Oxford's list. I wouldn't necessarily have guessed it, but that makes enough sense. The weather is perfect, and it doesn't have all the… whatever it is that makes people hate San Francisco.
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I don't know how accurate or how full of shit this list is, but it's fun to look at. I love a good list. Barstool Sports wouldn't exist if it weren't for lists. Hopefully I'll find a new one by the end of the day so I can get another easy blog in. Or maybe I'll make a list of my own. Maybe it'll even be about sports.