What Makes a Livable City?

[tomh009]

Of course, the "most liveable / quality" cities are usually the 'dream' cities - the most expensive places to live: Zurich, Vienna, Munich, Copenhagen, etc. These places are culturally beautiful and socially dynamic; attracts ambitious people; provides all the essentials, except for the really important point that it's too expensive for average middle-class people of the 1st world.

Seriously? You are saying that middle-class people can't live in Zurich or Copenhagen? You can easily rent a one-bedroom apartment (with good transit connections) in Copenhagen for less than C$1500. Zurich will be somewhat more expensive, but all of the above are far less expensive than London or New York, let along San Francisco.