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U.S. shut out of best places to live in the world

The Washington Post

August 19, 2015 at 10:50PM

Vancouver, British Columbia (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Economist Intelligence Unit is out with its annual ranking of the world's most livable cities based on "30 factors spread across five areas: stability, infrastructure, education, health care and environment." The least livable cities struggled with civil unrest, terrorism and other violence.

The most livable cities

1. Melbourne, Australia (just as it was last year. "Melbourne has the best of everything and this title proves it," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Vancouver, British Columbia

4. Toronto

5. Calgary, Alberta

5. Adelaide, Australia

6. (Since two are tied for fifth there is no sixth.)

7. Sydney

8. Perth, Australia

9. Auckland, New Zealand

10. A tie between Helsinki, Finland and Zurich, Switzerland.

The least livable cities

The report noted "a deterioration in stability in many cities around the world."

"Civil unrest, acts of terror and violence have triggered stability declines around the world," it said. "High-profile terrorist shootings in France and Tunisia, and the ongoing actions of Islamic State [ISIL] in the Middle East have created a further heightened threat of terrorism in many countries." Terrorists did seem to affect many of the cities near the bottom of the rankings.

136. Tripoli, Libya

137. Lagos, Nigeria

138. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

139. Dhaka, Bangladesh

140. Damascus, Syria

Washington Post

Vienna, Austria (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Damascus, Syria (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Dhaka, Bangladesh (The Minnesota Star Tribune)