Ha, Amsterdam is the best city for millennials

Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m also the odd one out from Utrecht in a newsroom full of Amsterdammers. But science has spoken and it seems that young people living in our capital have it really good.

Why? Research shows that Amsterdam is the number one city to live in if you were born between 1982 and 2002. At least, that’s what research from the German Nestpick (yes, I’ve never heard of it either, but a quick Google search tells me it’s an online platform for rental properties). The company compared a hundred popular cities worldwide to find out where the hearts of us millennials beat faster, and it turns out: Amsterdam. And so I present to you the top 5 of the frontrunners and the worst cities for young people:

Best cities

1. Amsterdam
2. Berlin
3. Munich
4. Lisbon
5. Antwerp

Worst cities

1. Lima, Peru
2. Istanbul, Turkey
3. Tokyo, Japan
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Shanghai, China

The hundred cities that participated in the race received grades in sixteen different categories to assess what makes them attractive for young adults. For example, can you move around the city a bit chill? Amsterdam scored well on that. Are there enough opportunities to stay healthy and how is the speed of the available internet connection? Both are more than sufficient. ‘Mokum’ also scores well in terms of gender equality. Are we LGBT-friendly? (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender): absolutely. In fact, we score outstanding. Of course, there are always exceptions..

The only point that ironically scores poorly three times? Living in Amsterdam. YOU MUST BE KIDDING. Finding a house is already a task that is harder than saying ‘no’ to candy all day at the newsroom (believe me, that says something), and the rental prices are downright dramatic. For affordable places, the capital scores only 1.7 out of ten points. So, dear millennial, are you still looking for a place that is totally the shit to live in? Amsterdam is the place to be according to the numbers. The second point: how on earth do you find that house?… (crickets on the left and a dry straw bale blowing by on the right)…

Uh yeah, that’s a question for another time.