The top 50 cities for quality of life

by Sean McLachlan on

If you don’t live in Vienna, you might consider moving there.

A new survey lists the top 50 cities for quality of life and Vienna comes out as number one. The survey, conducted by Mercer, a human resources consultancy firm, looked at criteria such as infrastructure, economy, housing, recreation, personal and press freedom, and education. Vienna certainly scores high in all that, plus it has historic neighborhoods and cool clocks. It’s just a shame the Toilet Bar had to change its decor.

The top ten cities are:

Vienna
Zurich
Geneva
Vancouver
Auckland
Dusseldorf
Frankfurt
Munich
Bern
Sydney

European cities dominate the top fifty. No U.S. city shows up until number 31 (Honolulu) followed by San Francisco (32), Boston (37), Chicago and Washington (tied at 45), New York City (49) and Seattle coming in surprisingly low at 50. Canada did much better with Vancouver at number 4, Ottawa at 14, Toronto at 16, Montreal at 21, and Calgary at 28.

Mercer actually surveyed 221 cities, with Baghdad scoring dead last. Go figure. They also listed the most eco-friendly cities, with Calgary taking the top spot.

Image of Cafe Central, Vienna courtesy Andreas Praefcke via Wikimedia Commons.

Affordable Beachy Day Trips from NYC

by Amy Chen on

Memorial Day weekend in New York City is either an excuse to barbecue or to hit the beach. From Manhattan, reaching a decent beach can become quite the odyssey, especially if you don’t have a car.

Even if you’re not lucky enough to summer in the Hamptons, you can leave the city and lounge on a beach without spending a fortune. Not all beaches around New York City, however, are created equal. Depending on your mood, here are four beaches that are within a day trip from Manhattan and accessible by public transportation.

Coney Island
Good for: Nathan’s hot dogs, a boardwalk with carnival games and rides (the new Luna Park opens Saturday, May 29), the New York Aquarium (the sea lion show is surprisingly fun), and the bone-rattling Cyclone wooden roller coaster.
Beach quality: Expect cigarette butts in the sand, virtually no waves, and murky water that’s OK for dipping in your toes. Come to think of it, I don’t know anyone who has actually jumped all the way into that water.
Cost from Manhattan: $4.50 for a round-trip subway card. Give yourself at least an hour in travel time by subway.

Fire Island
Good for: Relaxing on (comparatively) uncrowded beaches.
Beach quality: Rougher waves (beware of swimsuit malfunctions — wear a suit that can take the beating), but don’t expect too much in the way of amenities. Bring a beach umbrella because there’s little to no shade.
Cost from Manhattan: Long Island Rail Road train from Penn Station to Bay Shore (from $21.50 for an off-peak round-trip ticket) then a ferry (from $10 for a round-trip pass). Check the train and ferry schedules carefully, and make sure you don’t miss the last ferry back. For one-way travel times, allot two hours for the train and at least 20 minutes for the ferry.

Jones Beach
Good for: Summer music concerts, lots of junk-food concession stands, some picnic tables, and decent waves.
Beach quality: Serviceable but crowded with families. Beach umbrella rentals are available.
Cost from Manhattan: $16.50 for the MTA’s Jones Beach package with discounted one-day round-trip LIRR tickets to Freeport and a bus connection to the beach. This year’s service is available on weekends May 29-Sept. 12 plus Memorial Day (May 31); weekdays June 28-Sept. 6.

Atlantic City, NJ
Good for: Gambling, strolling the boardwalk, and people-watching.
Beach quality: Obviously not the Caribbean, but not bad for a quick getaway. Keep in mind that you can easily sit in three hours of traffic trying to get to the Hamptons.
Cost from Manhattan: The Atlantic City Express Service train from New York’s Penn Station is the fastest route by public transit. One-way tickets start at $29 for the 2.5-hour trip.

Having visited each of these beaches and mostly by public transportation, I feel obligated to share these seven seemingly obvious tips. Feel free to add your own.

[Image Credits: Amy Chen]

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Check the schedule. When traveling by train, bus, or ferry, double-check the schedule for any service changes or delays. This is especially important if you need to connect by bus or ferry to reach the beach.

Have a Plan B. If you know you’re the type to dawdle, aim to catch the second-to-last departure on the way home. That way, in the event you lose track of time, you have a buffer and won’t have to stress about finding your way back.

Do the math. Depending on the size of your group or if you’re traveling with a lot of kids or gear, it may be more cost-effective and easier to rent a car. In the New York area, car-sharing companies such as Zipcar and Connect by Hertz offer hourly rentals with gas and insurance included. (Expect to pay a membership fee and familiarize yourself with any mileage limits — I once exceeded the daily mileage limit with my Zipcar rental and paid a penalty that effectively doubled the price of the rental). Don’t forget to factor in any parking fees or tolls.

Lighten your load. Can you rent chairs or umbrellas at the beach? Then don’t bother schlepping all that gear on the subway, train, bus, or ferry.

Know the rules. Does the train, bus, or ferry allow coolers or glass bottles? What about the beach? If certain items are prohibited, you could find yourself dragging unnecessary stuff and then being forced to dump all of it.

Bring a cover-up and a change of clothes. If it took you two hours to get there, you’ll want to be comfortable on the ride back.

Oh, and don’t forget to wear sunblock.

An Anti-Sex and the City Hotel Deal in NYC

by Amy Chen on

I’ll admit that I’m looking forward to the mind-numbing experience of watching Sex and the City 2, which opens Thursday. That said, I’m also amused to see a few anti-SATC hotel deals pop up among all the Cosmopolitan-fueled packages.

New York City’s Pod Hotel, a budget-minded property on East 51st Street, has put together one of these anti-SATC packages.

Starting at $139 per night, the “Don’t Get Carried Away” package includes one night in a bunk-bed room at the Pod, two cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop, a Brooklyn cocktail at East Side Social Club, and a knock-off designer handbag from Canal Street.

This package is a refreshing alternative to other SATC-themed packages, which typically have heftier price tags (can you say luxurious suites, Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, Cosmopolitan cocktails, and designer brands?)

If this package inspires you to build your own anti-SATC package, might I also suggest cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine? This Lower East Side bakery on Rivington Street whips up tasty confections for $1.50 each — my favorites are the pistachio and the Sexy Red Velvet cupcakes, which I find less sickeningly sweet than Magnolia’s $3.25 version.

Details: The “Don’t Get Carried Away” package is valid for stays at the Pod Hotel (www.thepodhotel.com) from May 27-June 11.

Tripatini launches new “Ask a Travel Expert” features, contest

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Gadling first reported on Tripatini, a new social networking website for travelers back in January. The site has earned a devoted following thanks to its large and growing community of passionate travelers, journalists and industry professionals. Recently Tripatini unveiled a new feature to tap into the collective experience and expertise of its members called “Ask a Travel Expert.”

For all the information that’s floating on the Internet, one of the most frustrating aspects of travel is finding reliable, up-to-date information. Tripatini’s Ask a Travel Expert fills that gap, creating a dedicated Q&A forum where information seekers can ask the site’s savvy travelers and travel experts specific questions about their trips. Right now there’s ongoing discussions about New York food trucks, shark cage diving in South Africa and tips for the Hawaiian isle of Kauai. Tripatini has also built their Ask a Travel Expert function around an embeddable widget which can be added to websites anywhere on the web.

Best of all, to help promote their new Ask a Travel Expert feature, Tripatini is giving away a trip for two to London now through June 30th. All you have to do to participate is simply ask or answer a question during the contest period and you’re entered for a chance to win. A forum to get answers to your most pressing travel questions and a chance to win a free trip? Sounds like good deal to me. Head on over to Tripatini’s Ask a Travel Expert page and complete the easy sign up for an account if you’d like to give it a try.

New York City street vendors to accept credit cards

by Mike Barish on

Starting in June, if you’ve got a hankering for some street meat in New York City, you’ll be able to use a credit card to purchase your kebab. As part of a trial program in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, select street vendors will begin accepting credit card payments for food.

If the initial response to the experiment is positive, it could be rolled out to all New York City street vendors in three or four months. Meaning that stale pretzels and soggy hot dogs may soon be no more than a credit card swipe away.

Beyond those snacks, there are some fantastic food carts in New York City that offer full meals ranging from Jamaican to Lebanese to Korean (and everything in between). So, while you may never have the need to charge $2.00 for a hot dog, being able to pay for a quick and delicious meal-to-go with a credit card may be just the thing to make you consider those food carts that you often just walk past.

Street vendors are wildly popular outside of the States. Here at Gadling we’re always promoting the joys of street food. These carts are only now beginning to catch on with wider audiences domestically as high-end food trucks and more elaborate carts have hit the streets. Here in New York, however, we’ve always been hip to street meat. And now we can charge it.

[Via Gawker via NYP]