AskMen.com announces the best cities to live in for 2009...
Number 14 - Tokyo
Tokyo has a massive area of roughly 1,359 square miles and is home to about 10% of Japan’s population. It may be crowded, but it’s clean. Throw in a low crime rate and Tokyo translates into having all of the attributes found in a world-class city: museums, art galleries, music and sporting events, numerous ethnic festivals, international foods and a global mix of people who you can call tomodachi (friend).
Despite a ratio of 1.06 men to every woman in Tokyo, many of the single women are waiting later to marry. While enjoying their independence and exercising their spending power, you may find that many of these women have a healthy appetite for indulging in all that Tokyo has to offer, especially fashion and food!
Curious about fashion? Take the Harajuku Walking Tour for the sights and sounds of Takeshita-dori. Stroll into the Shibuya or Omotesando districts for some people watching and check out the designer stores and street vendors. Afterward, sit back at the open-air Anniversary Café to enjoy a bowl of mocha or a glass of champagne.
Number 10 - Paris
Elegant atmosphere of museums, galleries and parks
No city in the world has the reputation for glamour and romance like Paris. However, there is far more to Paris than glamour, with a multitude of world-famous landmarks, museums and art galleries to visit, as well as a rich history stretching back more than a millennium. Indeed, enjoying Paris’ sights isn’t just for tourists; it’s common for locals to wile away a weekend wandering through parks and museums.
Paris has long been a cultural Mecca, with myriad artists, writers and composers spending creative periods of their lives here over the centuries. The city is also home to a wild array of wonderful restaurants, bars and clubs, catering to almost any taste. The cost of living in Paris is one of the highest in the world, but in return, you get elegance and style that is quite literally second to none.
Number 6 - New York City
New York City is a man’s paradise, and not in a Las Vegas kind of way, where a guy feels dirty after two days and has to get shots afterward. New York appeals to the complete male with sex, culture and power. Single females outnumber single men by more than 200,000. Professionally minded women flock to the Big Apple for ambitious careers, leaving most of them in no hurry to settle down and with a handy ability to match men intellectually and financially.
Plus, this is where the American fashion industry lives. Supermodels literally roam the streets. When a man’s mouth isn’t gaping at eye candy, he can stuff it with amazing pizza and beer. New York is a top destination for foodies. With immigrants from all over the world, food tastes just like mom used to make whether she’s from Lafayette or Lithuania. It’s the original New World melting pot with renowned museums, Broadway theater, top fashionites, and a music scene that’s birthed everything from hip-hop to punk rock. Stumble upon the next Vampire Weekend before the world hears of them. It’s an expensive city, you say? You get what you pay for. With dozens of Fortune 500 companies here, leaders in every industry keep apartments in the city. To be the best, it helps to live among the best.
Number 4 - London
The English poet and novelist Samuel Johnson said that, “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,” and we couldn’t agree more. London is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting and rich places on this planet to live.
Provided you have a job that eases the financial strain of living in a city that's routinely ranked among the top three most expensive in the world, the sheer amount of choice is what attracts people to this city. With over 300 languages spoken, London is a true microcosm of the world and consequently provides access to the very best in international cuisine and culture. In 2008, London restaurants were awarded a total of 52 Michelin stars, and the entertainment options are staggering as well. Whether it’s sports, shopping, theater, live music, or museums that strike your fancy, you can do no better than London.
The city also has a lot to entice the single man since there are 7.5 million people here and crucially the majority of them are women. In 2005, a nearly 1% female surplus meant that there were comfortingly 78,000 more female bodies than there were male.
Number 3- San Francisco
San Francisco is a cityscape of irresistible drama. Steep hills and skyscrapers overlook a gorgeous bay that changes color with the sky. That drama filters into every aspect of the city’s life, from its topsy-turvy power politics to its go-hard recreation (3,480 acres of parks including three golf courses) and go-harder nightlife (including 2,870 bars). Since the days of the Barbary Coast, San Francisco has boasted one of the great bar and dining cultures, and is home to some of the best restaurants in North America, claiming one restaurant for every 279 people.
The louche life notwithstanding, San Francisco was the healthiest city in the U.S. in 2008, at least according to USA Today. Just outside the city lay miles of vineyards producing some of the world's great wines. The city abounds with classic men’s stores including local favorites Cable Car Clothiers and The Hound. San Francisco is a creative sector powerhouse, with LucasArts located right in the city’s famed Presidio. The city’s boy-to-girl ratio (male: 51%; female: 49%) doesn’t seem promising at first, but remember this is San Francisco, so you can shave a good 8% to 10% off the competition right there. Be advised that women here are the cream of the brain trust -- San Francisco was named one of the top 10 smartest cities by Forbes last year -- so the kind of “hey baby” come-on that works in L.A. or Miami Beach ain’t gonna work here.
And the Number 1 city is - Chicago
As the largest city in the Midwest, Chicago strikes the perfect balance between cosmopolitan and comfortable, combining all of the culture, entertainment and sophistication of an internationally renowned destination with an affordable lifestyle and down-to-earth work hard/play hard character.
World-class cultural fixtures like the Art Institute, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago International Film Festival and a vibrant theater scene are complemented by popular festivals like Jazz Fest, Blues Fest and the recently revitalized Lollapalooza, Outdoor Film Festival, and Second City, which happens to be the source of 39% of the U.S.’s greatest comedians (a scientifically calculated fact!). Chicago possesses one of the world’s most vibrant, diverse and innovative restaurant scenes, from culinary luminaries like Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz and Rick Bayless to an astounding variety of hole-in-the-wall neighborhood joints to Chicago’s signature greasy trinity of deep-dish pizza, Italian beef and Chicago-style hot dogs.
A hardcore sports town, Chicago covers all of the professional leagues (some twice) with teams that actually have history, both famous and infamous. And while the winters are rough, Chicagoans make the most of the warmer months, taking their love of sports to the beaches, courts, paths, and parks of Chicago’s beautiful lakefront, set aside as public land for the entire city’s enjoyment.
To see where the other cities rank
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