OK, what cities are we going to include? I was thinking maybe five each from

- europe
- north america
- south america
- asia
- africa
- pacific islands & oz

Europe might need more than 5, IMO, as I think you need to include the major Western Euopean cities but should also balance this with cheaper places in Eastern Europe, too. Maybe 5 from each?

So, how about this?

Western Europe:
- London
- Paris
- Berlin
- Rome
- Barcelona/Athens

Eastern Europe:
- Moscow
- Prague
- Budapest
- Zagreb/Belgrade/another Balkans city
- Warsaw/Krakow/one of the Baltic capitals

South America shouldn't be as difficult:

- Rio de Janeiro
- Buenos Aires
- La Paz
- Cusco
- Bogota/Caracas

Just some ideas...

How about the official commitment being 5 from each region as a base, but then just put up as many as people volunteer to give an index for? It would be handy to see some less traveled cities on there.

quote:

Originally posted by christina-in-brooklyn:
How about the official commitment being 5 from each region as a base, but then just put up as many as people volunteer to give an index for? It would be handy to see some less traveled cities on there.

Yea, i was thinking keep the list sorta small...like 30...so at least we could get something there without waiting too long.

(I am really liking this idea...might try to put into a web site where you select what is important to you, how many beers you drink , what cities you are interested in and such...have it all in a web site. But i'm getting ahead of myself.)

EighteenRabbit: Nice start. Zürich just has to be there because...well I am here. It would also probably help to keep it to cities that booties are in or can speak with authority about. If not, then you'll all have to pitch in a bit-o-dosh so I can go 'investigate'.

we missed Scandinavia. It's terribly expensive so good to know.
Reykjavik
Stockholm
Oslo
Denmark
Helsinki...or at least on of those.

If we have 200 cities it is going to be near impossible to finish any time soon. Also, the goal isn't to find the most expensive city. we can do a more comprehensive version after the first list.

If you can report with authority on one then ok...cool...let's put it in.

I get your point Stoo about keeping it small to start. I think it would be really good to expand later though -- I'd say the only work you should do is plug in the info into a database, so if it grows it should be up to the rest of us to crunch numbers and submit short lists on cities we know fairly well & have been to recently.

But 5 is pretty small for each region -- how about 10 to start? That's still just 60 cities.

From Canada, the two standards are Toronto & Vancouver (and perhaps Montreal depending how much work Stoo wants). While they are two of the most expensive cities in Canada, they are also ones that people go to.

Should we post on here if we can do a city? I can do New York City, of course. And if you get several respondents, for one place, maybe take an average and note that on the site?

Stands to reason that if 5 people are giving you numbers on the cost, that is going to be perhaps more accurate on the cost of a place than if you have one person giving their cost opinion.

quote:

Should we post on here if we can do a city? I can do New York City, of course. And if you get several respondents, for one place, maybe take an average and note that on the site?

That's a great idea. I can do Zurich. (duh)

Below is the start of a list. When people say 'i can cover city x' then i'll add it. We'll aim for roughly 25-50 cities based more on who we can get to come up with numbers. I will fill out more as people volunteer.

• europe
  * zurich (stu)
  * london (Chris Hillcoat)
  
• north america
  * nyc (christina ib)
  * Vancouver (sky annie)
  * toronto (Chris Hillcoat)
  
• south america
  * Lima (peregrinari)
  
• asia
  * some city
  
• africa
  * some city
  
• pacific islands & oz
  * Sydney (EighteenRabbit)
  * Perth (elAdi)
  

I suspect after we do a first index then we will see things we don't like about it...probably expand it or something. Then we can do BnA World City Cost Index for Travellers...The Sequel!

I'll put some info in for Toronto and London, but am ready to be shot down on some items...

I will be back in Sydney for a week from Aug. 18-25, so if the parameters are set by then I can help out a bit, as I imagine this is the most visited of the Pacific/Oz cities anyway and would definitely be included. It's my home city, but I haven't lived there in 5 years so I'd be more or less starting from scratch...

fantastic...you are both booked.

I can do a great one on Lima, Peru. I've lived here for a year and a half.

I can do Perth, Australia