Posted on 09/23/2007 5:58:50 AM PDT by WesternCulture
Stockholm is the world's greenest, most livable city, according to a survey carried out by the Reader's Digest magazine.
Using a range of sources, environmental economist Matthew Kahn, from UCLA's Institute of the Environment, ranked 72 major international in terms of how 'green and livable' they are.
Environmental legislation, energy prices, waste production and disposal and available parkland were among the factors considered.
Stockholm was ranked number one, followed by Oslo in second place.
"You shouldn't boast, but Stockholm is the world's most beautiful city," said mayor Kristina Axén Olin .
"I get happy every time I come back to Stockholm after being away. We probably don't realise what a unique environment we have," she told Aftonbladet.
A third Scandinavian city, Copenhagen, was ranked tenth, but the top ten was dominated by German and French cities.
Munich was third, with Frankfurt (5th), Stuttgart (6th) and Dusseldorf (8th) completing a German quadruple. Paris was rated the fourth most livable city in the world, with Lyon and Nantes in 7th and 9th places respectively.
The first American city to make an appearance was New York, in 15th spot, while London only managed 27th place.
Reader's Digest also ranked countries and, as is usually the case with these kinds of surveys, the Nordic nations grabbed the top spots. Finland was top, given high marks "for air and water quality, a low incidence of infant disease, and how well it protects citizens from water pollution and natural disasters".
Iceland came second, with Norway and Sweden in third and fourth places.
“You shouldn’t boast, but Stockholm is the world’s most beautiful city,” said mayor Kristina Axén Olin .
- Personally I (and probably Hannibal Lecter too) would say Florence, Italy is even more beautiful than Stockholm, but let’s forget about sheer beauty and environmenal issues for a while. Instead, lets have a look at something that Reader’s Digest perhaps didn’t dare to bring up; Swedish standard of living. Reader’s Digest is one of many publications that for long have printed articles about the ‘doomed’ Swedish/Scandinavian Model of Society. I have actually come across Reader’s Digest articles from the 1950’s predicting that the economy of the ‘Socialist’ Scandinavian countries soon would collapse. Today, more than five decades later, Scandinavia is THE richest part of the world - and the gap to other rich countries is widening.
Personally, I hate Socialism, but I love Scandinavia. To me, Scandinavian economy is about Volvo, Nokia, Ericsson, IKEA, Electrolux, Lego, Carlsberg, SAAB, not Socialism. Scandinavia is one of the best examples of CAPITALIST success on this earth.
Scandinavians (although not Scandinavian companies) might suffer from higher taxes than US citizens. However, their wages are higher and they also get something in return for the taxes they pay. Scandinavians have choosen one way of organizing society and US Americans another. As long as we all believe in freedom, democracy, free markets and hard work there’s no reason for mud throwing between our different parts of the world. Let’s leave that activity to our spoiled, internet abusing youngsters.
Like said above, the standard of living in Sweden is indeed a very high one. Poverty is extinct. Whether one looks at building standards, private consumtion, leisure activities, public environments, income levels, one has to admit few other nations can compete.
Stockholm is just like NYC, Paris, Milan and London in the sense that lots of the inhabitants chose to live in apartments/condos instead of nice single houses, even if they easily could afford to do so. Still, there are a lot of nice houses in the suburbs of Stockholm. An area like Djursholm (one of the richest in the whole of Scandinavia) is worth a trip in itself.
Anyhow, to give you some kind of idea of how life in Stockholm is like in the case of ordinary Stockholm residents who do not wish to live in small, expensive apartments in the inner parts of the city:
An average Stockholm couple together earning around $ 110 000 yearly could afford these things in life (something most Europeans could not)
- A house like this (not big, but I think it’s a nice house for this kind of money):
- A summer house (very common in Sweden) like this:
- A car like this (Volvo V70 is the best selling car in Sweden):
http://www.volvocars.se/All-Cars-MY08/Volvo-V70-new/
(The all new V70 and XC70 will soon be for sale in the US)
So, would I like to live in Stockholm?
Nope. I prefer Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city. But that’s another story.
praytell, how much is that 110 thou in euros?
praytell, how much is that 110 thou in euros?
Sweden hasn’t introduced the Euro, we still have the krona (SEK), but $110 000 is around €78 000.
An average couple, both working full time (which is something very common in Sweden) earns less than $110 000, but wages are higher in Stockholm than they are in Sweden in general.
Have you visited or lived in the US?
Nice! You make some very good points. But I prefer to live like this:
http://www.deervalleylodging.com/resort.php/DVL/OVERVIEW
[just kidding, I don’t live like that, although I do live just a few miles from there and do enjoy some great mountain resort skiing]
I have to say, I’m quite miffed not to see Little Rock on the list.
“Have you visited or lived in the US?”
- Yes, I visited Florida in the early 1990’s. Great experience. USA lived up to, or even exceeded, all of my expectations and everyone I talked to was very friendly.
The US is absolutely one of the best places to live in the world.
I forgot to say the quality of Swedish Muslims is a very high one too (even though I think we have too much of them).
The entire population of Sweden is about the same as one American city, Los Angeles.
Most Swedes moved to Nebraska in the 1800’s. We left enough folks in the ‘old country’ to keep it nice for our visits. :-)
That place seems really nice.
I’m not into skiing myself, but skiing is, naturally, very popular in Sweden. There’s no classy skiing resort in the Stockholm area, but there are some really nice ones some hours by car away from the city.
I know from experience that Stockholm is expensive as hell.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
“The entire population of Sweden is about the same as one American city, Los Angeles.”
- Or even less. The metropolitan area of L.A. has over 17 million inhabitants. Sweden has 9.1 million. That’s more or less the same size as Georgia, North Carolina or New Jersey.
Still it’s enough to form a world class national hockey team..
I know from experience that Stockholm is expensive as hell.
- It IS expensive. I’m not so sure the standard of living is higher in Stockholm than in the rest of the country. I’ve heard people from my city say Stockholm seems like a poor city to them. Personally, I don’t know what to think, but Gothenburg is indeed a rich city compared to Europe in general.
By the way, thanks for your posts and views. As you know FR is, ahem, a little American centric and it gets a little boring. You are a good defender of Europe from some of us more jingoistic Americans. Post with assurance that your views are looked forward to.
“Most Swedes moved to Nebraska in the 1800’s. We left enough folks in the ‘old country’ to keep it nice for our visits. :-)”
- I think even more Swedes ended up in Chicago and in Minnesota. I’ve heard somewhere that most of the Danish immigrants to the US settled in Nebraska on the other hand.
“By the way, thanks for your posts and views. As you know FR is, ahem, a little American centric and it gets a little boring. You are a good defender of Europe from some of us more jingoistic Americans. Post with assurance that your views are looked forward to.”
- Sincere thanks.
I hope it shows that I am very pro-American too. Many intelligent and well educated Europeans admire the US and are aware that Europe and the US both have a lot to gain from collaboration.
Furthermore, I don’t think The US should or even could become like Scandinavia, just like I don’t think Scandinavia should become like USA.
We Scandinavians should stick to our egalitarian, Lutheran culture and make the most of it and I think Americans are right in defending their tradition of individualism and small government.
As long as there is freedom, work ethics and patriotism both our parts of the world will prosper.
While Florence is fine(cept all the pickpockets), I think Santorini is more beautiful. Since I've never lived in Europe, but have been all over it, I really can't say much about livability. On looks though, I think Rome in 2001 after they cleaned it up(first 6 months after 2000 new year) was stunning. It's gone downhill since, but it was just amazing when I was there in June 2001.
What the hell has happened to the Readers Digest?
syndrome? but seriously I would only buy cars made by germans, belgians and swedes. the top guy to the pinmaker are going to be pretty well educated and one would hope motivated/organized.
Sweden was one of the European nations that colonized America. The colony named Nya Sverige/New Sweden was later lost to the Dutch.
However, today we aren’t angry with them because of that. The Dutch have done a lot of good things for Sweden. One of them is helping us found Gothenburg, the city where I live. The success of that enterprise meant that Denmark was through as a great Northern European power. Swedish ships didn’t have to pass the strait between what today is the Southernmost part of Sweden (Skåne/Scania) in order to reach the seas and Denmark lost a lot of toll incomes and later on they lost several decisive wars against Sweden.
I wonder if the Danes ever will forgive us for stealing large part of their territory? Anyhow, I love Denmark. It’s also a very nice part of Europe.
About New Sweden;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sweden
“syndrome? but seriously I would only buy cars made by germans, belgians and swedes. the top guy to the pinmaker are going to be pretty well educated and one would hope motivated/organized.”
- For some reason, many Americans are very unpatriotic about their cars.
Are they really that bad?
Milton Friedman appreciated your point. A Swede once boasted to him that "We have no poverty in Sweden." Friedman said "That’s very interesting. In America we have no poverty among Swedes either."
As a part-Finn, I might point out that a major portion of the colony of New Sweeden were Finns, then a part of the Kingdom of Sweeden.
YES, a very long time ago, when I was living in southeastern PA, I did some serious historical research in the local historical society libraries (Delware County, Chester County, etc.) about the 17th century settlement of the area. It was fascinating to read some of the earliest accounts and see maps etc. of when Swedish forts and settlements were established along the Delaware River. Some of the very earliest European settlers in bits of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey came from Sweden. Then they were overwhelmed by the Dutch, and soon after the English, but in a number of towns and cities the Swedes were there first! (speaking of Europeans, of course)
It was even called “New Sweden” for a few years, but then the Dutch sent a military expedition and put a stop to that, and then the English, and so on......
funny, I was writing my similar post and hadn’t seen that you’d posted this...... got distracted by answering an email
This is evidence, that, unless the government is willing, a la Stalin, Hitler, or Mao, to ruthlessly crush liberty, it survives and thrives, as free people use what they have - their brains, to develop technologies and techniques to maintain and expand freedom, and its corollary - prosperity.
Are they really that bad?
I don't know about American cars in general but I've had two Ford trucks now and they were fine.
Perhaps, but could they beat the Ducks? 8^)
- So, there are no people of Swedish ancestry that live in trailer parks and such places in the US?
In that case, I think it’s due to our Lutheran work ethics.
We’re not like the Japanese, but neither are we like the French and the end result of Swedish labor is much more impressive that that of these countries. IMO Volvo is a much nicer car than anything that comes out of Japan and I’d like to see the Japanese build a fighter plane like the JAS Gripen :-)
But I would love to visit Japan and France is a great place (been there twice) as long as you try to be polite and speak a little french.
Back when Scandinavians were humble enough to believe in God tens of thousands became Mormon and moved on the Mormon Trail to Utah and Idaho. There’s one county in Utah that has the highest ratio of Danes outside of Danish territories.
“I don’t know about American cars in general but I’ve had two Ford trucks now and they were fine.”
- American Ford makes some attractive cars, especially the new Mustang. Another great American car is the Cadillac Escalade. The list goes on.
If you are American and interested in Cars, you have plenty of reasons to be proud.
SAAB and Volvo are great, but my favourite Swedish car is this:
Drool!
looks like an ikea showroom.
re: Koenigsegg
Looks fabulous, but if it doesn’t get at least 40 mpg then Al Gore won’t buy it for that reckless son of his.....
Yeah, it’s a big joke. I could just strangle the policy wonks in political debates who bring up Sweden, as if the US is remotely comparable in any reasonable sense.
“While Florence is fine(cept all the pickpockets), I think Santorini is more beautiful. Since I’ve never lived in Europe, but have been all over it, I really can’t say much about livability. On looks though, I think Rome in 2001 after they cleaned it up(first 6 months after 2000 new year) was stunning. It’s gone downhill since, but it was just amazing when I was there in June 2001.”
“- While Florence is fine(cept all the pickpockets)”
- Hannibal Lecter and I never experience any problem with them.
“I think Santorini is more beautiful.”
- Santorini is indeed beautiful too. I haven’t been there but it’s famous for its beauty and I don’t think the images I’ve seen lie.
What I like so much about Florence is the classical architecture. The dome, Santa Maria del Fiore, is one of the most magnificent this ever built by man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_del_Fiore
It is also of historical importance out of many reasons.
When it stood clear that Brunelleschi’s cupola design was a success, people began to think that the ‘dark ages’ were over (the notion of ‘the dark ages’ stems from the Renaissance), they realized that even the ancient Romans could not have constructed something like this and more and more people started to talk of their own time as a “golden age”.
It is a human right to learn about the Renaissance. The Renaissance is an extremely important and very inspiring part of world history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Renaissance
By the way, Rome is very beautiful too.
- Some Koenigseggs are not especially appealing from an aesthetic point of view, but I’d say these images are.
http://www.x-t-c.com/wallpapers/koenigsegg_01.htm
Anyhow, the foremost reason to buy one is the performance.
But driving my 200 hp Volvo V70 on an empty German Autobahn is a rather nice driving experience too. Can’t wait to do it again.
“Perhaps, but could they beat the Ducks? 8^)”
- Of course not.
But at least Sweden has managed to become World champions AS WELL AS Olympic champions of Ice Hockey in the same year.
No other country has.
Maybe our environmentalist hero and junk science addict Al Gore would approve of this 1018 bhp ethanol fueled Koenigsegg?
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/02/koenigsegg-drops-a-duo-ccgt-and-1018-hp-biofuel-ccxr
Feel better. These ranking things are generally bogus. You can manipulate the results by throwing out variables that cause the rankings to come out contrary to your preconceived desires. Conversely you can also stack the deck by including variables that duplicate factors already in your formula. For ex, this survey included energy prices, waste production/disposal and available parkland. It also included environmenal legislation. The first three are not independent of the last one.
With Sweden on top, I doubt suicide rate was considered as an indicator of the quality of life.
Whatever! If your “summer house” needs a fireplace, you’re waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too far north!
I’m not a car person (I love motorcycles) but that is one beautiful piece of machinery!
“As a part-Finn, I might point out that a major portion of the colony of New Sweeden were Finns, then a part of the Kingdom of Sweeden.”
- That’s kinda strange. Finns can defend themselves against the nation that defeated Hitler, namely Soviet, but not against a bunch of pot smoking Dutch???? :-)
Did the Dutch invade New Sweden on Midsummer’s Eve???? :-)
By the way, I have relatives in Finland. My father and I once visited them during the period of Midsummer. Their neighbors managed to burn their house down while drunk.
Johnny Rotten, legendary punk rock star and former singer of The Sex Pistols once visited Finland on a Midsummer’s Eve. Afterwards he said the drunkeness of the Finns was the worst thing he had experienced in his entire life. I mean, JOHNNY ROTTEN said this, not Barry Manilow.
I have to admit Swedes are pretty good at drinking too much too.
“With Sweden on top, I doubt suicide rate was considered as an indicator of the quality of life.”
- Swedish suicide rates are no longer high. Today, they’re average compared to other nations.
Do your homework.
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