Times of India's News Report,
Thiruvananthapuram is the best of Kerala's big cities to live in, ahead of Kozhikode and Kochi in that order. That's the finding of a five-city field survey done exclusively for The Times of India. Thrissur and Kottayam were the other cities covered by the survey.
Times online survey: Choose the best city of Kerala
Residents of the state capital would do well, however, not to get too exultant about this finding. While their city finishes on top of the heap on many of the 30 parameters on which the rankings are based, it is just about "average" overall on a 5-point scale ranging from very poor to very good, according to the survey.
From the point of view of those who live in Kottayam, the worst performer in the survey, there isn't that much to be anguished about. The city's overall rating of 2.33 makes it only somewhat worse off than best-placed Thiruvananthapuram. It is, by the way, the only city on the list which does not have a population of a million or more.
What the relatively low scores and narrow spread between the top and bottom suggest is that Kerala's town planners need to put on their thinking caps to figure out how to raise the quality of life in towns that are rapidly expanding. It appears the infrastructure is not quite keeping up with the pace of their expansion.
High cost of living a major problem
No matter which city in Kerala you live in, it appears there is no running away from a major problem -- the high cost of living. Interestingly, Thiruvananthapuram was in a relatively better position with a score of 2.5. The industrial capital, Kochi, did quite a bit worse and the town scored only 1.7 in this category. One thing's for sure - the items in the shopping basket of an urban Keralite are overpriced. From mortgages to Matta rice, the rising cost of living is adding to the burden of an upwardly mobile family in the state now.
The traffic situation, difficulty in finding domestic help, lack of open spaces and shrinking parking facilities were other common issues the five towns faced. Not all of these made a big difference to the overall ratings that cities got. The reason - if something is uniformly good or bad across competing entities, it ceases to be a key differentiator. This also serves to explain why parameters like power and water supply or law and order do not seem to make a big difference to how people rate their cities in an overall sense.
The state of parking facilities in all the towns could be described in a single word -- dire. Not surprisingly, Kochi emerged as the worst city in terms of parking facilities with a score of 1.1, while Thiruvanathapuram, still pathetic in terms of ease of commuting, ranks top with 2.2.
Educational facilities uniformly good
As for the good news, the ratings for educational facilities were uniformly good, even the worst city getting a score of 3.2 on this count. Similarly, on cultural heritage too all the cities did well with scores between 2.9 and 3.2.
The findings on Thrissur arguably offer us the biggest shock of all. Long known as the 'cultural capital' of the state, the city has performed worst on the parameter of 'respect for culture and values'. Given the fact that the survey measures perceptions of residents of each city about their own city, it is possible that this might be because yardsticks differ from one place to another.
Alternatively, if residents of Thrissur perceive their city as declining in this aspect, they may rate it low despite the fact that it could still be better than others.
The survey results offered serendipities too - Thiruvananthapuram surprised us by stealing the top in the 'entertainment options' parameter without having a single multiplex in the town. The exceptional performance of Thiruvananthapuram must be attributed to the many venues it offers for public entertainment. Six cinemas and seven happening places - Tagore Centenary Hall, Nishagandhi open auditorium, Chandrasekharan Nair stadium, VJT Hall, University Senate Hall, Vylopilly Samskriti Bhavan, Shanghumugham Beach - it appears to have helped push Thiruvananthapuram to the top slot with a score of 3.2 on this count.
Then there were few issues which were unique to each town - Kottayam complained about 12 issues. Some, like the lack of shopping malls, eateries, not-so-great work environment were termed major by the residents of the town. Likewise, Thrissur too had a peculiar problem - the undependable supply of electricity.
Thiruvananthapuram finished on top overall because it was best on a whole range of parameters. As for Kottayam, it did perform best in one area - educational facilities - but that wasn't enough to offset the many others where it lagged behind the rest.
Times online survey: Choose the best city of Kerala
Residents of the state capital would do well, however, not to get too exultant about this finding. While their city finishes on top of the heap on many of the 30 parameters on which the rankings are based, it is just about "average" overall on a 5-point scale ranging from very poor to very good, according to the survey.
From the point of view of those who live in Kottayam, the worst performer in the survey, there isn't that much to be anguished about. The city's overall rating of 2.33 makes it only somewhat worse off than best-placed Thiruvananthapuram. It is, by the way, the only city on the list which does not have a population of a million or more.
What the relatively low scores and narrow spread between the top and bottom suggest is that Kerala's town planners need to put on their thinking caps to figure out how to raise the quality of life in towns that are rapidly expanding. It appears the infrastructure is not quite keeping up with the pace of their expansion.
High cost of living a major problem
No matter which city in Kerala you live in, it appears there is no running away from a major problem -- the high cost of living. Interestingly, Thiruvananthapuram was in a relatively better position with a score of 2.5. The industrial capital, Kochi, did quite a bit worse and the town scored only 1.7 in this category. One thing's for sure - the items in the shopping basket of an urban Keralite are overpriced. From mortgages to Matta rice, the rising cost of living is adding to the burden of an upwardly mobile family in the state now.
The traffic situation, difficulty in finding domestic help, lack of open spaces and shrinking parking facilities were other common issues the five towns faced. Not all of these made a big difference to the overall ratings that cities got. The reason - if something is uniformly good or bad across competing entities, it ceases to be a key differentiator. This also serves to explain why parameters like power and water supply or law and order do not seem to make a big difference to how people rate their cities in an overall sense.
The state of parking facilities in all the towns could be described in a single word -- dire. Not surprisingly, Kochi emerged as the worst city in terms of parking facilities with a score of 1.1, while Thiruvanathapuram, still pathetic in terms of ease of commuting, ranks top with 2.2.
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| Image Credit: travelmadeeasy.in |
Educational facilities uniformly good
As for the good news, the ratings for educational facilities were uniformly good, even the worst city getting a score of 3.2 on this count. Similarly, on cultural heritage too all the cities did well with scores between 2.9 and 3.2.
The findings on Thrissur arguably offer us the biggest shock of all. Long known as the 'cultural capital' of the state, the city has performed worst on the parameter of 'respect for culture and values'. Given the fact that the survey measures perceptions of residents of each city about their own city, it is possible that this might be because yardsticks differ from one place to another.
Alternatively, if residents of Thrissur perceive their city as declining in this aspect, they may rate it low despite the fact that it could still be better than others.
The survey results offered serendipities too - Thiruvananthapuram surprised us by stealing the top in the 'entertainment options' parameter without having a single multiplex in the town. The exceptional performance of Thiruvananthapuram must be attributed to the many venues it offers for public entertainment. Six cinemas and seven happening places - Tagore Centenary Hall, Nishagandhi open auditorium, Chandrasekharan Nair stadium, VJT Hall, University Senate Hall, Vylopilly Samskriti Bhavan, Shanghumugham Beach - it appears to have helped push Thiruvananthapuram to the top slot with a score of 3.2 on this count.
Then there were few issues which were unique to each town - Kottayam complained about 12 issues. Some, like the lack of shopping malls, eateries, not-so-great work environment were termed major by the residents of the town. Likewise, Thrissur too had a peculiar problem - the undependable supply of electricity.
Thiruvananthapuram finished on top overall because it was best on a whole range of parameters. As for Kottayam, it did perform best in one area - educational facilities - but that wasn't enough to offset the many others where it lagged behind the rest.
source: Times of India
Posted in: best city of Kerala, indian travel, Kochi, Kottayam, Kozhikode, survey 2012, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur
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