What are some of the cities with the highest quality of life in Asia?

What are some of the cities with the highest quality of life in Asia? http://b.qr.ae/fmCpMj

Quality of Life is such a subjective matter. But here are 3 interesting research that measures it.

MERCER Quality of Life Ranking ---- Primarily targeting expatriates and companyhttp://www.citymayors.com/featur...
Top 10 are as follows. This ranking tend to prioritize safeness, education and cleanness/greenness and high cost --- thus mid sized European cities do well.

1 Vienna Austria
2 Zurich Switzerland
3 Geneva Switzerland
4 Vancouver Canada
4 Auckland New Zealand
6 Düsseldorf Germany
7 Frankfurt Germany
7 Munich Germany
9 Bern Switzerland
10 Sydney Australia

In Asia-Pacific, ranks are 10. Sydney; 28. Singapore; 40.

ECONOMIST Intelligence Unit Livable Cities http://econ.st/i4jhhyhttp://bit.... 
Similar result as Mercer ranking, but English speaking cities do well here.

In Asia, Singapore is the 54th most livable city in the world, below San Francisco (US), and a notch above Budapest (Hungrary). Its placing also puts it above cities like Seoul (58th) and Taipei (62nd), but below Hong Kong (39th), Osaka (13th) and Tokyo (19th).

MONOCLE Quality of Life Ranking http://bit.ly/eeWpR3


Monocle loves Japan for its public transportation and creative vibe.  So it is somewhat biased.
In summary, if you judge Quality of Life in "western standard", Asia cities are considered 2nd tier.   
It is also important to note that the cost of living and real estate price in usual suspects cities from above high quality of life ranking (such as Vancouver, Sydney, Zurich, etc..) is notoriously high.

HOW CAN CITIES WITH UNAFFORDABLE HOUSING BE RANKED AMONG THE MOST LIVABLE CITIES IN THE WORLD? http://www.newgeography.com/cont...
Hope it helps!

What country has the best cost-of-living to quality-of-life balance?

What country has the best cost-of-living to quality-of-life balance?

Gen added an answer. 10:36am • 2 Answers • Unfollow

1

Gen Shibayama, United 1k for 6+ years.

Here is the ranking of countries with highest purchasing power by Numbeo. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-li...

Local Purchasing
Power shows relative purchasing power in buying goods and services in a given
city for the average wage in that city. If domestic purchasing power is 40,
this means that inhabitans of that city with the average salary can afford to
buy 60% less typical goods and services than New York City residents with an
average salary.

While it does not directly indicate "Quality of Life", it does show Quality of Life in terms of consumption.


Country     Local Purchasing Power Index

Switzerland 137.93
United States     114.8
Australia   114.38
Sweden      113.44
Germany     106.83
Finland     106.55
Ireland     99.42
Japan 97.83
Cyprus      97.66
Canada      96.05
Austria     89.59
Belgium     88.32
United Kingdom    87.63
South Korea 85.25
Singapore   76.79
Denmark     74.09
France      70.52
United Arab Emirates    70.1
Norway      69.06
Netherlands 68.55
Turkey      62.17
Malaysia    61.73
Greece      61.27
Brazil      59.25
South Africa      57.81
Bahrain     56.04
Slovenia    54.44
Czech Republic    54.35
Chile 53.34
Hong Kong   53.18
Poland      52.2
Spain 52.14
Mexico      51.43
Israel      51.37
Italy 50.98
Portugal    48.52
Croatia     45.89
India 43.55
Lithuania   43.27
Bolivia     43.06
Argentina   40.6
Ukraine     39.99
Latvia      38.35
Iran  38.03
Ecuador     37.86
Pakistan    37.36
China 36.79
Russia      36.33
Venezuela   36.23
Serbia      35.21
Colombia    32.49
Hungary     32.47
Bulgaria    31.49
Bosnia And Herzegovina  31.29
Thailand    30.76
Montenegro  29.73
Albania     27.41
Romania     24.32
Jordan      22.11
Indonesia   20.4
Paraguay    19.46
Belarus     12.82


The below is Economist Intelligence Unit's 2005 Quality of Life Index / Country Ranking. http://www.economist.com/media/p...

The survey uses nine quality of life factors to determine a nation's score[1]. They are listed below including the indicators used to represent these factors:

1. Health: Life expectancy at birth (in years). Source: US Census Bureau

2. Family life: Divorce rate (per 1,000 population), converted into index of 1 (lowest divorce rates) to 5 (highest). Sources: UN; Euromonitor

3. Community life: Variable taking value 1 if country has either high rate of church attendance or trade-union membership; zero otherwise. Source: World Values Survey

4. Material well being: GDP per person, at PPP in $. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

5. Political stability and security: Political stability and security ratings. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

6. Climate and geography: Latitude, to distinguish between warmer and colder climates. Source: CIA World Factbook

7. Job security: Unemployment rate (%.) Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

8. Political freedom: Average of indexes of political and civil liberties. Scale of 1 (completely free) to 7 (unfree). Source: Freedom House

9. Gender equality: Measured using ratio of average male and female earnings. Source: UNDP Human Development Report

Top 20 countries are:
1     Ireland    8.333
2     Switzerland      8.068
3     Norway     8.051
4     Luxembourg 8.015
5     Sweden     7.937
6     Australia  7.925
7     Iceland    7.911
8     Italy      7.810
9     Denmark    7.797
10    Spain      7.727
11    Singapore  7.719
12    Finland    7.618
13    United States    7.615
14    Canada     7.599
15    New Zealand      7.436
16    Netherlands      7.433
17    Japan      7.392
18    Hong Kong  7.347
19    Portugal   7.307
20    Austria    7.268

Hope it helps!

Is now a good time to buy real estate in Tokyo?

My reply to "Is now a good time to buy real estate in Tokyo?" - Quora http://b.qr.ae/i8MYEv

Dave is correct. At this moment, Japanese yen is very strong against US$. So if you exchange your $ saving into Yen now and purchase real estate in Japan. You are very likely to lose $ based money once Yen become weak. Therefore unless you have large chunk of saving in Yen and committed owning property for very long time, I would not recommend it.

In addition, if you are non-Japanese living outside of Japan, you can not take advantage of at-around 1% residential mortgage (though adjustable). This super low interest rate (and limited supply of good-location condos) are key reason why real estate transaction in Tokyo is pretty active now.

Here is general real estate trend on Tokyo:

- Working age population in Japan is expected to decrease approx. 1% a year. While Tokyo is attract more people from outside, Population in Tokyo is considered "flat" for next 10-20 years.

- The most popular investment property in Tokyo for overseas investors are luxury condo in Central Tokyo. As for the rental yield, luxury unit rent has decreased 20-30% since fall 2008 as many international firms sent expatriates away from Tokyo. Considering current depressed economy, I do not see major upside in expatriates increase.

- Because of over-supply, approx. 11% of residential inventory are vacant. Vacancy rate is increasing steadily.
http://bit.ly/gYqpRA

- Japanese bank do not put any value on "improvement" part of property. So the property aged 35+ years does not get any value EXCEPT for the value of the land. This is the major difference from established world class cities such as New York, London and Paris where land and improvement value increase over time.

You may want to review below site to understand general trend and stats on residential real estate in Japan.

http://www.globalpropertyguide.c...

Brain Drain of United States

My answer to Quora question --- Is the brain drain phenomenon in the US worse than ever? http://b.qr.ae/fAsgR2

According to OECD brain drain report in 2007 (http://bit.ly/b9UNrH%20), only 0.39% of US citizen work outside of USA. This number is the lowest among all countries. 

If you specify college graduate brain drain, US is again one of the lowest brain drain rate (less than 2% ---- http://jobs.renego.de/einzelnjob...). 



Having said that, please take a look at Gallup's Potential Net Brain Gain Index. US is one of the top desired destination countries in the world for potential migrants -- is poised to experience higher youth gains than education gains. The Potential Net Brain Gain score of 12% in the United States, however, is relatively small compared with its Potential Net Migration Index, which indicates that this country would likely attract more people but not necessarily more educated people. In other words, US needs to compete against Australia, NZ, Singapore and Northern European countries to attract educated immigrants. http://bit.ly/cGWkfo

Lastly, over last few years, due to great recession, so many educated H1-B holders had to leave US. It is very worrisome trend. http://bit.ly/ennFoe I am not sure this is one time trend during recession or not. Since there is movement to grant US working permit for all of US college graduates with science degree, I hope that this law will pass and that it will stop US brain drain.

Hope it helps!

Home Price Forecast to 2014 by Moody's Economy.com

Moody's Economy.com has introduced housing price forecast for 1 year (2010), 3 years (2012) and 5 years (2014).

Forbes.com http://bit.ly/zz76M

Metropolitan Area	1 Year, 09	3 Year, 09-12	5 Year, 09-14
San Antonio, Texas	0.49%	-1.63%	-0.57%
Austin, Texas	0.29%	-1.54%	-1.01%
Dallas, Texas	-0.11%	0.50%	2.81%
Indianapolis, Ind.	-0.53%	2.25%	8%
Kansas City, Mo.	-1.20%	0.41%	5.53%
Pittsburgh, Pa.	-1.59%	8.47%	22.10%
Houston, Texas	-2.10%	0.47%	2.40%
St. Louis, Mo.	-3.27%	0.61%	5.20%
Columbus, Ohio	-5.89%	4.62%	16.11%
Virginia Beach, Va.	-6.92%	-10.75%	-6.25%
Nashville, Tenn.	-7.38%	-1.25%	3.20%
Milwaukee, Wis.	-7.56%	-1.94%	0.99%
Charlotte, N.C.	-8.15%	3.54%	12.20%
Denver, Colo.	-8.69%	-1.05%	11.20%
Cincinnati, Ohio	-9.31%	3.98%	16.10%
Philadelphia, Pa.	-9.42%	1.61%	13.73%
Cleveland, Ohio	-9.44%	4.73%	18.67%
Boston, Ma.	-9.75%	4.48%	20.44%
Providence, R.I.	-12.57%	0.43%	11.71%
Portland, Ore.	-13%	3.10%	13.69%
New York NY	-13.08%	-11.86%	4.29%
Baltimore, Md.	-13.32%	-3.33%	9.22%
Seattle, Wash.	-14.86%	15.48%	30.98%
Atlanta, Ga.	-14.91%	0.98%	11.35%
Chicago IL	-16.31%	1.49%	14%
Washington, D.C.	-17.05%	-3.77%	9.98%
Jacksonville, Fla.	-18.51%	-15.24%	-1.01%
Detroit, Mich.	-19.35%	3.94%	19.96%
San Diego, Calif.	-19.37%	12.80%	25.41%
Los Angeles, Calif.	-21.22%	2.94%	12.36%
Sacramento, Calif.	-21.43%	6.79%	12.87%
Minneapolis, Minn.	-23.01%	1.76%	16.05%
San Francisco, Calif.	-23.42%	12.12%	26.51%
Tampa, Fla.	-24.71%	-14.69%	6.66%
San Jose, Calif.	-25.14%	8.41%	23.04%
Riverside, Calif.	-28.12%	-0.45%	11.07%
Orlando, Fla.	-29.84%	-22.39%	-3.58%
Miami, Fla.	-30.35%	-23%	-2.93%
Las Vegas, Nev.	-31.61%	-19.53%	3.53%
Phoenix, Ariz.	-34.72%	-17.96%	7.44%

It is interesting to note that Economy.com forecast 10%+ decline toward 2010. Considering there so many home owners with negative equity and unemployment is still increasing, I tend to agree with their forecast toward 2010.

It is also interesting to note that:

- In former bubble areas such as Phoenix, Las Vegas and Florida cities, 30%+ home owners carry negative equity and economy is quite bad. Therefore home price will continue to decline toward 2012 but it will NOT rebound toward 2014.

- BUT in major job centers such as Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego and Boston, there are solid job market and high-income consumers. Therefore, Economy.com forecast 20-30% home price appreciation toward 2014.

Anyhow, I recommend that you treat this kind of data as "reference only" ince real estate markets depends on locations, school district, etc...

Happy Investing!!!!

Best Performing Cities 2009 by Milken Institute

Milken Institute has announced 2009 Best Performing Cities.

2009 Best Performing Cities - 200 Largest Metros http://bit.ly/259K47

They analyze metropolitan area in US in the following criteria:

- Job growth (I=2003) 0.143
- Job growth (I=2007) 0.143
- Wage-and-salary growth (I=2002) 0.143
- Wage-and-salary growth (I=2006) 0.143
- Short-term job growth (Mar08-Mar09) 0.143
- Relative high-tech GDP growth (I=2003) 0.071
- Relative high-tech GDP growth (I=2007) 0.071
- High-tech GDP location quotient 0.071
- Number of high-tech industries with GDP LQ>1 0.071

Here is the ranking of Top 50 US metropolitan areas:

- Metros in Texas rules! Starting from Austin, Top 5 are in Texas metros.

- After Texas cities, high tech cities such as Seattle and Portland and government spending boom Washington DC are doing well.

- Worst performing metros are 1) rust belt cities such as Detroit and Cleveland and 2) real estate bust cities such as Miami and Tampa.

Rank	Metropolitan area	Index
1	Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA	100
2	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA	363
3	San Antonio, TX MSA	387
4	Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MD	391
5	Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX MD	396
6	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA MD	498
7	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MD	544
8	Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA	647
9	New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ MD	653
10	Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA MD	685
11	Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC MSA	709
12	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA	733
13	Kansas City, MO-KS MSA	758
14	Denver-Aurora, CO MSA	770
15	Boston-Quincy, MA MD	790
16	Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA	803
17	Nassau-Suffolk, NY MD	824
18	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA	896
19	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA MD	898
20	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA	914
21	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA	953
22	Philadelphia, PA MD	963
23	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN MSA	973
24	Orlando-Kissimmee, FL MSA	981
25	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA	992
26	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA	1001
27	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA	1004
28	Columbus, OH MSA	1010
29	Pittsburgh, PA MSA	1016
30	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA MSA	1065
31	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA MD	1085
32	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA	1086
33	Indianapolis-Carmel, IN MSA	1091
34	St. Louis, MO-IL MSA	1116
35	Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL MD	1150
36	Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN MSA	1164
37	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA MD	1165
38	Jacksonville, FL MSA	1179
39	Newark-Union, NJ-PA MD	1181
40	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA MD	1193
41	Edison-New Brunswick, NJ MD	1195
42	Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL MD	1195
43	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI MSA	1211
44	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA	1296
45	Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA	1342
46	Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL MD	1348
47	Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH MSA	1442
48	Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA MSA	1491
49	Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI MD	1671
50	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI MD	1703

* It is important to note that this ranking emphasize past 5 year track record and high-tech strength. Therefore, high-tech cities (like Austin, Seattle and Portland) and real estate bubble cities (like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Riverside) are doing relatively well.

Where is your city located?

Happy Investing!!!