Friday, May 28, 2010

Forbes magazine: bastion of useless information

Forbes is running a piece called "The 10 best places to live". No. 1 is Vienna. Ja, hier ist eine gute stadt aber kann mann sprecht Deutsch? What, can't speak German? Well, that won't help you with others on the list such as Zurich, Munich and Dusseldorf. I worked in Zurich and dutifully took by German language lessons and it was all I could do to order lunch and a beer in the language. Vancouver is on the list. It's my home town and is very livable if you like rain and a provincial zeitgeist (you can use German there, too). There isn't a single US city on the list. This is lazy journalism. There is no sociological reason for anyone to live in these places other than the ones that already do. There's the travel brochure and then there's reality. Know a good place to live: Detroit (in 1964), London (in 1967-72), Newport Beach, CA (in 1972-1992), Salzburg (1750). The point is that we all live our lives from the inside out, not the other way around. Are you happy--then you live in the best place on earth.

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