In which French cities (medium or large) would you like to live to enjoy the best possible quality of life? An association has classified the quality of life in the various French cities on the basis of 180 criteria. Forget Paris, Lyon and the big cities, today it is in cities on a human scale that it is good to live …
The association Towns and villages where life is good classified the French cities where one can enjoy the best quality of life. The big metropolises of the Hexagon like Paris, Lyon, Marseille or Lille are not really celebrating in the 2021 list. Rather, it is certain medium-sized cities and large prefectures that are doing well.
Where do people live best in France?
Annecy, capital and prefecture of Haute-Savoie, is the city where people live best in 2021. Its population of 130,000 inhabitants has enjoyed a natural environment between lake and mountain and a real economic dynamism for several years.
Next comes the good city of Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), a city of art, history (and obviously happiness) of 50,000 inhabitants, renowned for its conviviality, its sense of hospitality and its legendary festivals (Baionako Festak in Basque) in red and white.
It is Angers which, this year, completes the podium of French cities of better living. With 150,000 inhabitants, the prefecture of Maine-et-Loire combines natural spaces, sustainable development and medieval heritage. The quality of life in Angers is also based on a university center of excellent reputation.
The Top 20 French cities for better living
- Annecy
- Bayonne
- Angers
- La Rochelle
- Le Mans
- Caen
- Nice
- Bordeaux
- Avignon
- Lorient
- Brest
- Reindeer
- Strasbourg
- Pau
- Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
- Rodez
- Le Havre
- Metz
- Biarritz
- Saint Etienne
Posted by the Sunday newspaper, this classification of French cities is established on the basis of more than 180 criteria obtained from data from INSEE or other state bodies. These criteria take into account the quality of life, safety, transport, the presence of shops and services, health, education, sports and leisure as well as the notion of solidarity.
The big French cities at the pick-up
From good surprises from this top-20, there are a large number of medium-sized French towns such as Rodez, Pau, Biarritz, Lorient and Cherbourg which combine quality of life with human size.
Within the major metropolises of France, only Nice and Bordeaux are among the top 10 French cities where life is good. Rennes (12th), Strasbourg (13th) and Nantes (22nd) keep their heads held high but other cities of good reputation in terms of well-being such as Montpellier or Toulouse are curiously absent from subscribers…
The three major cities of the territory are in the pick-up: Paris only arrives in 55th position, followed by Lyon (56th). Marseille, in 85th place, has a hard time keeping up …
At the village level (municipalities with less than 2,000 inhabitants), Peltre en Moselle dominates the ranking, as was already the case in 2020.
