(shortly followed by Switzerland, Austria, Iceland and the Bahamas)
I've been in Copenhagen all summer and I can't agree more. Great people, great architecture. Lots of young firms getting some important projects such as BIG, JDS, and Force4.
I'll be in Denmark all next year, so I'll let you know. I lived in Switzerland for two years however, and I can't quite agree that it should be number two.
It looks to me like they didn't take the suicide rate into account because many of those countries listed have high rates.
I came to Denmark a month ago to start work, and I have to agree - what a great city. Beautiful place, great architecture, great outdoor lifestyle, everyone is very easygoing, and it helps that most people can speak english. My office works half english/ half danish. I would recommend to anyone to pass by during their architecture tours - small country, so you can see a lot in short distances.
vado, why in heavens name would you want to be an european citizen. We americans get pissed if a coke is 10 cents overpriced. In most european countries everything is overpriced, overtaxed, undersized, extreme right and at the same time you never get your moneys worth.
Well, maybe in the summer, but when I was there, a girl told me something like "Well, in December, when the sky is black at 4PM, we're all about to go bat-shit-crazy." (Her words)
However, I don't doubt it for a second in the summer. Scandinavia in the summer time is probably the happiest place I've ever been.
JerkStore makes a great point. 20 hours of darkness in the winter.
true, the summer (which is the only season i've spent in Copenhagen) is amazingly beautiful.
The level of conscious-ness is quite high in Denmark...meaning, people are alive and aware. Great place and people indeed. Enlightened. Not prone to being numb.
I'm pretty happy in the US. Not in some nationalistic, gung ho way. It wouldn't seem I'm happy from my blog, but that's the weird 3 year life void called grad school. I know W is doing some things that might decrease my happiness. But over all, Americans (not our govt, see previous sentence) are fairly well respected, I'm comfortable, I can do anything I want, go where I want. I know people will bitch that the government is infringing on my rights, but if they want to tap my calls and hear me talk about Metroid to my mom, go ahead. People blabber on their phones in public all the time, so no one is hiding anything. Anywhere you go you will find something that sucks. Maybe people will call me unpatriotic for not decenting, but I'm mostly happy. W has a year and a half. If he can manage to not get us all killed, Maybe we can pull through. But the US has treated me pretty well for 26 years. I like Japan too. I could see the #90 rating sometimes in the faces of the daily commuters, by the daily reak of digested alcohol and by the number of people that have told me they want to move to the US.
Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.-Soren Kierkegaard
"An individual in despair despairs over something. . .In despairing over something, he really despairs over himself, and how he wants to get rid of himself." SK
I can't agree more, I moved out of Copenhagen yesterday after a six month stay (back to Holland). Incredible gorgeous women, incredible high salaries (the starting salarie for an architect is about $50.000 a year, yet heavily taxed), free health care, beautifull pleasant cities, did I mention the hot women?
So if Disney World is the Happiest Place on Earth in #23 US, what would happen if they built one in Denmark? Two theories. Either world peace would finally become a reality. Or number two, the happiness factor would become so dense it would create a black hole and crush us all.
i'm already taxed at 27.5% in the US. then add the insurance premiums which are 4% of my income. now my employer pays that, for which i'm pretty grateful, but someone still pays, and perhaps my pay would be 4% higher? dunno. but there we are, 31.5%.
ok, so then i take what it costs to drive to work every morning and home each night. that's a $400 car payment and $60 in gas each month (yeah, it's a hybrid) and $100 a month for insurance. that's about another 14% of my income.
so! 45.5% of my income is taken out of my hands each year anyway.
now, i can't argue with the fact that my sales taxes in TX are 8.25% not 25% as they are in sweden (i forget what they are in denmark). but at least i can CHOOSE not to buy things (and thus not pay sales taxes). i can't choose not to work (well, i guess i COULD but) nor can i choose another way to get to work (a less fuel-efficient car would actually cost more--maybe i pay $250 a month for my car but i spend another $150 in gas--and ha! no real public transit) nor can i choose not to get insurance (not with my family's genetics).
if i'm gonna give away half my income i'd rather it go towards a health-care system that is way more efficient than our private one with all its redundancies and executive waste; an educational system that enables anyone to go to college for an equally low price; a public transit system that takes me from somewhere i am to somewhere i'd like to go; and a social-welfare system that frankly enables me to give money to my church so that they can bring people to god without having to first bring people to food.
but then again...i can start a business for $300 in the state of TX so it ain't all bad.
as for the latitude - i was there in june. i was just taking someone's word for the daylight in january. but that being said, london is pretty far north, and copenhagen is still 4 degrees further north than that.
i've also heard that yeah, the taxes are high, but since they don't have to prop up the military-industrial complex for the entire western world, they get a better return on what they pay.
ochona - I find it interesting that all the tax supported things you cited, of which I assume would make you happy, are things readily available in many of the countries scoring lower than the USA. Germany, Britain and France all have national healthcare, good transit, etc, yet all scored lower than the USA.
Rating the happiness of a country seems a little bogus to me. Reminds me of Michael Moore's film where he tries to paint all the Iraqi people as happy and carefree in the days before the US invaded. Or when people visit Cuba and come back saying how everyone was "happy." Meanwhile, refugees are fleeing those type of countries en mass. All trying to get to western nations.
If you live in an industralized western nation, be it Europe or USA or Australia or Canada, etc. you've got it pretty darn good compared to the rest of the world.
i would tend to agree. there was another study (at least i think it was another study) of happiness -- and the finding was that the non-industrialized nations scored HIGHER than the industrialized ones. so who's happy?
and contentment and happiness are not the same. people may be content with their lot, but not happy with it. like my dad would say, things aren't so good but they're not so bad either. i think contentment, rather than happiness, is what a lot of people in denmark (for instance) have.
what is an "average european house"? your image seems to come from a .nl site.. didn't you mean an "average dutch house"? how an "average" house from a north european country is equiparable to the "average" house of the southern countries?
"Denmark is happiest place in the world"
(shortly followed by Switzerland, Austria, Iceland and the Bahamas)
I've been in Copenhagen all summer and I can't agree more. Great people, great architecture. Lots of young firms getting some important projects such as BIG, JDS, and Force4.
any feedback on Denmark or Copenhagen
is this graded on low suicides or the number of topless sunbathers in the public parks?
what happened to disney world?
I'll be in Denmark all next year, so I'll let you know. I lived in Switzerland for two years however, and I can't quite agree that it should be number two.
It looks to me like they didn't take the suicide rate into account because many of those countries listed have high rates.
dont forget to take your cd to denmark wanton!
I came to Denmark a month ago to start work, and I have to agree - what a great city. Beautiful place, great architecture, great outdoor lifestyle, everyone is very easygoing, and it helps that most people can speak english. My office works half english/ half danish. I would recommend to anyone to pass by during their architecture tours - small country, so you can see a lot in short distances.
anyone want to trade me their european citizenship for my american citizenship and some cash?
vado, why in heavens name would you want to be an european citizen. We americans get pissed if a coke is 10 cents overpriced. In most european countries everything is overpriced, overtaxed, undersized, extreme right and at the same time you never get your moneys worth.
Well, maybe in the summer, but when I was there, a girl told me something like "Well, in December, when the sky is black at 4PM, we're all about to go bat-shit-crazy." (Her words)
However, I don't doubt it for a second in the summer. Scandinavia in the summer time is probably the happiest place I've ever been.
harold you sound just like an american.
JerkStore makes a great point. 20 hours of darkness in the winter.
true, the summer (which is the only season i've spent in Copenhagen) is amazingly beautiful.
The level of conscious-ness is quite high in Denmark...meaning, people are alive and aware. Great place and people indeed. Enlightened. Not prone to being numb.
Denmark was awesome when i was there! its like a holiday everyday!
I'm pretty happy in the US. Not in some nationalistic, gung ho way. It wouldn't seem I'm happy from my blog, but that's the weird 3 year life void called grad school. I know W is doing some things that might decrease my happiness. But over all, Americans (not our govt, see previous sentence) are fairly well respected, I'm comfortable, I can do anything I want, go where I want. I know people will bitch that the government is infringing on my rights, but if they want to tap my calls and hear me talk about Metroid to my mom, go ahead. People blabber on their phones in public all the time, so no one is hiding anything. Anywhere you go you will find something that sucks. Maybe people will call me unpatriotic for not decenting, but I'm mostly happy. W has a year and a half. If he can manage to not get us all killed, Maybe we can pull through. But the US has treated me pretty well for 26 years. I like Japan too. I could see the #90 rating sometimes in the faces of the daily commuters, by the daily reak of digested alcohol and by the number of people that have told me they want to move to the US.
happy dane
Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.-Soren Kierkegaard
um, jerkstore, AP, you know copenhagen is about the same latitude as london, right?
"An individual in despair despairs over something. . .In despairing over something, he really despairs over himself, and how he wants to get rid of himself." SK
admiller
how is DIS so far?
after hearing these posts, i'm more convinced to do their summer program next year.
hey! how do you post a photograph on this site?
I can't agree more, I moved out of Copenhagen yesterday after a six month stay (back to Holland). Incredible gorgeous women, incredible high salaries (the starting salarie for an architect is about $50.000 a year, yet heavily taxed), free health care, beautifull pleasant cities, did I mention the hot women?
So if Disney World is the Happiest Place on Earth in #23 US, what would happen if they built one in Denmark? Two theories. Either world peace would finally become a reality. Or number two, the happiness factor would become so dense it would create a black hole and crush us all.
Yes and it would be build 3D-H
Sorry -- No as it would be 3D-H build
heavily taxed in denmark?
i'm already taxed at 27.5% in the US. then add the insurance premiums which are 4% of my income. now my employer pays that, for which i'm pretty grateful, but someone still pays, and perhaps my pay would be 4% higher? dunno. but there we are, 31.5%.
ok, so then i take what it costs to drive to work every morning and home each night. that's a $400 car payment and $60 in gas each month (yeah, it's a hybrid) and $100 a month for insurance. that's about another 14% of my income.
so! 45.5% of my income is taken out of my hands each year anyway.
now, i can't argue with the fact that my sales taxes in TX are 8.25% not 25% as they are in sweden (i forget what they are in denmark). but at least i can CHOOSE not to buy things (and thus not pay sales taxes). i can't choose not to work (well, i guess i COULD but) nor can i choose another way to get to work (a less fuel-efficient car would actually cost more--maybe i pay $250 a month for my car but i spend another $150 in gas--and ha! no real public transit) nor can i choose not to get insurance (not with my family's genetics).
if i'm gonna give away half my income i'd rather it go towards a health-care system that is way more efficient than our private one with all its redundancies and executive waste; an educational system that enables anyone to go to college for an equally low price; a public transit system that takes me from somewhere i am to somewhere i'd like to go; and a social-welfare system that frankly enables me to give money to my church so that they can bring people to god without having to first bring people to food.
but then again...i can start a business for $300 in the state of TX so it ain't all bad.
disneyworld in denmark = legoland. oh yes.
as for the latitude - i was there in june. i was just taking someone's word for the daylight in january. but that being said, london is pretty far north, and copenhagen is still 4 degrees further north than that.
i've also heard that yeah, the taxes are high, but since they don't have to prop up the military-industrial complex for the entire western world, they get a better return on what they pay.
hasselhoff....they did....its called LegoLand.
Legoland on the Jutland, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen...
...neither is quite Disney...
moderation is the key to avoiding 'black holes'...
legoland...whups disney's ass.
vs.
?
ochona - I find it interesting that all the tax supported things you cited, of which I assume would make you happy, are things readily available in many of the countries scoring lower than the USA. Germany, Britain and France all have national healthcare, good transit, etc, yet all scored lower than the USA.
Rating the happiness of a country seems a little bogus to me. Reminds me of Michael Moore's film where he tries to paint all the Iraqi people as happy and carefree in the days before the US invaded. Or when people visit Cuba and come back saying how everyone was "happy." Meanwhile, refugees are fleeing those type of countries en mass. All trying to get to western nations.
If you live in an industralized western nation, be it Europe or USA or Australia or Canada, etc. you've got it pretty darn good compared to the rest of the world.
i would tend to agree. there was another study (at least i think it was another study) of happiness -- and the finding was that the non-industrialized nations scored HIGHER than the industrialized ones. so who's happy?
and contentment and happiness are not the same. people may be content with their lot, but not happy with it. like my dad would say, things aren't so good but they're not so bad either. i think contentment, rather than happiness, is what a lot of people in denmark (for instance) have.
agfa8x, London is pitch black at 4pm in December...
some figures
a gallon of gas in Denmark cost: $5.93
Sweden: $6.48
United States: $3.04
a BMW m3 made in Europe, sold in europe: $67,000
a BMW m3 made in Europe, sold in US :$36:000
boneless ribs with fried rice at the chinese in the US: $4.29
boneless ribs with fried rice at the chinese in Denmark: $13.50
two way train ticket Westbury-Penn Station New York $7.50
two way train ticket Amsterdam- Rotterdam $22.50
Premium cable package 300+ channels US $89.00
Canal plus 3 channels Europe $35.00
Average american house, 2150sf, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathroom, basement, 2 garages, 1 den, attic, livingroom, family room, laundry room, kitchen, dining room, deck, price around $225,000.00
Average european house, 950sf, 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, attic, living room, kitchen price around $275,000.00
what is an "average european house"? your image seems to come from a .nl site.. didn't you mean an "average dutch house"? how an "average" house from a north european country is equiparable to the "average" house of the southern countries?
They say money doesn't buy happiness, but Americans sure can buy a lot more stuff with their money. That's why we have this bumper sticker.
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