What cities have a high quality of life?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

That's fair. I meant more of the stereotypic Black/White/Mexican Midwest that comes to mind when speaking of places you don't think of having an ethnic group.

No worries.

I get what you're saying.

My response to you was probably a little triggery because it's come up many times on this forum over the decades that a lot of people are under the impression that Cleveland was the furthest west that Puerto Ricans, in significant numbers, ever got in the region. and while that impression seems to be held by many, it's just not true, as clearly evidenced by Chicago and Milwaukee.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Yes, there isn't a lot of leisure travel to Detroit, and most of the reason for that is self-inflicted. No argument there. I don't think this is because Detroit cannot be a tourist hub. I think it is because Detroit has not wanted to be a tourist hub.

Cleveland at least has a well-known tourism video or two...

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Cleveland at least has a well-known tourism video or two...

Yeah, and Detroit didn't even care enough to come up with a rebuttal lol.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by Jaborandi

How many of those international visitors are from Windsor, Ontario?

Do Canadians not count for cosmopolitanism?

[MayDay]

(Perfunctory ignored post that reinforces my notion to just change my screen name to ThreadKilla).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by badrunner

Do Canadians not count for cosmopolitanism?

How exotic are Windsorites (in Detroit)?

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by Acajack

How exotic are Windsorites (in Detroit)?

Not very, and I wouldn't weigh cross border traffic the same as international business travel or other factors in Detroit's favor.

But just for sake of argument, I would posit that a border city with a busy international port of entry is inherently more international and cosmopolitan than a city that does not have the same (all else being equal).

[ssiguy]

CityWatch..........

You showed Buenos Aires as a great place to live but I think the average Argentinian would beg to differ. The economy {once again} is imploding and poverty rates are now at nearly 60% as it's hyper inflation rips to shreds people's incomes and savings. I think pre-1960 BA would have been a very viable option but after decades of Peronism, crushing corruption, and staggering from one economic crisis to another with the plunging standard of living that comes with it, BA is a wasteland unless you have a lot of money and only in $US.

Montevideo Uruguay on the other hand is a completely different story. Uruguay, which was traditionally somewhat less affluent than Argentina, now has per-capita GDP twice Argentina's. While AR suffers from 200% inflation, Uruguay's is at 4% with strong economic growth. Uruguay enjoys Latin America's highest per-capita GDP, highest standard of living, least amount of corruption, largest middle class, solid democratic institutions, an excellent human rights record, and a comprehensive social welfare safety net. It's standard of living is on par with Czech, Slovenia, and higher than Portugal, Poland, or Greece all with a very pleasant climate and low relatively low crime rate. Of course, Montevideo being the capitol and home to half the country's population, offers all these benefits along with a clean and vibrant city with a lot of historic character.

Uruguay is what every other Latin America countries wants to be when they grow up. While Buenos Aires was ONCE called the Paris of Latin America, Uruguay is STILL called the Switzerland of Latin America.........enough said.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

CityWatch..........

You showed Buenos Aires as a great place to live but I think the average Argentinian would beg to differ. The economy {once again} is imploding and poverty rates are now at nearly 60% as it's hyper inflation rips to shreds people's incomes and savings. I think pre-1960 BA would have been a very viable option but after decades of Peronism, crushing corruption, and staggering from one economic crisis to another with the plunging standard of living that comes with it, BA is a wasteland unless you have a lot of money and only in $US.

Montevideo Uruguay on the other hand is a completely different story. Uruguay, which was traditionally somewhat less affluent than Argentina, now has per-capita GDP twice Argentina's. While AR suffers from 200% inflation, Uruguay's is at 4% with strong economic growth. Uruguay enjoys Latin America's highest per-capita GDP, highest standard of living, least amount of corruption, largest middle class, solid democratic institutions, an excellent human rights record, and a comprehensive social welfare safety net. It's standard of living is on par with Czech, Slovenia, and higher than Portugal, Poland, or Greece all with a very pleasant climate and low relatively low crime rate. Of course, Montevideo being the capitol and home to half the country's population, offers all these benefits along with a clean and vibrant city with a lot of historic character.

Uruguay is what every other Latin America countries wants to be when they grow up. While Buenos Aires was ONCE called the Paris of Latin America, Uruguay is STILL called the Switzerland of Latin America.........enough said.

Economic issues aside, Buenos Aires is one of the most beautiful cities in the western hemisphere, if not the most beautiful.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

CityWatch..........

You showed Buenos Aires as a great place to live but I think the average Argentinian would beg to differ. The economy {once again} is imploding and poverty rates are now at nearly 60% as it's hyper inflation rips to shreds people's incomes and savings. I think pre-1960 BA would have been a very viable option but after decades of Peronism, crushing corruption, and staggering from one economic crisis to another with the plunging standard of living that comes with it, BA is a wasteland unless you have a lot of money and only in $US.

Montevideo Uruguay on the other hand is a completely different story. Uruguay, which was traditionally somewhat less affluent than Argentina, now has per-capita GDP twice Argentina's. While AR suffers from 200% inflation, Uruguay's is at 4% with strong economic growth. Uruguay enjoys Latin America's highest per-capita GDP, highest standard of living, least amount of corruption, largest middle class, solid democratic institutions, an excellent human rights record, and a comprehensive social welfare safety net. It's standard of living is on par with Czech, Slovenia, and higher than Portugal, Poland, or Greece all with a very pleasant climate and low relatively low crime rate. Of course, Montevideo being the capitol and home to half the country's population, offers all these benefits along with a clean and vibrant city with a lot of historic character.

Uruguay is what every other Latin America countries wants to be when they grow up. While Buenos Aires was ONCE called the Paris of Latin America, Uruguay is STILL called the Switzerland of Latin America.........enough said.

Buenos Aires is in a very good shape right now. Droves of Brazilians are going there (my Instagram is full of pics lately) and some of my friends going recently said the city is very clean and well kept compared to their latest visit. And of course, the city is great. Vibrant, great nightlife, dense, lots of urban character.

I've never been in Buenos Aires (maybe I'll go in June, let's see) but I visited Montevideo back in 2016. A very beautiful city, there is this Parisian vibe on architeture, good density, but it's definitely a sleepy place. In fact, if one is thinking of visiting the region, please go to Montevideo first. If it's Buenos Aires first, Montevideo will definitely be very very underwhelming.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Yuri

Buenos Aires is in a very good shape right now. Droves of Brazilians are going there (my Instagram is full of pics lately) and some of my friends going recently said the city is very clean and well kept compared to their latest visit. And of course, the city is great. Vibrant, great nightlife, dense, lots of urban character.

I've never been in Buenos Aires (maybe I'll go in June, let's see) but I visited Montevideo back in 2016. A very beautiful city, there is this Parisian vibe on architeture, good density, but it's definitely a sleepy place. In fact, if one is thinking of visiting the region, please go to Montevideo first. If it's Buenos Aires first, Montevideo will definitely be very very underwhelming.

Yuri, maybe this is the reason Montevideo would seem "sleepy" compared to BA or SP?
name...........Metro Pop
Montevideo ~1.9M
Buenos Aires ~16.8M
Sao Paulo ~22M

A crazy difference in size. Like comparing Buffalo to Chicago, Toronto or even LA.
Even SP has an extra 5 million people to pull from over BA

I've always loved the fact that both BA and Montevideo each have one iconic 1920s looking building with really attractive, elegant architecture designed by Mario Palanti.
I also love the Kavanagh Building in BA

Wikipedia images

Palacio Barolo, Buenos Aires c.1923


Palacio Salvo, Montevideo c.1928

Montevideo and Uruguay have received good press. To me, and correct me if I'm wrong it seems as many countries in South America have had troubles/ups and downs the past decade or so, Uruguay keeps chugging along relatively unnoticed like a left leaning "sleeper country" that is much smaller than most in South America.
I recall popular American chef/food writer/travel host Anthony Bourdain traced his family lineage to Uruguay. Most of South America is on my bucket list.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Yuri, maybe this is the reason Montevideo would seem "sleepy" compared to BA or SP?
name...........Metro Pop
Montevideo ~1.9M
Buenos Aires ~16.8M
Sao Paulo ~22M

A crazy difference in size. Like comparing Buffalo to Chicago, Toronto or even LA.
Even SP has an extra 5 million people to pull from over BA

I've always loved the fact that both BA and Montevideo each have one iconic 1920s looking building with really attractive, elegant architecture designed by Mario Palanti.
I also love the Kavanagh Building in BA

(...)

Montevideo and Uruguay have received good press. To me, and correct me if I'm wrong it seems as many countries in South America have had troubles/ups and downs the past decade or so, Uruguay keeps chugging along relatively unnoticed like a left leaning "sleeper country" that is much smaller than most in South America.
I recall popular American chef/food writer/travel host Anthony Bourdain traced his family lineage to Uruguay. Most of South America is on my bucket list.

Indeed it's all about size. And don't get me wrong: I really liked Montevideo. We had four days there and we didn't even bother to leave the city to visit Punta del Este or Colonia Sacramento. Beautiful, very charming city. But you see, it was winter, cloudy, chilly and the city looks old, not many young people around.

And just across the river you have this massive metropolis, not only big in size, but vibrant, dense, with this Spanish thing of staying on streets, restaurants up to midnight. You cannot compete with that. For people who love big cities and all the things only they can offer, Buenos Aires must be in any wishlist.

Regarding Uruguay stability, yes, they are getting more and more press, but the 2000's was not specially good as both Argentina and Brazil were growing fast and provided much better job prospects of young Uruguayans.

P.S. And for the ones interested, Montevideo men... really really handsome.