CNN: Seoul is the greatest city in the world!

[Ben-Ja-Meen]

If you think that Seoul is the greatest city in the world, then you obviously have never traveled the world.

We're constantly surprised by really beautiful areas of Seoul (possibly because we have such low expectations of this city). That said, the only reason I'm here is because I actually enjoy teaching kids, it really is stress-free, it's only 8.5 hours of work a day (pretty awesome) and you can still save a little -- but overall it's an ugly city to me. I'm sure that this is a "great city" in a number of people's minds...but that may be because they found a Korean girlfriend here...:-)

I'm marrying my Korean girlfriend... and we both agree that Seoul is one ugly mess of a city... sure it has a few tolerable pockets, but I can't imagine how anyone who has every visited or spent time in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Vancouver, San Francisco, etc... could make any reasonable argument in favor of Seoul.  Just a thought:  Perhaps, of the people here who seem to be blind to Seoul's many flaws, several are probably fresh out of college newbies who are enjoying freedom and relative financial security for the first time in their lives.  They're basically having a really good time in Seoul.  And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this.  I just think some of them may have mistaken their newfound euphoria as some kind of love for this far from perfect city. 

My first year in Seoul was great... second year was fine, but now that I'm getting married and faced with the possibility of raising a family here... I've become much more critical. 

[Jrong]

Ha ha! Congrats on getting married...Yeah, what you said about peeps enjoying new-found freedom along with having plenty of money to exercise that freedom does make sense too.

[e72882]

Seoul definitely has its pockets that make it an enjoyable visit, but I would definitely NOT want to live there. My next city is Pyeongtaek and I think that city is more enjoyable than Seoul. Ocean, proximity to Seoul with a subway connection and short distance by bus. Also a little country and a little city. It's good for me as a person who like city life, but not too busy and if I feel like visiting friends in Seoul I don't have to take an all day trip to get there and back home.

[Gunpo_Erin]

interesting for sure.  Not sure if I agree that Seoul is the greatest ciy in the world though!    It's an OK city= has some nice perks but I am betting my last dollar that there is NO "Greatest city in the world".  i think there are some great cities but all have flaws!

[e72882]

I believe there is a "Greatest City in the World", but that's left open for interpretation by the individuals of this world. For some people it's Seoul, for others it's San Francisco. And yet for some it's Paris in France. For my money it's either Vienna or Munich, but those are my current favorite cities. Who know's what my next one will be? I have only been to a few countries outside the US and I have little to no experience on what to decide upon for the Greatest city argument other than what knowledge I have based upon previous experiences and I think it's the same for everybody. Yes every city has its flaws and I'm sure there isn't one city in this world that doesn't have a flaw. Hell, I can think of major flaws in every city of the world, that doesn't mean there isn't one city out there that I like the best over every other city.

[MTBman]

CNN is far from being the best media outlet, so I don't take them too seriously except when they run a story I want to see.  All of the recent flooding in Seoul, in particular, and the deadly landslides really undermines the whole point of the article. 

[Spongeblob]

#2. Drama Queens
I have to argue this one.  I think Bangkok, Thailand has more queens or perhaps San Francisco, U.S.A.
But for Drama Adjumas the city of Seoul is still number one.   

P.S. I have a picture of Mr. Mercury and he knew how to be a Queen. lol

[hilarity ensues]

San Francisco is a pretty awesome city... I think it might be my favorite. I wasn't there for very long but every single minute was full of kind of WTF weirdness that I will never forget. I've been to a few places including some in the 3rd world, but that was the most eye-openingly wild mix of pretty much everything I have ever seen.

I think most of the issues I have with Seoul and all of Korea is an overall lack of cool. Everything is suppressed, conservative, traditional, or some kind of hollow clone that misses the entire point. I guess you can have 'fun' in Seoul, but you can't do it in a unique or interesting way. Cheesy boy bands and American imports don't make you cool, you have to put your own spin on things. Tokyo does it with gusto and to such cartoonish extents its almost like satire... seriously, the amount of clever-yet-meaningless utterly disposable novelty that they cram into that city is incredible. But Seoul does Western culture like they're afraid of seeing something that they might like, or they just miss the point by such a wide margin you just wonder why they even bothered. Or sometimes they get the image right but it's just hollow and there's nothing beyond it-- images are only really appealing if there's some sort of charge or meaning behind them, the point isn't always just to 'look good'.

I don't think there are any places in Seoul that really strike me as being hip or edgy... and I don't think Korea really has any cool youth movements that are their own. All of their youth movements are more like old people's movements... it's like hanging out with right-wing preppies, brain-dead gamers, math-smart drones, wannabes and hipsters who communicate with confusion, hesitation, awkwardness or drunken sleazery. And melodrama... don't forget the melodrama.

If you go to Tokyo, that place has style... and they make it their own. If you go to New York, it has style. Toronto is soulless but at least it tries. London has its own thing. Seoul is still trying to get there... or maybe I'm just missing something, and if this is the case, please tell me where to find it!

[Horus]

One thing that deeply distresses me about Seoul is the ever-present smell of the sewers. It's distressing, and can ruin any pleasant day. I can smell the sewers every single day, and often I'm hit by it on five, ten or fifteen different occasions on one day. Now, as someone above said quite correctly, ascertaining which city is "the best" can only be a very subjective exercise. For one it's London, for another it's Montreal. But surely, as we engage in this admittedly subjective exercise, there are certain things that (most would agree) eliminate a certain city from competition. The foul smells of sewer, in my opinion, eliminate Seoul from even entering the "top 100" list. It's not as if this foul problem is offset by other 'positives' like stunning architecture, wonderful museums, beautiful art galleries, clean streets, etc

It offers none of this. Just architectural eyesores and foul smells. (But I guess if we can get a bag of rice cheaper here than back home, Seoul must rock.)

[Horus]

I was going to start a new thread on the ever-present piles of garbage everywhere I go in Seoul. Every tree has a pile of barge under it. Ever lamp post has a pile of garbage under it. Every electricity box has piles of garbage piles up against it. Garbage everywhere!!!! It's very distressing. How can Koreans go through every day of their lives looking at such ugliness and filth and think it's okay? (As I say, I was going to start a new thread on this, then I remembered the "Korea is the greatest city in the world" thread. Thought I might mention it here....Hey mayoral candidates, how about making 'Let's clean up the streets of Seoul so it doesn't look like a third world slum' a central message in your election campaign?

Garbage filled streets do not make for an attractive city.