Isn't Europe kind of pessimistic/ economically stagnant? I mean, pets are happy on the way to the vet as well (but what about after?).

I hadn’t realized you thought that. Will you then withdraw your claims in other threads that American style suburban sprawl is necessary for happiness and quality of life? That American cities far less dense than their European counterparts are full?

If I can’t have European sane labor regulations and universal healthcare, I’ll still take my suburban low density housing. So...no. I stick by my claims (Europeans have a different value system than Americans, which I argue is a substantial component as to why they’re happier with “less” than Americans).

Also, I am flattered (truly!) that our conversations have left a lasting impression wrt my opinion on American housing.

That really depends on where you're comparing Europe to...

The rest of the world?

EU tops rankings for quality of life and standard of living every year. Sprinkle in some canadian, Australian Japanese and new Zealand cities an there is your top 50.

According to Mercer, who conducts - 'The quality of living survey is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments. The survey also identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based upon internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries. In this case, Luxembourg is top, followed by Bern, Helsinki and Zürich, all equally placed at number 2.'

'Countries with cities commonly ranked in the top 50 include Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Australia, Sweden and the United States. Vienna (Austria) has been ranked first for ten consecutive years.'

I mean, sure, Germany has more cities on the list than the US; but Germany isn't the EU. Most of the EU has zero cities in the top 50.

The US has zero cities in the top 30 of that list, not really supporting your argument. (EDIT, it is also amazingly US centric and still doesn't rate US cities higher, NYC is given a base score of 100 and other cities are essentially compared to it).

Germany isn't the EU? What?

EU has 30 of the top 50 places....US has 6...come on now.