Where You Wanna Be

Looking for a change of scenery? The town you live in not doing it for you? Then you might want to look towards Europe.

Mercer, a global consultancy firm, has released their annual list of the world's best cities in which to live, and thirteen of the top 20 are places in Europe. In all, 420 locales (as in, four hundred and twenty places...not Amsterdam coffee shops) were graded on numerous criteria:

The study considers 39 factors that range from political stability and crime rates to housing, health care and education. Of course, lifestyle issues such as cuisine, nightlife, culture and recreation are included, as is the natural environment. These are balanced by factors of perhaps greater interest to expatriates, such as safety and public services. All told, the cities that rise to the top offer the world's highest quality of life across a wide spectrum of measures.

I don't think legalized marijuana and prostitution were among those 39 factors, though; Amsterdam finished outside the top ten, in 13th spot. The top-rated United States location? Honolulu, HI, which only came as high as 31st (followed closely by San Francisco, in 32nd).

Courtesy of Bloomberg Business Week