Vienna, Austria, Among the Best Places to Live in the World

When it comes to choosing a place to live, many factors come into play. Knowing a city's layout, crime rate, transportation and overall quality of life can make a big difference when choosing to move independent of other factors. Certain cities in the world hold high rankings for being the best cities to live in because of the quality of life usually led by the city's dwelling citizens. According to Forbes, The United States has taken a big hit, since its highest ranking city in the list, Honolulu, comes in at only 29th place, and Honolulu isn't even a mainland city. The highest ranking city in North America was Vancouver, the Canadian city hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Vienna, Austria came in as the big winner as the best city to live in the world, followed by the previous year's winter, Zurich, Switzerland. Forbes touts a more stable political climate in Vienna as a possible reason for Vienna's growth in the quality of life for its citizens.

Vienna has a host of cultural draws that might affect its quality of life, with a mix of old and new architecture and a good public transportation system. Citizens enjoy good water and electricity and little traffic and low stress and crime. Vienna is also nearby a great deal of nature, entertainment, skiing and rural tourism in lesser known peripheral cities like Graz, Austria, which rests in the Alps.

In the United States, CNN found that the best place to live was a town called Louisville, CO. Jackson, TN and Phoenix AZ are hot areas for employment in the downturned economy.

Though quality of life does not quite make the lists, cities in economic downturns with mortgage crises can also be a great place to get the best value for your money if you work in a field that does not depend on the local economy, like a flight attendant or other job that requires you to frequently travel. Economy-ravaged cities like Las Vegas can be good markets to get your foot in the door on an investment home to help build equity for the future.