Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Seoul ranks 87th in quality of living among world cities
"Seoul ranked 87th in quality of living among the world's major urban centers, a survey by a New York-based human resource consulting firm said Tuesday.

The ranking is a gain of two compared to last year's report by the Mercer Human Resource Consulting Group. Last year, the South Korean capital of over 10 million people ranked 89th on the list."
Yonhap News (April 3, 2007)
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20070403/410100000020070403213710E9.html

Highlights from the 2007 Quality of Living Survey
http://www.mercerhr.com/referencecontent.jhtml?idContent=1128060

[blaseblasphemener]

That list is a joke. Believe Calgary made it into the top 25, a city where you can't get a family doctor, so you have to wait 7 hours at a clinic to see a doctor. Also, a crap house costs $400,000, weather is crap 5 months or more out of the year, there are no quality lakes or for that matter ocean anywhere close by, and taxes are still, well, Canadian taxes. Basically, these lists seem to be ethnocentrically biased, IMO. Sure, Seoul has a lot of crap, but it has a lot going for it too.

[mithridates]

But what about public transport? Calgary made a whole five new C-Train stations over the past decade. After they make Crowfoot Station they're going to build the next one lickety-split by 2023. And it doesn't give you the hassle of having to carry change when you pay with a toonie - in Seoul the machine spits out the change and then you have to carry your money around whereas in Calgary it keeps the entire amount without change so you don't have to feel weighed down. And without accepting payment for tickets with bills you get the added convenience of a trip to a convenience store to break the bill, or the extra exercise by just walking home, or the adrenalin rush of taking the train without payment because it's -30 and you didn't have anywhere to break the bill. In Seoul it's so blah - put your money in, get your change back, get your ticket, get on the train. Give me the C-Train any day.

[The Hierophant]

Auckland tied for fifth! Eat that ya Auzzie bastards!

Seriously though, I really like Seoul. Don't see what all the hatin's about.

[Gundy]

[quote="mithridates"]But what about public transport? Calgary made a whole five new C-Train stations over the past decade. After they make Crowfoot Station they're going to build the next one lickety-split by 2023. And it doesn't give you the hassle of having to carry change when you pay with a toonie - in Seoul the machine spits out the change and then you have to carry your money around whereas in Calgary it keeps the entire amount without change so you don't have to feel weighed down. And without accepting payment for tickets with bills you get the added convenience of a trip to a convenience store to break the bill, or the extra exercise by just walking home, or the adrenalin rush of taking the train without payment because it's -30 and you didn't have anywhere to break the bill. In Seoul it's so blah - put your money in, get your change back, get your ticket, get on the train. Give me the C-Train any day.[/quote]

Currently living in Calgary. I agree with you about how amazing the public transit system is so amazing in fact that in my awe of is amazingness I have decided I can't take it anymore and have began walking to work. Walking to work in minus -19C (with windchill) is really great.

I have to add that the night life in Seoul has nothing on Calgary. Unlike Seoul with a great variety of establishments across various city districts, Calgary has decided to make every bar a sports bar!!! (Go Flames Go). It's so great never having to choose what to do!

[kiwigal]

Huh, Auckland beat Sydney and Wellington beat Melbourne. Interesting...
I wasn't really aware that NZ and Australia were part of Asia?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I drove through Calgary about 7 years ago, didn't stop, and just remember thinking, this is no place I ever, ever want to live.

But I wonder if this survey takes suburbs into consideration. Yes, Vancouver is fabulous, and expensive by Canadian standards but not by many other cities' standards. But what about Surrey or Langley? Factor those in and I'm sure Vancouver would plumet.

At any rate, for an EFL teacher with minimal qualifications, Seoul has to be better than the 87th best city in the world.

[pest2]

the study claims the quality of living survey is set up for expats in the cities. Takes into consideration special appeal and interesting things in a non-objective way.

If you ask me, this is an almost impossible thing to do objectively. People always want such different things in a place to live.

For me, compared to world cities, Seoul is in fact probably at the bottom of the list. Nightlife suks. conservative. Uniformly similar throughout. Polluted. The cost of living relative to the average person's pay is high. The average person scrapes by on very little.

[Saxiif]

hmmmmm it seems that they're rating cities according to how "safe and stable" they are. Seoul is a lot of things but unsafe (except for the traffic) certainly isn't one of them.

Also according to the list you have to go down to 34 before running into a city that isn't full of white people, so it seems that this is a list of "where rich white businessmen will feel at home" more than anything...

[pastis]

I think it's a stupid survey too. As far as I'm concerned "quality of life" has way more to do with how much money you have than anything else. If you're rich, then it's hard to imagine better places to live than the nice areas in big cities like New York, Paris, London or Tokyo etc. They have every kind of luxury and convenience, and things like safety and healthcare etc. become moot if the price is right. And you can always take vacations away from the big city if you have money.
If I were a millionaire I'd way rather live in a huge city like New York or Tokyo than Geneva or Vancouver (I found Vancouver pretty with the mountains and that, but kinda dull otherwise). Actually I prefer bigger cities regardless, but the bottom line is that it's not easy to live in any city with no money, including the list toppers.

[Canuck Teacher]

87th? sounds about right. a big jump from 89th the year before. way to go seoul!

[Canuck Teacher]

[eamo]

Koreans are only starting to realise in the 21st century that economic and industrial progress aren't the only factors in what makes a country successful. That's why we got the Cheonggye-chung!

When they sort out the schools and hospitals, and create a few green spaces here and there, they will make big jumps in that survey.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[funkywinkerbeans]

Ha ha ha

34th down the list until you find a city that's not full of white people.

I stopped at #3, Vancouver, until I found a city not full of white people.