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Is This New York's Next 5-Star Hotel?

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one57 rendering park 2

New York's most hotly anticipated hotel opens at the end of the summer, in the city's most buzzworthy condo building, on one of the most exclusive blocks in Manhattan.

It's kind of a big deal.

The Park Hyatt New York aims to be the city's first new five-star hotel in more than a decade, according to Bloomberg. The 25-floor property sits at the base of the ultra-luxury condominium tower, One57, located on West 57th Street (a.k.a. "billionaires' row").

New York City currently has eight 5-star hotels — the 11-year-old Mandarin Oriental being the most recently anointed. Should the Park Hyatt qualify for the Forbes Travel Guide's top rating, it has to go above and beyond, providing "room amenities including fresh flowers and wine by the glass presented in the bottle and poured by room-service staff."

Upon opening, the Park Hyatt will be visited by an inspector from the Forbes Travel Guide, and a second anonymous inspector, to be sure it meets the impeccable standards.

A night of hospitality-bliss doesn't come cheap. Booking one of the Park Hyatt's 210 guest rooms starts at $795 a night.

Let's see what all the buzz is about.

Welcome to One57, the second-tallest residential building in Manhattan, standing at 90 stories.one57 park hyatt new york exterior

It sits at the base of Central Park, and offers sweeping views of the skyline.one57 view from 86th floorThe guest rooms will be luxuriously outfitted. Hyatt and building majority owner Extell Development Co. spent an average of $1.8 million on the construction of each room. The design is clean and modern, and imitates the interior of high-end apartments.one57 park hyatt new york guest roomThe rooms range from 475 to 2,239 square feet. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer plenty of natural light, and wood flooring make the upscale setting feel like home.one57 park hyatt new york guest roomGuests will feel like royalty in the plush bathrooms, stocked with products by boutique perfumery Le Labo and mirrors with built-in TV screens.one57 park hyatt new york bathroom smallThe hotel features some pretty sweet amenities, too. Here's a rendering of the spa, which has treatment suites attached to private balconies.Park Hyatt New York one57 spaThe indoor pool contains underwater speakers that pipe in music from neighboring Carnegie Hall.one57 park hyatt new york poolThe Park Hyatt New York opens later this summer.

SEE ALSO: Everything You Need To Know About One57, New York City’s Most Buzz-Worthy Condo

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An Architect Turned A 240-Square-Foot Space Into A Sleek NYC Apartment

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This is probably the most efficient use of 240 square feet we've ever seen.

Brooklyn architect Tim Seggerman renovated this tiny brownstone apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side for its owner, an anthropology professor who splits her time between her New York City and a West African village, according to Dwell.DSC_0031.JPG"You couldn't imagine a place that was more messed up," Seggerman told Dwell of his first look at the space.

But using inspiration from furniture designer George Nakashima, he turned the small apartment into a work of art.DSC_0065.JPGHe used a variety of different woods, including cypress and bamboo for the cabinets, ash and beech for the staircase, and quartered white oak for the floors.

The apartment has a small kitchen space and a bedroom loft. It even has a washing machine, a rare luxury even in big New York apartments.DSC_0074.JPGOne of its highlights is a crawl-in library beside the sleeping area, which features a maple ceiling.

library copy

Not bad for a space that's not much bigger than a walk-in closet.DSC_0036.JPG

SEE ALSO: An Investment Bank Founder Sold His 6-Story Townhouse To The United Arab Emirates For $27 Million

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22 Vintage Photos Of Silicon Valley Before It Became The Center Of The Tech Universe

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vintage silicon valley

Silicon Valley is generally considered the center of the tech universe today.

But before Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a host of other major tech companies set up shop there, the Santa Clara Valley was the center of a different industry altogether. 

Rather than office buildings and parking lots, the Valley was covered in orchards and farmland. It was one of the largest suppliers of produce in the United States, and continues to be an agricultural hub today. 

History San José, a Silicon Valley-based historical organization, shared some photos from their archives that show how much the region has changed since its beginnings.

Before it was Silicon Valley, the Santa Clara Valley was a land of orchards and farmland. This photo, taken from the top of Mount Hamilton in 1914, shows the wide expanse of the valley.



Known by many as the "Valley of Heart's Delight," early 20th-century farms in the Santa Clara Valley supplied one-third of the world's prunes, in addition to huge quantities of tomatoes, grains, onions, carrots, cherries, and walnuts.

Source: Los Angeles Times

 

 



A group of men posed with a trenching machine made by the Knapp Plow Company. The manufacturers were an important part of the region's development into an agricultural hub, as the plows they created made it possible to farm the valley's hillsides.

Source: History San José



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Manhattanhenge Is Coming

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Manhattanhenge May 2013

Manhattanhenge— the twice-a-year-event when the sun sets in perfect alignment with the Manhattan street grid so you can see it setting between the buildings when looking west — happens for the second time this year on Saturday, July 12. The first Manhattanhenge of 2014 was on May 29.

The term Manhattanhenge was coined by Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History and host of "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," as a play on Stonehenge for when the sun lines up with the ancient circle of vertical rocks on the summer solstice.

This year, the sun will set on the grid with half the disk above the horizon and half below on Saturday, July 12, at 8:25 p.m. ET. You can see the full ball of the sun setting on the grid the day before, on Friday, July 11.

"For best effect, position yourself as far east in Manhattan as possible," the American Museum of Natural History suggests on its website. "But ensure that when you look west across the avenues you can still see New Jersey. Clear cross streets include 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, and several streets adjacent to them. The Empire State building and the Chrysler building render 34th street and 42nd streets especially striking vistas."

It's recommended that observers arrive 30 minutes before the sun sets on the grid.

Plan on watching Manhattanhenge? If you snap good photos, email your pictures to science@businessinsider.com and we'll publish them here.

SEE ALSO: The Nation's Salad Bowl Is Turning To Dust

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'I Won A Genetic Lottery': What It's Like To Become A Supermodel

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Cameron RussellWhen Cameron Russell was 16 she walked to a newsstand in her hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts, picked up a fashion magazine called Allure, and found something strange: Cameron Russell.

cameron russell 1

"I barely recognized myself," she tells Business Insider. "I couldn't believe it was a picture of me. But of course it wasn't really. It was hair, makeup, styling, lighting, post, all that. And it looked really sexy, which I had never even considered in my presentation — I was only just 16." 

That was 11 years ago.

Now, at 27, Russell has modeled for Calvin Klein, walked runways for Victoria's Secret, and landed the cover of the Italian edition of Vogue, one of the most coveted spots in fashion.

It all started when she was scouted on the streets of New York as a teenager. But of course there's more to the story.

"The real way I became a model is I won a genetic lottery," Russell explained in a TED Talk that's been viewed 7.7 million times

"And I am the recipient of a legacy," she continued in the talk. "Maybe you're wondering, 'What is a legacy?' Well, for the past few centuries, we have defined beauty not just as health and youth and symmetry that we're biologically programmed to admire, but also as tall, slender figures and femininity and white skin. And this is a legacy that was built for me, and it's a legacy that I've been cashing out on." 

How much does she cash out? When asked for the kind of money she makes per gig, Russell is coy — "that's such a New York question," she scoffs — as well as candid. She says that since was a teenager, she's been making more money than her mother Robin Chase, who founded Zipcar

It's an unsettling contrast.

"Our society often values sexuality and women looking pretty more than women's ideas and women doing great things," Russell says. "Modeling is one of the few professions where women out-earn men, and that's because we're more valuable objects and ornaments. And there is something very disturbing about that, but I've benefited from it."

That TED Talk has turned Russell into something of a public figure. She wrote an op-ed for CNN. She was profiled in the Telegraph UK, New York Magazine, and New York Times under the headline, "Cameron Russell, a Model, Puts Looks Aside." She says that she gets stopped on the street more for her TED Talk than any of her other work. 

cameron russell french vogueWith that newfound platform, Russell has moved into arts-based social activism.

When she's not modeling, she runs Space-Made, an art incubator in Brooklyn, and serves as managing editor for an "experimental" magazine" called Interrupt.

The magazine is a response to the themes she addressed in her TED Talk: privilege and access to media.

Russell, who studied economics at Columbia University, rattles off the relevant statistics: 6% of directors of the top 250 grossing films are women, 3% of creative directors are women, 20% of op-eds are written by women. Interrupt aims to open up that access by bringing a different editor-in-chief with every issue, and thus publishing a variety of voices. 

She's come a long way since that newsstand in Cambridge. When she was a little girl, she told everybody that she wanted to be president. She met Bill Clinton when she was 10; she remembers that he told her to stay in school and meet as many different types of people as she could. She says she followed most of his advice. 

When she was 16, Russell thought her modeling career would be a few gigs and a good story. The next summer, she attended the Naval Academy Summer Seminar in Annapolis, Maryland — she was thinking about join the Navy when she grew up.

But Ford Models scouted her. Initially, she thought modeling would be "an experience" and a way to pay for college, since modeling careers tend toward brevity. Between the opportunities modeling afforded and the disenchantment she felt toward politics, she steered away from going after the Oval Office. 

Now it's more runways and art spaces.

After more than a decade in this career, Russell marvels at the fact that she feels so comfortable in the fashion capitals of Paris, Los Angeles, and London. The fashion world is small, she says. In these 11 years she's worked with maybe a thousand people. By now she knows everybody. 

"When you walk through an airport or look through a magazine, you can name every single girl and you probably know most of the people who worked on the shoot," she says. "That's kind of funny. When you're looking through a magazine, you'd think every single person's a different person, but every third girl is actually the same girl in a different outfit and makeup."

cameron russell by kacper kasprzyk for harpers bazaar march 2014 4Same girl, different team, different day, different product.

This is the model's daily grind. 

On the day of our interview, Russell's call time was 8 a.m. Next comes hair and makeup, then fitting the clothes, and then they shoot until about 5.

The whole thing is a team experience, she says. It's not her voice being expressed; it's somebody else's fantasy or inspiration.

Modeling, Russel says, does take some skill.

"It's going to sound ridiculous," she says, "but knowing how to pose, how to maintain a level of engagement and variation for a day of shooting is actually a skill. When you start, you totally don't know how to do it, so you have to have a lot of direction. Later on, you can carry up to 40 pictures a day for a client, which is part of the reason they hire you." 

For each photo, the photographer will shoot a couple hundred frames. This makes the model's work an initially awkward challenge.

If a photographer asked you to do a couple poses "you might put your hands in your pockets or lean over," she suggests. "At first you feel totally uncomfortable, because you're like, 'are you supposed to move around in front of all these people staring at me like a weirdo?'"

Cameron RussellThe other weirdness is the relentless flakiness modeling forces upon you. Russell describes her schedule as "totally insane": You get booked on jobs in other countries two days before you have to leave, making it impossible to set certain plans with collaborators or friends. 

Maybe that's why so many models are on Instagram. Russell says she's "not very good" at the social network; her peers have way more followers than her. But she takes the selfie-filled app as a cultural case study, saying it's fascinating to see what models post, since it's the first time that models are posting pictures of themselves to the world. That's one of the contradictions in the modeling industry. 

"I've taken tons of pictures of myself in underwear for my clients to sell that underwear," she says, "but to take a picture of myself in underwear and post it to Instagram is kind of unimaginable." 

Instagram, like the magazine and the art space, is about a person's voice.

"There's something nonobvious about a model becoming an activist," Russell says of herself, "because by most understanding and most reality, we are incredibly privileged and very far away from a lot of these issues. But I feel quite connected to these ideas in part because I have been a model for a really long time, which is a profession where you are basically voiceless."

"I'm so incredibly grateful to fashion and modeling," she says, "so that's not meant in a negative way. What I've been thinking about for 11 years is, 'How can I take this access to media where I'm sort of voiceless and turn it into something where I have a voice?' And I think about that for all our editors too." 

interrupt issue 2

SEE ALSO: 'It Just Takes Your Breath Away': What It's Like To Step Into Space For The First Time

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The 10 Most Popular Wedding 'First Dance' Songs

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This coming weekend is one of the biggest wedding weekends of the year, and to honor all the summer newlyweds, Spotify analyzed some 30,000 wedding-themed playlists and ranked the 10 most popular first dance songs.

Etta James’ classic “At Last” obviously made the cut, as well as Ray LaMontagne’s “You Are The Best Thing.” And thanks to the "Twilight" franchise, “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri, which the characters dance to on their wedding day, is also in the top 10.

See the full list below.

  1. “At Last” by Etta James

  2. “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz

  3. “You Are The Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne

  4. “All of Me” by John Legend

  5. “Better Together” by Jack Johnson

  6. “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri

  7. “Everything” by Michael Bublé

  8. “First Day Of My Life” by Bright Eyes

  9. “Then” by Brad Paisley

  10. “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele

You can check out the full list of the most popular first dance songs on Spotify and stream them here.

SEE ALSO: The 12 Most Over-The-Top Weddings In Tech

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We Spent A Day In The Vermont Woods To See Why Foraging Is The Next Frontier In Fine Dining

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evan struvinsky daisies meadow field forage foraging"Organic." "Grass-fed." "Hand-picked." Once considered rare, these markers of the farm-to-table trend have become so commonplace on restaurant menus that customers hardly notice them anymore.

The new frontier among top restaurants is "field-to-table," an extreme version of farm-to-table dining that was pioneered in Scandinavia and elevates ingredients found in the wild. 

Some of the most highly rated restaurants in New York — Gramercy Tavern, The French Laundry, and Momofuku Ssäm Bar among them — have hired professional foragers to supply them with the freshest ingredients Mother Nature has to offer. This brings creativity, authenticity, and quality to the menu like never before.

Field-to-table is no gimmick, says Brandon Kida, head chef at The Peninsula New York hotel's Clement. He swears that once you eat foraged fare, you'll never go back. It's the future of high-end dining.

We traveled to rural Vermont with master forager Evan Strusinski and Chef Kida to witness a wild ingredient's journey to the plate.

Chef René Redzepi of Copenhagen's Noma is credited with elevating field-to-table fare and inspiring the foraging craze at restaurants around the world. The restaurant's foraged feasts, which feature ingredients like moss and pine, cost $300 a head.



Foraging, or the act of scavenging for food in the wild, minimizes the number of hands that touch ingredients before they land on a plate. Some say once you experience how food is "supposed to taste," you’ll never want to eat a cultivated mushroom or farmed strawberry again. It's that much better.



The “Noma-fication of things” is in full swing in New York City, where restaurateurs are clamoring to differentiate themselves from the slew of so-called farm-to-table eateries. Field-to-table is the new frontier.



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A Brazilian Beer Billionaire Just Bought This $31 Million Apartment On Central Park West

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Marcel Telles 9

The owner of the largest beer company in the world has bought a luxurious apartment in Central Park West, according to NY Daily News

Brazilian billionaire Marcel Telles, owner of Anheuser-Busch InBev, spent a whopping $31 million on his new condo. With a net worth of $11.6 billion, Telles is one of the richest men in Brazil.

With three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a library, the apartment is over 3,000-square-feet big. The building includes a fitness center with a 75-foot pool, a screening room, private wine cellars, a walnut-paneled library, and a private dining room for its residents.

The apartment previously belonged to Tyler Ellis, daughter of fashion designer Perry Ellis. Ellis spent $11 million on the place in 2008.

Located at 15 Central Park West, the famous building is composed of two limestone towers, with a courtyard and private motor entrance.



The apartment includes a spacious kitchen adjoined to a dining room, a living room, and a personal library.



The windows stretch as high as the 11-foot ceilings.



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This Is The $20 Billion Future Of Manhattan's West Side

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Evening View Of Hudson Yards, From The Hudson River (c) Related Oxford

New York City is constantly evolving as new skyscrapers shoot into the sky.

And adding to the city's already dynamic skyline is Hudson Yards, a massive new development on Manhattan's far west side. The $20 billion project is a joint effort between real estate firm Related Companies and real estate investment, development, and management company Oxford Properties Group.

The first phase of Hudson Yards is slated for completion in the next four years. The complex, which will sit between 10th and 12th Avenues and run from 30th to 34th Street, will include public parks, office towers, shops, restaurants, and more.

It will be made accessible by an extension of the existing No. 7 subway line.

We recently got a tour of the construction site and renderings of what Hudson Yards will look like when it's complete. Keep reading to see what the future holds for Manhattan's West Side.

Located on the far west side of Manhattan, Hudson Yards is one of the biggest private developments in U.S. history. The 28-acre complex will sit above rail tracks that service New York City and is expected to revitalize an entire neighborhood.

Source: Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group



The development is just one aspect of a major overhaul of Manhattan's West Side. In the past few years, luxury condos have sprung up alongside the High Line, the Jacob Javits center has been renovated, and the No. 7 subway line is being extended to 11th Avenue to accommodate the area's residents and tourists.



The first phase of Hudson Yards is the Eastern Rail Yard, which will have several residential and office towers, along with dozens of shops and restaurants to occupy an expected 65,000 visitors a day. The Western Yard will be mostly residential.

Source: Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, and Chelsea Now



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QUIZ: Do You Know What The World Really Cares About?

25 Things You Should Do Before You Die

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paragliding

It can be easy to get caught up in the routine of life, doing whatever it takes to get from one point to the next, without doing much that's exciting or enriching.

Some Quora users offer a few ideas to break the routine in their responses to the thread: "What is something every person should experience at least once in a lifetime?

The responses range from trying an extreme sport to discovering something life-changing about yourself.

We've summarized some of the best answers below. 

1. Live somewhere vastly different from your hometown.

Living in an unfamiliar setting among people with a different worldview from yours can help you become more self-reliant. —Deepthi Amarasuriya

2. Go out of your way to help a stranger.

Put in time and effort to help someone you have "absolutely no social, moral, or legal obligation to help," and don't expect anything in return. —Kent Fung

3. Learn how to appreciate being alone.

Avoid feeling lonely on your own by truly becoming comfortable with yourself. —Barbara Rose

4. Travel without being a tourist.

Go on a trip without feeling the need to take nonstop photos of the biggest tourist attractions. Instead of being a "tourist," be a "traveler" and try to get an idea of how the locals live. —Arya Raje

5. Take a trip without making any plans.

A "serendipitous adventure" free of the restrictions of an itinerary can be both thrilling and relaxing. —Julian Keith Loren

6. Go paragliding/parasailing/skydiving — anything where you're flying through the air.

The feeling of weightlessness you get is a joy unmatched by anything else in life. —Sainyam Kapoor

7. Learn how to get by on the bare minimum.

If you're just starting out professionally and fortunate enough to not know a life of poverty, it is worth struggling to make it on your own without the safety net of your family. You'll learn to appreciate what you earn. —Anonymous

8. Work a service job.

If you've never had a difficult job like being a waiter, courier, or janitor, then try volunteering somewhere like a shelter. You'll learn patience, humbleness, and dependability. —Diego Noriega Mendoza

9. Become comfortable speaking in public.

Public speaking is consistently ranked among people's top fears, but developing the skill can advance your career and boost your confidence. —Mark Savchuk

10. Participate in an endurance trial like a marathon.

Athletic events like marathons and long cycling races are essentially "voluntary suffering" that can teach you that with enough determination, you can get through anything and appreciate the journey. —Denis Oakley

11. Go scuba diving.

"It is like exploring a completely new world." —Rajneesh Mitharwal

12. Learn to dance.

Most people are embarrassed to dance at events without the help of some alcohol, but instead of making a fool of yourself at every wedding, learn some real techniques! —Meenakshhi Mishra

13. Run or volunteer for some position of leadership.

You don't necessarily need to quit your day job and start a senatorial campaign, but you can take a risk and put yourself out there, even if it's just to become head of your company's intramural softball team. —Warren Myers

14. Learn to appreciate failure.

Life is filled with defeats and setbacks. You can choose to suffer through each of them until your fortune improves, or you can learn to appreciate the opportunities for learning every failure provides. "It will help you to know yourself — what motivates you, what you did wrong, what makes you happy, and so on." —Shikhar Argawal

15. Witness the birth of a child.

Seeing the birth of another human being, especially your own child, of course, is something you'll never forget. —Jack Martin

16. Develop a bond with an animal.

Anyone who has a pet can tell you that the unconditional love you receive from an animal you care for is powerful and increases your overall happiness. —Simon Brown

17. Ride an elephant.

"There's something incredible about being on top of a majestic animal." —Ridwa Mousa

18. Drive as fast as you can down an empty road.

Don't drive recklessly, of course. But if you're a good enough driver and get a chance to drive down the speed-limit-free German Autobahn, go for it. —Cyndi Perlman Fink

19. Become as good as you can at one sport.

If you make a lifelong hobby of practicing your favorite sport, you will make leading a healthier life fun, challenging, and goal-driven. —Shiva Suri

20. Take a sabbatical from work.

At least once, step away from your professional life to pursue a passion or travel extensively. —Asmita Singh

21. Meditate in a redwood forest.

The massive, ancient trees in California's redwood forests give you a chance to reflect in untouched nature. "It's a spiritual and cleansing experience." —Krystle Smart

22. Fly down a mountain on skis or a snowboard.

Entering a state of extreme focus as you soar down a snowy path can be a euphoric experience. —Pete Ashly

23. Camp in the wilderness hundreds of miles from civilization.

Experiencing what it's like to live without the luxuries of society will make you appreciate the beauty of nature as well as everything that makes your life easier. —Justin Jessup

24. Perform on stage.

"No matter how stage shy you are and if you don't know how to sing or dance or act, just get on that stage once. Do your thing and own it. After this, I guarantee you will feel like a whole new person." —Pritika Gulliani Jain

25. Swim in the "Devil's Pool" above Victoria Falls in Zambia.

And if you're a big risk-taker, at certain times of the year you can wade in a slow-moving pool that forms at the lip of the world's largest waterfall. —Liz Dugas

victoria falls

SEE ALSO: 7 Hard Lessons Everyone Needs To Learn About Success

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26 Inspiring Pictures Of The Low-Income Entrepreneurs Who Make The World Go Round

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The shoemaker in Turkey, the potato seller in Vietnam, and the weaver in Bolivia are among the billions of low-income entrepreneurs who make the world go round. They are also the type of people who can benefit significantly from microfinance.

Every year, the Consultative Group To Assist The Poor (or CGAP) hosts a photo contest asking entrants to submit photos based around the idea of microfinance. The purpose of the contest is to give amateur and professional photographers a chance to show the different ways that poor households manage their financial lives and make their lives better through financial inclusion. 

Housed at the World Bank, CGAP is an advocacy group that works with development agencies, foundations, and national governments to advance the lives of the poor by improving their access to finance.

The 2014 Photo Contest is now open for submissions until October 8th. The nonprofit is looking for photos that show how financial inclusion makes a difference in the lives of the poor. CGAP shared a selection of the 2013 winners with us here, but you can submit your own photos on the contest website.

In Vietnam, a woman transports potatoes to sell at a local market. This is the Grand Prize winner.



In Bangladesh, selling papers is a common form of self-employment. Because there is so much competition, the sellers must come up with unique ways to market their wares. This is the second place winner.



This photo of men at a rice wholesaling market in Mali won third place.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






LEBRON GOT IT RIGHT: Here Are 11 Reasons Ohio Is The Best State

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Lebron Cleveland

LeBron James is coming back to Cleveland four years after leaving his home-state team the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

The famed basketball player announced in a Sports Illustrated essay that he has decided to come home to northeast Ohio, where he grew up and first played in the NBA.

He wrote: "My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now."

He got it right. Northeast Ohio, and the state as a whole, certainly is bigger than basketball.

Check out these 11 reasons why Ohio is a shining example of U.S. geography.

McKinley birthplace1. Ohioans become president.

Ohio and Virginia like to bicker about which state can claim the most U.S. presidents. If you consider birthplace, Virginia wins with eight. But looking at primary residence, Ohio comes out on top. Childhood is what really counts anyway.

No fewer than seven presidents call Ohio their home state. In chronological order, William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding all grew up or made their lives in the Buckeye State. 

moody's ohio swing county map2. And when they don't, Ohio picks the president. 

Not unrelated to the last point, Ohio, known as a major swing state, plays an important role in national elections every four years.

Democrats almost always take California and New York, with their 55 and 29 electoral votes, respectively. And, naturally, 38 from Texas go to the Republicans. That's why Florida, 29, and Ohio, 18, matter so much.

In 2012, many publications predicted Mitt Romney couldn't win without Ohio. He didn't — so he lost. But the Obama campaign made the election all about Ohio, and it clearly paid off.

3. Ohioans love to swear. 

Angry comic man on phone swearing

According to rigorous analysis of phone calls (probably with cable companies), Ohioans swear more than any other states' residents. Conducted in 2013 by Marchex, the data examined 60,000 recorded phone conversations over 12 months. 

So this might not seem like a positive — but it is. Swearing is f---ing good for you. It helps people express pain and frustration, making us healthier and less violent. Dropping an f-bomb here and there could also help you at work. A 2007 study out of the U.K. found that swearing creates solidarity and bonding among coworkers and can signal authenticity and leadership to higher-ups.

4. Ohio always denounced slavery.

St. John's Cathedral

In 1802, 63 years before the 13th Amendment, Ohio's Constitution outlawed slavery. And even when including a clause to allow amendments, the creators specifically wrote Ohio would never, ever allow involuntarily servitude.

On top of that, Ohio acted a crucial catalyst in the abolitionist movement in the North. John Brown, an abolitionist hanged for his radical beliefs, lived in Hudson, Ohio. Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the quintessential novel decrying slavery, resided in Cincinnati. 

The state also contains many significant stops on the Underground Railroad, including St. John's Cathedral (shown above), also known as Station Hope, the last stop for fleeing slaves in Cleveland before reaching the ferry to Canada. 

Many believe John Mercer Langston, from Oberlin, to be the first publicly elected black official. 

5. Pro football was born in Ohio.

Pro Football Hall of FameCanton, Ohio, is home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for a reason — the American Professional Football Association, later renamed the National Football League, was founded there in 1920.

Before the NFL, pro football was a bit of a mess. The teams weren't regulated enough and loyalty was lacking because players could jump from team to team based on whoever offered the highest salary. 

So a few team representatives got together and held a meeting in a Canton auto showroom to establish the league. The NFL eventually grew to become a multibillion-dollar powerhouse and the most lucrative sports league in the world.

And the Pro Football Hall Of Fame will soon be even bigger and better than it is now. It's undergoing a two-year $27 million expansion and renovation as part of its 50th anniversary celebration.

6. Ohio produces prominent athletes.

LeBron James

LeBron James is far from the only famous athlete to get his talents from Ohio (even though he rudely took them somewhere else). Two-time World Series champion Roger Clemens was born in Ohio, and NFL quarterback Brady Quinn was one of the top high-school football players the country while he was a student in Dublin, Ohio.

Jack Nicklaus, one of the best golfers of all time, was born in a Columbus suburb and picked up the sport there.

Rock n roll hall of fame7. Rock 'n' roll got its name there.

Cleveland is the rock 'n' roll capital of the world, and it lobbied hard for the hall of fame when music-industry leaders were choosing a home for the museum.

And it makes sense that the Rock Hall would find a home in Cleveland. Without well-known Cleveland DJ Alan Freed, we might not have the term "rock 'n' roll" at all. Freed first coined the phrase as a way to describe the music he started playing on the radio in 1951. 

On top of that, Cleveland radio station WMMS is credited with breaking major acts such as David Bowie, Roxy Music, Rush, and Bruce Springsteen.

8. Several famous musical acts hail from the Buckeye State.

The Black Keys

If you enjoy listening to the Black Keys, the Isley Brothers, Devo, Kid Cudi, John Legend, or Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, you have Ohio to thank. All these artists either grew up in Ohio or got their starts there.

Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale met at Kent State University, where they were both art students, and formed Devo in 1976. John Legend grew up in Springfield, Ohio, and Kid Cudi started rapping around his neighborhood when he was 12.

9. Ohioans made history in space.

nasa

Ohioans have contributed significantly to U.S. space missions — they've flown aboard most of NASA's major human space flight programs.

John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, and Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, were both from Ohio. The first American woman to walk in space, Kathryn D. Sullivan, is from Ohio.

On a related note, Ohio is called the Birthplace of Aviation (as our license plates show) because the Wright brothers grew up in Dayton. 

home depot hot dogs10. Without Ohio, we wouldn't know the joy of hot dogs.

Many historians credit Niles, Ohio, resident Harry Mosley Stevens with inventing the hot dog, which he called "red hot dachshund sausages." Initially, they weren't even popular because people thought they contained real dog meat. But hot dogs soon became one of America's favorite snacks.

Minor technicality: Stevens may have moved to New York City before actually placing the dog in the bun. But we count him and his delicious creation as Ohio born-and-bred. 

11. Speaking of food — Swensons.

Swensons

This drive-in burger joint, founded in 1934, has only seven locations across the state. Patrons just have to flash their headlights, and the waiters will run out with a menu, ready to take their order. 

Voted as having the best burger in America in 1999 by Forbes, Swensons is a northeast Ohio staple. If you've never had a Galley Boy, the signature menu item, we mourn for you. It's a double cheeseburger with mayo and barbecue sauce — for only $3.15. Potato teasers, essentially tater tots with cheese and jalapeno inside, are worthy of a trip themselves, too. 

SEE ALSO: The Happiest States In America

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14 Smart Car Hacks Every Driver Should Know

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crowded parking lot

For as long as their have been cars on the road, there have been innovative car owners who have thought of some truly ingenious solutions to their car woes.

We came up with 14 awesome car hacks that may make your next car ride a little more pleasant (thanks to Farmers Insurance for the idea).

1. De-ice your locks with hand sanitizer.

Car locks can ice over in the winter. So squirt a little waterless hand sanitizer on your key and insert it in the lock. The same alcohol content that kills germs on dirty hands also melts away the ice in the lock.

2. Remove dents with dry ice.

The extreme cold of dry ice can help pop out dents. Pick some up at your local grocery store. Remember to pick it up with gloves, since dry ice can hurt your skin. Then apply it to the dent repeatedly until it’s gone.

3. Clean your engine with soap and water.

A spotless engine is easier to service. Clean it often with water and a little dishwasher detergent (degreaser works well, too). First, cover all the sensitive areas (electrical parts, battery, air intake, and distributor) with plastic bags, then scrub and rinse the engine with a soft rag. Remember to remove all plastic bags once you’ve cleaned all the necessary surfaces.

4. Fix scratches with nail polish.

Touch-up paint always works best, but if you’re in a pinch, clear nail polish helps to fill in scratches and cover up exposed metal to avoid rust.

5. Unlock your car with a shoelace.

Locking yourself out of your car is always frustrating and a little embarrassing. But don’t let it ruin your day. Tie a loop in a shoelace large enough to wrap around your door lock. Work it into the space between the car and the door, then move it until the loop fits around the door lock. Lasso it, and lift up the lock. This only works for cars with upper lock mechanisms. You can always call a roadside assistance service to help get your door unlocked, too.6. Substitute a scented candle for an air freshener.

Place a scented candle in an unused cup holder on a hot day. As the candle melts, it will slowly release its scent. Be sure to use a candle in a glass container to avoid destroying the cup holder and other parts of your car's interior (via reddit user churninbutter).

7. Improve fuel economy by “hypermiling.”

Like clipping coupons and scoping out deals, there are thrifty ways to save on fuel economy, too. Try giving the car in front of you more space. Then you can coast to a stop instead of slamming on the breaks. You can also turn off your engine whenever you’re stopped for more than a few minutes, and use cruise control to maintain your speed.

8. Remember where you parked with smartphone photos. 

Parking lots and garages can be endless mazes. So take out your smartphone and snap a few pictures of your location and markers around your car, and you’ll find it again in no time.

9. Clean foggy headlights with toothpaste. 

Over time, headlights get oxidized and dirty. But the same stuff that makes your teeth shine can help make your headlights bright again, too. Slather plenty of the toothpaste on your headlights, buff it in with a dry cloth, rinse with water, and wipe clean for clear headlights on the cheap.

10. Use a staple remover on tough key rings.

We have all had to deal with difficult-to-open key rings. One way to get around that is to use a staple remover to prop open the key ring as you slide the key on or off. Be sure not to stab yourself. Jul 11, 2014 13:35

11. Clear your windshield with a razor blade. 

Dead bugs, sap, and other gunk can spot up your windshield. Sticky stuff like that won’t come off with washer fluid, so scraping it off with a razor blade. Be extremely careful not to cut yourself or others in the process.

12. Lighten your keychain to protect your ignition. 

A heavy keychain can weigh your pocketbook down and make your jeans look bulky and awkward. But it can also weigh down your ignition switch, causing premature wear and tear. Keep your keys lean to protect your car's ignition.

13. Clean out the mess in your trunk to increase gas mileage.

Many of us live out of our cars. But you may not know is that all of the "stuff" in you car is costing you money. According to the EPA, every extra 100 pounds of weight can reduce your fuel economy by 2%, or roughly seven cents per gallon ( at $3.70/gallon). Seven cents may not sound like a lot, but it can add up to as much as $73 a year for someone who fills up 20 gallons a week. 

14. Keep kitty litter on hand for icy roads.

If you are ever stuck on an icy road, spread some kitty litter around the drive wheels of your car for added traction. Since most kitty litter is made of a mixture of either bentonite clay or silica, it will give a car's tires something to hold onto. For those in rear-wheel-drive cars, the added weight of a big bag of kitty litter in the trunk will also help improve grip on a slippery road. 

SEE ALSO: 4 Reasons Americans Aren't Buying Volkswagens Anymore

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A Club That Represents Everything Passé About NYC Nightlife Has Finally Gone Bankrupt

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pink elephant

One of the last stalwarts of a bygone era of New York City nightlife, Pink Elephant, has declared bankruptcy. And while we will all surely cherish the memories, not one party-loving New Yorker should shed a tear.

It was long past time for this place to be put out of its misery.

"Nightclubs start out successful but then you have to reinvent the wheel," owner Roee Nahmani told Crain's New York. "The neighborhood is evolving. It was just too soon to put Pink Elephant there."

No. It isn't that the neighborhood is "evolving". It's that New York City nightlife has evolved. It's not too soon for this club, Nahmani. It's too late.

Let us walk you through it.

Say it's 2004, maybe even 2006. Back then there was a kind of party that dominated all things associated with luxury in this town. It was the kind of party that was at Pink Elephant — the kind of party that elevated models and bottles, and had promoters leading roving packs of partiers through lines on West 27th Street and other parts of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District.

It was a specific business model. Make the door hard to get through. Get the who's who in there to be seen and attract that scene that wanted to be seen with them.  At that time that included a lot of people. The girls would come, the boys would pay. This show was the coolest alternative to the fratastic bars on the Upper East Side and the dive bars on the Lower East Side. This was where a lot of people went to dance and look fabulous.

But things change. A lot of it had to do with music. Around 2007 and 2008 some dance tracks — like Justice's 'D.A.N.C.E.' and Hercules and Love Affair's 'Blind' — came out and bubbled up to the mainstream just enough to remind a substantial number of people that to get really into a party, you had to sweat, and when you sweat your make-up runs and your hair gets undone.

This realization was not scene-friendly.

In other words, so many people no longer wanted to be seen at the scene anymore that the business model of attracting hoards of bottle guzzling girls and the guys that financed them no longer made any sense. At least, not on the scale that Pink Elephant once knew.

It was also at that time that Andrew W.K. built Santos Party Haus in Chinatown. The concept — at that point somewhat of a throwback in Manhattan — was to let anyone in, have them pay cover and dance their butts off. Have them wear their sneakers. Bring in the best DJs and put them front and center because that's where the music should be.

This DJ/music centric concept may sound familiar to you now, but the point here is that it wasn't always the thing to do. Now you see it in the Avicii concerts — in the David Guetta or Steve Aoki sets — that all the kids seem to be into.

But that's not all there is to it.

New York City  has always a hub for dance music. Hometown music lables like the famous DFA Records have been getting down in this town since the Pink Elephants of the world were going strong. New York City dancers have their own hometown heroes — like Lets Play House (celebrating their 5th anniversary this weekend) — wandering around town throwing parties whenever they can.

New York City does not need a mega-DJ to have a good time. Friday night is special occasion enough (so is Monday, or Wednesday).

What all this means is that in New York City, there is a happy medium between teenagers wearing neon shutter glasses and D-list actors or distant European royalty getting in fistfights with bouncers at clubs like Pink Elephant.

There are big clubs like Output and Verboten in Williamsburg with hundreds of people, monster sound systems and killer line ups. There are smaller venues like Cameo Gallery, Glasslands and Bossa Nova Civic Club with dance floors like a friend's basement — small enough that you feel like you could know everyone in the room. These places do not have"door policies" aside from 'try to act like an adult human while you're in line.'

So to review — Pink Elephant is going bankrupt for the same reason a lot of clubs go bankrupt. At it's core, the club is not cool enough to sustain itself anymore.

Maybe scale down?

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This Is What Stresses Americans Out The Most

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crouching subway sad stressed

We're all stressed out.

Work gets some people down, and money is something we all worry about. But according to a recent poll conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and NPR, Americans with health issues are more likely to experience a great deal of stress than anyone else.

"Health overwhelmed what I thought would have been financial problems" in terms of causes of stress, said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health in a livestreamed discussion forum about stress at Harvard on July 9.

Causes Of Stress

The poll asked 2,505 adults how stressed out they were and what it was that caused them the most trouble.

About half of the population said they'd experienced a majorly stressful event in the past year. Almost half of that group, 43%, said that that event was health related. The next biggest block was people who had problems at work, 13% of the group.

When respondents answered a question about whether or not they'd been extremely stressed in the past month, people in poor health were more than twice as likely as the general public to report that they'd experienced a great deal of stress in the past month — 60% of the poor health group identified as highly stressed. Next came disabled respondents, 45% of whom identified as stressed out, followed by a tie between 36% of people with a chronic illness and 36% of low-income respondents. Similar numbers of single parents and parents of teens (about 35%) reported highly stress levels in the past month.

Still, even though more people in poor health reported high levels of stress than any other group, when all respondents in the "highly stressed in the last month" group listed what contributed to their stress, a few contributing factors beat out health issues: too many responsibilities overall, financial problems, and work problems.

But one of the most pernicious things about health-related stress is that it seems to become a self-perpetuating cycle: people who are stressed about their health end up experiencing worse health as result, which then stresses them out more.

The Importance Of Coping Strategies

And it's not just health, many stress issues are interrelated. Poor health can be expensive too, and stress makes people less productive at work, which causes other problems, said Joshua Riff, Medical Director at Target Corporation, at the Harvard stress forum.

Stress also makes it harder for people to spend time with family, spend time with friends, participate in community or volunteering activities, sleep well, and eat well — all things that can help reduce stress.

But as hard as it can be to spend time with friends and engage in activities when feeling overwhelmed, it's important to try and do so.

When asked what strategies helped people relax, 94% of people who spent time outdoors said that doing so was effective at reducing stress levels. Having pets, meditating, and spending time with loved ones are all also effective coping strategies.

Figuring out how to incorporate those strategies into day-to-day life is essential.

"Your workload is never going to get lower until the day you retire, technology is just going to get faster, the amount of information coming at you is just going to grow and grow and grow," said Riff.

Because of that, he says that building resiliency skills, which help people deal with stress without becoming overwhelmed, needs to be a key goal for both individuals and their employers. Riff asks, "so how do you change you, your perspective, and how do you build resiliency skills?"

SEE ALSO: 11 Scientifically Proven Reasons You Should Go Outside

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Man Photographed For Viral Photography Blog Claims He Robbed A Lot Of Banks

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A man claiming to have robbed numerous New York City banks in the 1990s appeared on Brandon Stanton's popular Humans of New York blog this week.

We have no way of verifying this story, but in any case, the unnamed man had an interesting tale to tell. He said during his '90s bank heists he would hand tellers notes to get the cash, and that he never had to carry a gun. Because the security footage was blurry at best during the late '90s, he says, it was easy to get away with.

In a separate post Stanton published, the man said he didn't commit a crime until he was 54. Then, he says, he went on a bank robbing spree after pulling a heist for the first time.

It's been harder to rob banks these days, he says. The man says dye packs from banks exploded on him three separate times, with the worst occurring near Penn Station during the morning rush hour. He claims he heard a noise coming from his pants, followed by a bright neon cloud shooting up towards him. With many people watching, he tossed the money away, jumped in a cab, and went to a bar, according to his story.

In 1990, The New York Times reported a steep rise in bank robberies that was "baffling" both bankers and the FBI. From The Times:

Reasons for the increase are not clear. Law enforcement officials cite several possibilities: the spread of crack addiction, decreased attention by the authorities - who in some cases redeployed their forces against crack - and the recent return to the streets of some jailed bank robbers.

The banks hit most steadily, bank officials said, are midtown Manhattan branches. Most banks in poorer neighborhoods have installed teller windows of thick plastic while many midtown banks eschew them, and more robbers are blending into crowds or hopping on the subway instead of using getaway cars, the officials said.

During the late '90s, there were at least a couple of prominent bank robberies within New York, such as the 1998 heist from a Bank of America within the World Trade Center in addition to the "Seven-Second Bandit."

An NYPD spokesman told Business Insider the department is unable to identify a criminal based solely on a picture, although he advised sending the picture via email to the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information to see if the department can make a match. Business Insider is still waiting for that reply.

However, he added that if the man was never caught for any crime, there would be no way to identify him.

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Here is the entire excerpt from the interview posted by Stanton, who gave us permission to use his pictures.

"It was the late 90’s. The police commissioner had figured out that all the people committing small crimes were the same people committing big crimes, so the cops started cracking down on all the little stuff— and crime kept going down, down, down. Everything except bank robberies. Because all the big national banks were moving into the city, and buying out all the local banks. And these new corporate banks were all about ‘customer service.’ So they replaced the retired cops at the doors with ‘greeters’ who would give you coffee and donuts. So word got around fast that robbing banks was f***ing easy now. All you had to do was walk in, hand them a note, and they’d hand over the cash. I never even carried a gun. The security footage was so grainy back then, you could barely see anything. It was easy. It’s much tougher these days. I’ve had dye packs explode on me three times. The worst was about a block from here. I had just left a bank, and was walking by the entrance to Penn Station during morning rush hour. Suddenly a noise starts coming from my pants, and a bright neon cloud starts shooting out. Hundreds of people were staring at me. I threw the thing away from me, hopped in a cab, and went to a bar."

SEE ALSO: 5 Surprising Things That Are Cheaper In New York City

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Americans Spend Almost 3 Hours A Day On Their Phones And Tablets — And Other Scary Stats About Mobile Usage

8 Tech Titans Who Won't Leave Their Fortune To Their Kids

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Pierre Omidyar

Some entrepreneurs who have made billions off of their tech ventures like to spend them in some pretty extravagant ways, whether it be on private planes, summer homes, or even an entire island. 

Others turn to more-philanthropic efforts, choosing to donate their wealth to different causes through foundations and trusts. 

We've rounded up some of the most generous people in tech, all of which have decided to donate large portions of their wealth to charity rather than pass it down to their children. 

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates

Gates has been open about his decision not to leave his $78 billion fortune to his three children. They will reportedly inherit just a small slice, about $10 million each.

"I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them," he said in a Reddit AMA in February. 

He founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 1994, and it currently has more than $36 billion in assets. Gates also teamed up with longtime friend Warren Buffett to start a campaign called "The Giving Pledge," which encourages other billionaires to donate at least half of their fortune to charity. 



AOL cofounder Steve Case

Case helped millions of Americans get online, and now he's donating much of his wealth to developing other technologies.

He founded the Case Foundation in 1997, which focuses on using technology to make philanthropy more effective. He also started an investment firm called Revolution, which invests in startups outside of Silicon Valley, and signed the Giving Pledge.

"We share the view that those to whom much is given, much is expected. We realize we have been given a unique platform and opportunity, and we are committed to doing the best we can with it," he and wife Jean wrote. "We do not believe our assets are 'ours' but rather we try to be the responsible stewards of these resources."



Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

Benioff recently launched a campaign called SF Gives, which challenged tech companies to raise $10 million for San Francisco-based nonprofit programs in just 60 days. 

He's encouraged other corporations to follow his 1/1/1 model, which says that a company should donate 1% of its equity, 1% of its employees' time, and 1% of its resources to philanthropic efforts.

He and wife Lynne have also personally given a total of $200 million to the children's hospital at UCSF. 

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






The 11 Cities With The Most Opportunity Right Now

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PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has a comprehensive new ranking of 30 cities in the world that offer the widest opportunities for businesses and the people who live there.

PwC's sixth edition of its "Cities of Opportunity" report examined intellectual capital and innovation; technology readiness; how accessible a city is to the rest of the world; transportation and infrastructure; health, safety, and security; sustainability and the natural environment; demographics and livability; economic clout; ease of doing business; and cost.

We took a closer look at the top 11 cities on the list, what got them there, and where they have room to improve.

11. Berlin

berlin skylineThis artistic hub in Germany scored particularly high for public transport and health, safety, and security. Berlin — Germany's largest city — tied for No. 3 for sustainability and the natural environment. It ranks No. 4 for demographics and livability.

Anybody who's ever visited Berlin knows that the massive underground transit, known as the U-Bahn, is unbelievably clean and efficient. Berlin is a safe place for tourists, who can take in the city's vibrant art scene.

More and more businesses are attracted to Berlin these days. Just last year, The New York Times reported that the city was having a "coming-of-age moment." From The Times:

As it attempts to evolve from a city that relies heavily on government support to one with sustainable industries, companies like Google and Etsy have opened up offices, joining technology startups like SoundCloud and ResearchGate, giving credit to the hype that Berlin is becoming a contender for Europe’s Silicon Valley.

The PwC report noted that Berlin had risen to No. 12 from No. 16 in its last report for technology readiness, "confirming its steadily rising reputation as a high-tech hub in Europe."

10. Chicago

Lake Michigan and ChicagoThe Windy City of nearly 3 million people is one of the biggest cities in America, and it earned high marks in the PwC study for cost, quality of life, and air quality.

The city made the top 10 for ease of doing business, which means big corporations are attracted to the Midwestern metropolis. Indeed, there are nearly 30 Fortune 500 companies in the Chicago area, including the massive aircraft company Boeing.

Chicago has a lot to offer culturally, and it appears to have rebounded from a particularly bloody crime wave in the summer of 2012. Earlier this year, The New York Times published a 36-hour guide for Chicago visitors.

"As the temperatures fall, the city changes from a playground to a cultural promised land — a place of fine and varied food, inventive theater and one of the country’s great live music scenes," The Times reported.

Unfortunately, the Windy City fell out of the top 10 in transportation and infrastructure. It's not entirely clear from the report why Chicago fared poorly in transportation, but last year the city had a disastrous rollout of a new fare-card system for the Chicago Transit Authority system of trains and buses.

As for infrastructure, Chicago pledged in 2012 to invest billions to fix its crumbling underground water pipes, school buildings, and city buildings. Of course, big projects like that take time.

9. Sydney

fireworks in sydney harborSydney’s benefits are obvious: incredible weather, an abundance of beautiful beaches, and Australia’s favorable “work-life balance.” It consistently ranks highly in safety, friendliness, and quality of living surveys.

In PwC's rankings, Sydney hit No. 1 for both sustainability and livability. As the financial, manufacturing, and cultural hub of Australia, Sydney has a strong, thriving economy and plenty of business opportunities.

However, housing prices and the cost of living are, like all of Australia, high. For reference, rent for a one-bedroom in Sydney costs about $2,100 a month, while a pair of Levi's jeans will run you $100. 

Regular daily expenses are 16% more expensive than the world average, making it the 12th most expensive city in the world.

8. Hong Kong

hongkongDespite the incredible population density of Hong Kong, the city-state ranks high for quality of life and has the fifth-highest life expectancy in the world. The city has an exceptional public transportation system, with over 90% of daily travels occurring on public transport.

The Index of Economic Freedom has ranked Hong Kong's economy as No. 1, in part because of its low taxes and sophisticated international financial market. Indeed, PwC rated Hong Kong No. 2 for ease of doing business.

Hong Kong’s biggest problems are, unsurprisingly, pollution and air quality, which have gotten significantly worse in the past 20 years.

7. Stockholm

2932418088_6d8c9f12a8_oStockholm is one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe with both its population and new businesses ballooning over the past 15 years. One of the city’s biggest innovations was creating a publicly owned broadband network in the mid-'90s, which has developed the booming tech industry that has spawned Spotify and DICE Games.

"We have a very interesting mix of life science companies, information, and communications-technology companies, clean-tech companies, and the entertainment industries," Stockholm's vice mayor for innovation, Ulla Hamilton, told PwC. "That creates an innovative climate."

The city is exceptionally green. Sustainability has been a heavy focus of the city for more than 60 years, as it has worked to develop public transportation, clean water, and a heating district system that keeps pollution out of the environment.

Immigration has become one of Stockholm’s — and Sweden’s — biggest challenges, as the influx of asylum-seekers over the past decade has coincided with a rise in crime.

6. Paris

parisParis is highly regarded for its libraries, respected universities, and high rates of literacy and education, ranking No. 1 in PwC’s rankings of Intellectual Capital and Innovation.

Public transportation in the city is exceptional with 14 metro lines, a network of regional trains that connect the city to the suburbs, and express lanes exclusively for buses.

While it's certainly an interesting place to live — full of the world's best museums — obscenely expensive housing, poor car traffic, and record unemployment have dragged down the city in recent years.

5. San Francisco

San Francisco skylineNot surprisingly, the heart of Silicon Valley was one of the top three cities for intellectual capital and innovation. San Francisco — population 825,000, compared to 8 million in New York City — is an example of a small city with outsize economic influence, according to the PwC report.

Some of the world's biggest companies are based in and around San Francisco, and big companies like Google have major outposts there.

While the city got a relatively good ranking for cost (No. 6), the city is getting more expensive. As a result, families there are fleeing for the suburbs, the PwC report notes.

"[I]n places like San Francisco, Seattle, and Berlin, families are deserting the city," the report says. "As cities become more expensive and apartments smaller, the suburbs start looking better."

4. Toronto

toronto skylineDespite Toronto's crack-smoking mayor, it has a reputation for providing an excellent quality of life. In the PwC report, the Canadian city made the top three for health, safety, and security and transportation, and infrastructure; it was ranked No. 4 for ease of doing business.

The city is considered one of the safest in North America, and it ranked No. 1 in the PwC report for public transport systems. However, it ranked No. 13 for traffic congestion and No. 12 for ease of commute.

"Toronto’s rankings in these two variables also reflect the city’s current reality, in which the lack of a fully integrated regional transportation system is one of the leading challenges for Toronto," the PwC report stated.

3. Singapore

PARKROYAL singaporeThis sovereign city-state ranked in the top three for city gateway, transportation and infrastructure, and ease of doing business. Singapore made big advances in this year's edition of PwC's "Cities of Opportunity," going up four spots to third place and dominating transportation and infrastructure.

As the Lonely Planet travel guide notes, "Singapore has fantastic public transport, with a tangled web of bus and train (MRT) routes taking you to the doorsteps of most sights." It's also possible to island-hop near Singapore by taking one of the city's many ferries.

Singapore established superior infrastructure and transportation when it was a British colony prior to 1963, according to the Encyclopedia of the Nations. In the '70s and '80s, the city-state reacted to increased traffic problems by investing heavily in its mass transit system.

While Singapore falls out of the top 10 in sustainability and the natural environment, it may do better on that front in the next PwC report. Just last month, The New York Times reported on a massive new green park in the middle of the city known as the Green Corridor.

The park was inspired by New York's High Line, but it's much bigger at 15 miles long.

2. New York

New York City skyline and Statue of LibertyWhile New York City didn't finish first in any of the indicator categories, it finished strongly across the board, according to the PwC ranking. The Big Apple was the second-most-desired city for relocation (right after London), and it was in the top three for "ease of doing business" and for "economic clout."

New York City is home of the two biggest stock exchanges in the world, the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ, and it's a hub for a variety of industries, from finance to fashion to publishing to technology.

The city isn't the easiest place to live or even visit, though. The Big Apple ranked 16th for transportation and infrastructure. The PwC reported cited the city's rising costs of public transportation (specifically, the MTA) and the difficulty of getting taxis.

New York has a higher cost of living than other cities in the survey, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Just last month, CNN reported it was the third-most-expensive city in the world to rent an apartment.

1. London

london big ben fireworksLondon — the world's hottest city — finished first in technology readiness, city gateway, and economic clout. It jumped from the eighth spot for technology readiness in PwC's last report to No. 1 this time, in part because it provides internet access in many schools. The British capital is developing its tech sector, particularly in health technology.

The British city's six international airports probably helped it ascend to the top ranking for city gateway. You can even hop on the high-speed Eurostar train and get from Paris to London in a couple of hours. As the PwC report notes, "More than ever, most roads (and flights) lead to London."

England has been creating wealth for its citizens, and the world, for hundreds of years, the PwC report notes. Some citizens have more wealth than others, of course. Earlier this month, a new study of the world's wealthiest people found London had more billionaires than any other city.

For people who aren't billionaires, London might be a tough place to live, as it ranked 15th in cost, which includes cost of living and cost of business occupancy.

Just Tuesday, the radio show "Marketplace" asked whether London was becoming too expensive for poor Londoners. The program noted that more foreign investors are buying up luxury apartments there.

“We’re the minority of London now,” one single mother told the show. “Londoners don't live in London anymore."

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