How liveable is Kathmandu???

Well, the results are in and it doesn't look pretty. Paul, our neighbour upstairs, who is a fellow volunteer from Vancouver pointed an article out to me the other day. Every year the Economist's Intelligence Unit puts together a ranking list of the most liveable cities in the world (and least liveable...). It is a ranking out of 140 cities around the globe. So, to put things into context, the index is rated from 1 to 100. 1 being completely intolerable to 100 which would be ideal. Each city is scored on 30 factors broken into stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. To give you a sense of scale, the top city this year scored 98 and the lowest 37.5. So, where is the best place to live in this world of ours??? Well, it's Canada's own Vancouver! In fact, Canada placed three cities in the top 10, as did Australia. Pretty good huh? Vancouver placed 1st, Toronto 4th and Calgary tied for 5th!

So, where does Kathmandu fit into that list?? Well, not so high... Of the 140 surveyed cities, Kathmandu came in 133rd. So folks, I moved from the 5th most liveable city in the world to the 7th least livable city in the world. Was it a good move??? I guess I know now that if I can live in one of the least liveable cities in the world, I can live pretty much anywhere.

Apart from the pollution, bandhas (strikes), and the load shedding, there is much to enjoy in this city. Yes, the infrastructure is bad, but the city is also intensely interesting. Where else can you go and see on your street wandering cows, altars and shrines, prayer flags, street vendors on bikes calling out what they are selling, incessantly honking cars, and the bustle of people everywhere... This city is full of life and a world apart from the clean, almost antiseptic streets of Calgary. So much living goes on in the streets of Kathmandu, I am sure it will be something that I will truly miss when I depart in 4 months time.