Sydney has been voted the world's number one city by readers of the US magazine Conde Nast Traveler.

full article:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/sy...850977180.html

C'mon Lancefan...that can't be right..how can you confuse sydney with canberra.

johnj....

We don't see you for ages - then you pop in here stirring the possum!

happy for canberra to remain a hidden gem - also happy that sydney gets a gong over melbourne. ha!

Ah, but they're cheating! Sydney would be in the Top Ten even if it was a HORRIBLE city (which it isn't), simply because of the setting. Lots of cities would rate high if they were in THAT harbor!

And, as a visitor, I can't fully express my amusement and amazement when I read how the Opera House was controversial. I don't think there's a building on earth that adds more value to its city -- not even the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower are so prominent in the iconic view of a place.

fnarf999, you may need to read a little more deeply before inferring (as I think you may be?) that the controversy over the Opera House was generated by ignorant and shortsighted Philistines.

It had more to do with the long-running battle that led up to the replacement of its architect, Joern Utzon. There was a huge gulf between the original estimate ($7M) and final cost ($130M?), although even that was more a subject of bemusement than outrage, as it was financed by a lottery and seen as fairly painless from a state budgetary perspective.

The judges and the Labor state government of the day went out on a limb to select Utzon's design over more conventional entries - this became more evident when it was found that the lower, more sweeping roofline that won the competition simply couldn't be built with available methods. You could forgive successive state governments for questioning how the architect managed to get away with an unrealisable design.

That aside, my recollection is that the project won wide public support from the outset and that there was no great feeling that the building was too visionary or radical.

One issue that has dogged the building is that the opera hall is cramped, making the production of grand operas difficult. I think the reason is that the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission), which runs the Sydney and most other capital-city sympthony orchestras, wanted the bigger hall for concert purposes, and won the battle. Of course, this doesn't affect the majority of Sydneysiders one iota.

Anyway, I'm pleased to see that Sydney has topped the poll yet again.

lancefan, I heard a visiting UK transport expert interviewed in ABC Radio National this week comment that most of his compatriots would "give both arms and three legs" to live in a place like Canberra, especially with its "magnificent climate". Only saying what some of us have known for a long time, of course.

Sydney was the GREATEST place on earth in the 80,s. At that time it was fun for both visitor and resident.

Now it still may tickle the fancy of visitors but residents are fleeing in droves.

Tassietwister, I thought it was the greatest place on earth in the '60s (which may have had something to do with my own age and lifestyle at the time). It's been all downhill since then IMO. Much of the character of the city - the little alleys with unexpected finds, the many great old pubs, especially between King St and the Quay, that harboured a range of subcultures - all obliterated or tarted up for brainless yuppies by hungry property developers. It was a livable city - half the people and a quarter of the cars of today's bloated, congested metropolis. End nostalgia rant.

I do remember a bit of the sixties. I recall the very first trip to the cinema in the city to see the sound of Music at the State Theatre. When the quese went around whole city blocks! Wow what an experience, just to go the movies.

And coles cafeteria lol.

Maybe it is a city destined forever for the young.

But I will content it has become a victim of it's own success.

Neil: Don't read too much into what I wrote. I don't know that much about it; just a couple of short articles about Utzon being removed from the project, and a film clip of young protesters in his defense. It was a controversial building. But, my gosh, look at it now! It takes your breath away, from a thousand angles.

friends of New Mexico, In the same poll Santa Fe was picked as #2 in the US I believe. We opened our B&B there in 1992 when Santa Fe was voted #1 destiunation world wide destination section in a write in campaign! You can imagine what that did for our bookings.

In the US Sydney is often compared to San Francisco. IMHO the setting of Sydney is far more spectacular and Sydney Harbour vaster and more beautiful than San Francisco Bay

For dramatic settings a better comparison might be Sydney and Vancouver

cheers
AndrewDavid

Andrew, you and John must have got writer's cramp from sending in all those write-in votes for Santa Fe. (No offense to Santa Fe, a fine town if ever there was one.)

I agree that Sydney's setting is practically unbeatable. Vancouver's is pretty damn good too (when the rain isn't blocking the view).

"We had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand ships of the line may ride in the most perfect security."
- Captain Arthur Phillip, 1788

yes Neil it was annoying to us all that you and Robin brought rain to BC after a long dry summer

A/D