We all know that Italy is the perfect place to vacation. The cities to visit and revisit could keep one busy for an entire lifetime. For those who live in Italy, there are often different factors at play and the Italian financial newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore, annually ranks cities and towns to determine the best places to live, based upon many different factors. This year marked the 30th edition of the rankings. As with so many things in Italy, regions, towns and cities vary greatly when it comes to the quality of life.
Although 90 different factors are rated, the components breakdown into six major areas. These are described as Affluence and Consumerism; Environment and Services; Justice and Security; Business and Work; Demographics and Society and Culture and Leisure.
For affluence and consumerism, the top five awards went to Aosta, Milan, Trieste, Parma and Turin. Each of the locations are located in the northern portion of the country, with Aosta being the smallest city. Milan and Turin are among the largest Italian cities.
In the next category, environment and services, Trento in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, came in first and Bolzano, its neighbor to the north, came in third. The two were split, followed by Trieste, with Milan in fifth place. The big surprise was Nuoro, located in central-eastern Sardinia, which was ranked in fourth place.
Justice and security evaluates safe living conditions and it is no surprise that it was the smaller city that headed the list. Topping the list was Oristano in central-western Sardinia, followed by the northern cities of Treviso, Aosta, Bellino and Pordenone.
For the category of business and work, it was no surprise to see Milan in first place. It was followed by the thriving port city of Trieste and the northern city of Bolzano. Bologna, which is in the heart of Emilia Romagna and Italy’s ‘Motor Valley’ was next, followed by the coastal resort city of Rimini.
Demographics and society rankings indicate a broad range of factors, which basically boil down to places which are low on stress and high on friendliness. Bolzano took first place in the category, followed by three locations in the region of Lombardia: Brescia, Lodi, Monza and Brianza. The last two cities are included together in the survey. Fifth place went to Italy’s city of love – Verona.
With everything that there is to see in Rome and with the artwork of Florence, it seemed surprising that when it came to culture and leisure, neither city made the top five. First place went to Rimini, the Emilia Romagna’s playground on the Adriatic Sea, followed by Trieste. In third place was Milan, while Venice took fourth and the beautiful Aosta in the western Alps came in fifth.
So which city had the highest aggregate score? For the second year in a row, it was Milan that took home first place honors as the best place to live and work in Italy. Bolzano came in second place and in truth, there are many striking differences between the two beyond the fact that one is a very large city and one a very small one.
Third place went to the northern city of Trento, followed closely by Aosta. In fifth place was Trieste, while in sixth place was Monza and Brianza. Seventh through ninth places were filled by cities in the Veneto region: Verona, Treviso and Venice. Italy’s 2020 Capital of Culture – Parma finished in 10th place. Also of note, Bologna took the 14th spot, just ahead of Florence in 15th place, while the Eternal City – Rome was in 18th place.
