New York, obviously, and fuck you

Atlantis. It's so exclusive that nobody knows how to find it.

Berlin.

Many people hate Berlin. I don't. It's got so much variety, there are neighbourhoods surrounded by lakes, neighbourhoods that are basically in the woods, beautiful neighbourhoods like Charlottenburg and very urban neighbourhoods. Want something good to eat? There'll be something amazing nearby. They have trams running through the forest. There are trains going to Amsterdam and Prague. You can get everywhere by public transport (outside town in Brandenburg too). It's surrounded by a beautiful state, where you can watch cranes migrate in huge flocks and where you can skate on natural ice in winter.

I live near Freiburg now. Everybody loves Freiburg and the Black Forest. But I miss Berlin.

New Amsterdam

(because it became New York)

Houten, Netherlands. No cars in the city, you can bike anywhere. The true 15 minute city

Ecologically speaking, it must me Singapore.

TL;DR: Seoul, Korea. I loved living there.

I've not seen many cities on Earth. But, in making my choices, I'll share what Im considering.

Caveat: I've never been to any place on the African continent. This is an admitted blind spot. I've also been to only three European cities.

Not New York, Toronto, San Fransisco, Ottawa, Portland, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Miami, Québec, Atlanta, or Halifax (sorry Nova Scotia, we love you!)

Not London (UK). Not Frankfurt. Not Sydney (Aus). Not Beijing. Not Kathmandu. Not KL, KK, Bangkok, or Singapore. Not Dubai. Not Colombo, Male, Kuwait, Doha, or Muscat (sorry Oman, we love you!)

No La Habana, ni Santiago de Chile, Cali, Arequipa, Cusco, y no á ciudad de Guatemala (disculpame mis hermanos de Guate!)

I think that the greatest cities on Earth have DEEP histories, offer diversity, and have been at the crossroads of the human condition.

Of the cities I've spent at least a week in (in no particular order):

• La ciudad de México, México. (Pyramids, gardens, art, and food)

• Istanbul, Türkiye (Hagia Sofia, Bosphorus, history)

• Seoul, Korea (functionality, history, food, mountains, music)

• Cartagena, Colombia (music, seaside, fortress, art)

• Beirut, Lebanon [at least, when (2012) and how (with well-connected locals) I was there. Certainly, it's faced repeated harms in the past 7 years.]

• Berlin, Germany (architecture, functionality, history, walking tour, art, festivals)

• Montréal, Québec (one Canadian city needed to be on)

Ones I've not been to, but might list if I had:

• Tehran, Iran (history)

• Barcelona, Spain (Al-Analous)

• Mumbai, India

• Hong Kong

• Tokyo, Japan

For me? Montréal.

It's incredibly walkable, tons of parks and nature and trees all throughout with a beautiful unique urban design (the brick plexes) and a unique blend of cultures.

Not Cheyenne, Wyoming. Go there. Walk the streets of its downtown. Walk those desolate streets and say to yourself, "this place is actually the capital of an entire state?"

Cheyenne, Wyoming, the town that God forgot.

Utrecht

Canmore, Alberta. You're minutes from all the places that make up 90% of the Earth porn pictures on the internet, nestled right in the Rocky Mountains. Nobody is ever going to nuke, invade, occupy or otherwise come anywhere near Canmore during a war. Even if they did you could just escape into the vast Canadian wilderness which surrounds it. Lots of good food, shops, recreation and a generally great place to live and raise a family. Cheaper than Banff too!

Nobody said it had to be a major city.

Bielefeld, obviously.

Which city? Mine.

Why? Because i live there.

Clearly it's Best. That's why they named it that.

Vienna, Austria is a pretty great place.

Seattle WA is pretty cool.

Belgrade Serbia. It's the perfect size, not crowded but always busy, big enough that it has everything you could want small enough you can get anywhere in under an hour on free public transportation. The food is great and cheap and there's plenty of places open all night. Lots of green space and a couple huge parks. I live as a nomad but if i had to pick a city to settle in Beograd is the easy choice.

I really don't like cities, but the cities I have disliked the least (in order) are: Singapore, Istanbul, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Quebec City, Granada Spain, New York, Montreal, Cartagena, Cuenca Ecuador, Washington D.C.(although it was many years ago I was there), Ottawa.

I haven't traveled the world enough to give a definitive answer. I had a blast in Edinburgh, and Luxembourg City is a wonderful place to visit. Most large Canadian cities are delightful. I doubt any of the cities I have visited would be the 'greatest' on the planet, however.

I 100% doubt any city in the USA could qualify. They are far more alike than they are different.

As for New Yorkers frequently & loudly yelling their city is the greatest, I'm convinced it's some kind of pathology similar to Stockholm Syndrome. This comedian explains it better than I can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnxtvSMw49M

I haven't traveled nearly enough, but I'd say it's either Amsterdam, Netherlands, or Barcelona, Spain.

Amsterdam for the freedom and beauty. Barcelona because it's beautiful and on the beach.

It's not even a great beach, kinda rocky for my taste, but it's just such a beautiful city.

New York, NY USA

Istanbul, although maybe not anymore since Erdogan is doing his best to ruin it.

The food is amazing, it (was) an open and tolerant city and its several thousand years of settlement mean there's fascinating history no matter where you look.

Philadelphia, easy.

Oslo

Sarnia, ON, because why would I leave if its the best place on earth.

From my experience trying to move there in the past decade, it would have been Denver

The "Green Rush" brought an interesting vibe of a small city growing bigger, but then the pandemic busted up that momentum and your's truly got priced out of an already overpriced studio

I remember walking around 16th Street after the lockdown was lifted and realized that the magic wasn't coming back. The absolute state of the homeless population certainly wasn't helping

I want to say another city to be cool, but New York City, New York State always makes me proud. I live in Rochester lol.

Depends a lot how you interpret "great". My personal favorites are, without picking a winner:
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Edinburgh, Brno

Amsterdam. We went as tourists once like anyone does with an AirBnB near the center and it was a really good time.

Then we went there again for 2,5 weeks and the center just wasn't affordable, so we got a cheaper place out in the suburbs. And it was so much better than we had hoped! Beautiful parks all around, but even the regular housing areas are super green, quiet, and beautiful. It's incredible how good cities can be if they're not crammed like crazy and built for cars rather than people. Even as a driver it's nice because there is so little traffic.

Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

They have the least authoritarian government and the most amount of food available for the non-elite class.

I mean I love my city and kinda think its the gratest but I can recognize that is my biased feeling and I don't have nearly enough experience to say. Many seem really cool. I think one thing is many cities have all sorts of coold aspects but im not sure one is cool in every aspect.

Purpee Oregon

NY.

Because Voldemort was a great wizard.

Cremungulon obviously you moron

Los Angeles. In spite of all the anti-homeless initiatives, it's still the least wlrst place in the world for someone to be on the streets.

Shanghai without a doubt.

Ebola

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellorizo

The island's official name, Megisti (Μεγίστη) means "biggest" or "greatest".

An affordable and walkable one, with every corner a third place and lots of trees.

Wakanda, easy.

Not anything in the US, since you know, then you'd be in the US and that's a big no-no. It's mine, obviously.