【1996 Archives】

Now they're just rubbing it in.

996 Archivescity of Melbourne in Australia for the seventh year in a row running (count it, seriously), has been named the most liveable city in the world by The Economist'sIntelligence Unit.

With a near-perfect 97.5/100 livability rating, Melbourne narrowly beat Vienna, Austria, which sits in second place. It's followed by the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.

No U.S. cities made the top ten. Nor did Melbourne's arch-rival, Sydney, which sits all the way back in eleventh place, ya suckers.

So what makes Melbourne so damn good, according to the boffins at The Economist? Well, the city has very high ratings across all the index's criteria, which takes into account things like crime, healthcare, education and infrastructure.

But where Melbourne stood out was in culture and environment, which enabled it to leapfrog ever-so-slightly over Vienna. And it certainly takes culture to the extremes, as you can see in this avocado latté.

Or these charcoal-activated fish and chips.

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And its abundance of excellent and topical street art.

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Seriously though, Melbourne is a pretty cool city. It has abundance of sporting and cultural events, an incredible food scene, and a decent public transportation system to boot.

You'll just have to get over the fact that sometimes their beaches smell like poop, there's no train line to the airport, and it's become more unaffordable to buy a house.

But that's okay. Maybe the avocado latté is worth the stress.

The most liveable cities

1. Melbourne, Australia

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Vancouver, Canada

4. Toronto, Canada

5. Calgary, Canada

6. Adelaide, Australia

7. Perth, Australia

8. Auckland, New Zealand

9. Helsinki, Finland

10. Hamburg, Germany

The least liveable cities

1. Damascus, Syria

2. Lagos, Nigeria

3. Tripoli, Libya

4. Dhaka, Bangladesh

5. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

6. Algiers, Algeria

7. Karachi, Pakistan

8. Harare, Zimbabwe

9. Douala, Cameroon

10. Kiev, Ukraine

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