The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its list of more livable cities, and for the second year in a row Vienna has taken the top spot. The Austrian city had a near perfect score of 99.1 percent.
The 140 cities were ranked based on stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Vienna earned nearly perfect scores in all categories. It was followed by Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Osaka, Japan; and Calgary, Canada. Melbourne previously held the number one spot for seven consecutive years before it was unseated by Vienna in 2018.
The cities that fill out the top 10 remain the same as last year, although some of the positions have changed. EIU notes that medium-sized cities in wealthy countries tend to do well in the rankings.
Honolulu was the highest rated city in the United States, with Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Chicago all making it into the top 50.
Major financial hubs did not fare all that well on the list. London came in at 48. New York City is number 58. While New York was ranked highly for culture, it lost points for infrastructure and stability.
The least livable city in the world is Damascus, Syria, followed by Lagos, Nigeria; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Tripoli, Libya; and Karachi, Pakistan.
Twitter, of course, had some priceless reactions to the news.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
The Super Bowl is just 48 hours away and things are definitely heating up in the social media space, especially on Twitter. Fans across the country are quickly engaging in color commentary as they call it, and actively sharing their views on who's expected to take the big win, which players they are looking forward to seeing. Senior Sports Partner Manager at Twitter, David Herman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Director and producer Ivan Reitman passed away over the weekend at the age of 75. The filmmaker was the mastermind behind some of America's favorite films such as "Ghostbusters". Reitman’s family released a statement explaining how they are comforted by the lives he has touched through his films.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
Jeff Softley, direct to consumer president at Experian, joins Cheddar News to discuss what it means to be credit invisible, how big of an issue this is in the U.S., and what resources are out there to bridge this gap.
