Hello gllen-ga:
Thanks for asking such an interesting question. In my response, I have
tried to be short and concise rather than provide you with a lengthy
answer that is irrelevant. But this doesn’t mean that this is the
final answer. If you like, please clarify and I will respond again.
After researching the three most important factors that includes cost
of living in a country, cost of internet usage and quality of life, I
have been able to sort out the list of three countries that will be
best suited to your goals.
These are Australia/NZ, Canada and Spain.
Why didn’t I include any Asian countries or an Eastern European
country that would be suitable for your cause?
The reason being that either the cost of living in the major cities of
these countries is too high (England, Germany, Japan, France,
Scandinavia), either the internet costs are too high ( Belgium,
Hungary, Czech Republic ) OR the quality of life is not great (mostly
East Europe).
I chose the above mentioned countries for the three major factors that
makes them fit for your needs. As I understand that you will be using
the internet on a regular base and will be depended on an online
business therefore it is important that you are able to access the
internet facilities from your location and at the same time are able
to access the facilities commonly available in any US city (quality of
life). There are some Scandinavian, Asian and East European countries
that made my list but than again the major cities of these countries
have a high cost of living and the minor cities aren’t equipped with
appropriate internet facilities.
REASON FOR CHOOSING
Australia/NZ
The cost of living in the major cities are among the cheapest in the
major cities of the world. Consider Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and
Perth occupying positions 111, 121, 124, and 126 respectively in the
annual survey by Mercer HR http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving.htm.
While Auckland and Wellington are ranked 115 and 117 respectively.
Only Sydney is in the 67th position. The internet usage cost in
Australia is very much the same as in the US while NZ have just a
little higher costs. See the survey by logging onto
http://www.oecd.org , Type the keyword ‘internet usage’ in the search
box and click on the third listing ‘Price of 40 hours of internet
usage at peak times’ .
For quality of life in the major cities worldwide, cities in this
region rate among the best . Australian and New with five appearing in
the top 25. Sydney claims joint 5th place with Auckland (105).
Melbourne scores 103.5 and Perth has a score of 103. See survey
results by Mercer HR at
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1084615
Canada
The cost of living in the major Canadian cities is a lot less than the
other major cities worldwide. Consider the fact that none of those
surveyed appeared in the world’s 100 most expensive cities. Toronto
and Vancouver are positioned at 104th (64.9), and 110th place (63.2)
respectively. Ottawa is the least expensive Canadian city and takes
position 127 in the survey, with a score of 57.2. See survey results
at http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving.htm. The internet usage cost is
relative to the US is just a little more.
. See the survey by logging onto http://www.oecd.org , Type the
keyword ‘internet usage’ in the search box and click on the third
listing ‘Price of 40 hours of internet usage at peak times’ .
For quality of life
Canada continues to score well with four cities in the top 25 among
the major cities around the world. Vancouver is ranked in 2nd position
(106), followed by Toronto ranked 12th (104), Ottawa at 20th place
(103), and Montreal in 23rd position (102.5). See survey results by
Mercer HR at http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1084615
Spain
The reason for choosing Spain is that the cost of living in its major
cities is relatively cheaper than the other developed countries in the
world. Consider Barcelona and Madrid which ranked 81 and 86
respectively among the world major cities surveyed. Compare it with
the major cities of the other countries and you will notice that
either all of the major cities rate high on cost of living or some of
the cities rate high. From the survey results of Spain, it can be
assumed that the cost of living in any other location in Spain will be
comparatively cheaper. See survey results at
http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving.htm. Again the internet costs are
the same as of the US but only the telephone usage charge is greater
while the internet service provider costs are even cheaper. See the
survey by logging onto http://www.oecd.org , Type the keyword
‘internet usage’ in the search box and click on the third listing
‘Price of 40 hours of internet usage at peak times’ . Although there
is no specific mention of the Spanish cities in the survey report at
but they can be considered safe because of the high number of tourist
to the locations and internal political stability. See survey report
at http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1084615.
Usually all of the above mentioned countries have a long history of
immigration and their policies are friendlier to the natives of other
countries. For more information, please visit:
Canada http://www.canada.gc.ca/main_e.html
Australia http://www.fed.gov.au/
New Zealand http://www.govt.nz/
Spain http://www.migrationinformation.org/
You can also consider looking at the list yourself and than decide on
an alternative country. I also took into consideration the English
language factor ( or Spanish and French ).
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Cost of living surveys and other related information is available at
Economist Intelligence Unit
http://eiu.enumerate.com/
Economist Intelligence Unit
http://eiu.enumerate.com/
http://www.salariesreview.com/surveys/index.cfm?action=int_col
http://www.montrealinternational.com/en/vivre/cout.aspx
Cost of Living from Country to Country
http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving.htm
Quality of Life Survey
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1084615
ASIAN CITIES
http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving1.htm
Quality of Life
http://www.finfacts.ie/qualityoflife.htm
Internet Access Costs
http://www.e-gateway.net/infoarea/news/news.cfm?nid=2096
SOME KEYWORDS USED
Quality of life by country
Internet access by country
Cost of living by country
Broadband cost by country
Hope this will help. Please clarify if you need further information.
Regards,
Leader-ga. |
