Canberra – the best place in the world to live

Posted on 7 October, 2014

It’s been a big year for Canberra.

We’ve received gong after gong for our growing food and design scene. We’ve been praised by The New York Times for our “big-sky beauty, breezy civic pride and…decidedly hipster underbelly.” Just last week, Traveller.com proclaimed us ‘the new capital of cool’.

And today? Well, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report on regional wellbeing reveals Canberra is ‘the best place in the world to live’, according to its ranking of the 362 regions of its 34 member nations according to nine measures of well-being: education, jobs, income, safety, health, environment, civic engagement, access to broadband and housing.

According to the New York Times, “the Australian Capital Territory led the regional rankings, according to an average calculated by The Upshot.

“Many Australians see their capital city as something of a backwater, although a New York Times travel writer recently noted that Canberra is not without its charms. But it outscored the rest of the country, including the states containing Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, on a number of measures, including education, income, jobs and health. (The O.E.C.D. did not measure access to beaches or world-famous opera houses.)”

But this only confirms what those of us who live here already know. We’re a healthy city with so much going for it. And we’re not only liveable, we’re loveable…

As Catherine Russell wrote last year:

“We can’t deny it, Canberra bashing is rife in other capital cities throughout Australia but comparatively we have what so many urban centres are trying to retrofit.

We know that what makes Canberra lovable that it allows us all to do simple things with ease and that a sense of community is natural inclination of our culture.

We are not a show off kind of city, always lauding the next big thing like Sydney.

We are not a place that trades on our quirkiness to the point of alienating people who aren’t ‘hip’ enough like Melbourne.

We have distinct seasons unlike Brisbane or Darwin.

We are not a mystery bag like Adelaide, or steeped in convict history like Hobart.

We are not a place the rises and falls on the fortunes of the mining boom like Perth.

We are Canberra – a considered city, an understated city with an important job to do where the value of our place is subtle and somewhat underappreciated by those who don’t live here.

A city of people that enjoys the simplicity of how LBG (Lake Burley Griffin) looks on a morning walk (while lamenting its algae problem); that relishes the seasons like the chill of winter as an opportunity to cook, read and be by a fire, that gathers at art galleries, Parliament, parks and markets to talk about life and politics; a place where you are more likely to know the person next to you or have a reason to know them, a place where debate is encouraged and expression cherished…”

Do you agree with the OECD’s findings? What do you love most about living in Canberra? What do you think we could do better?