By Heinz Bulos from place to place, especially from the Iprovinces to the big cities, particularly t’s not unusual for Filipinos to move
You don’t have to go abroad for a good living and better quality of life. As they say, there’s nothing like your own country to call home Bacolod City Population: 453,873 Why it’s great: Friendly people, laid-back lifestyle, easy access to nearby vacation destinations
Photo credit: Rhonson Ng (Masskara Festival)
Picture this: on weekdays, you work at a multinational corporation, enjoying all the modern conveniences of city life. On weekends, you drive along the highway dotted by sugarcane plantations to bathe at a hot spring near a mountain resort. Or you take a short boat ride to frolic along the sandy white beach. Living in Bacolod City is having the best of both worlds. Glady Tomulto, 31, works as a government employee and writes a blog called PromdiLiving.com. Born and raised in a small town in Iloilo, she is now living for the last four years in Bacolod, where she finds life much sweeter. She likes that “Bacolod is an urban city with that distinct Southern charm. It keeps abreast with development yet www.moneysense.com.ph
in Metro Manila. And it’s not unheard of from city slickers to settle in smaller towns. Deciding where to live and raise a family is no longer just about greener pastures, though economic opportunities remain a big factor. But people are starting to think about not just standard of living but also cost of living and quality of life. It is true millions are moving abroad to seek a better life but the fact remains that for the majority of us, we are staying in this country for good. And it is for this reason why we compiled our first list of the “Best Places to Live.” While we were hoping to find quaint towns while filtering the data, it’s inevitable we ended up with cities. After all, that’s where you’ll find the best jobs and business opportunities, enjoy modern conveniences and recreational activities, and have access to top schools and health care facilities. But not all cities met our criteria. Sure, a good number of Metro Manila cities are represented, but the CALABARZON (Calamba-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) cities aren’t in the top 10 at all. The residents there may enjoy above average income but suffer from a lower quality of life – urban blight, smog, traffic jams, higher crime rates, etc. Not that our top 20 cities are immune from these; they just have a lot more to offer to compensate. You may or not agree with our list. It’s not a perfect list, to be sure, but it’s a start. It’s certainly more methodical than pop surveys on online message boards (see the sidebar “How We Chose the List”). And so, here are the “Best Places to Live.”
still maintains the laid-back lifestyle.” But much of the charm of the city comes from the friendly and gracious people, known for the melodious tone of their Ilonggo dialect. Glady shares, “Bacolod is known as the ‘City of Smiles.’ Anybody who’ve been to Bacolod can attest to the warmth and hospitality of its people.” And there’s of course the famous chicken inasal, batchoy, and the festive MassKara Festival. Think of Bacolod City as an over-achiever, bagging the “Most Competitive Mid-Sized City in the Philippines” from the Asian Institute of Management, ranking high on all criteria. Bacolod is the gateway to the sugar-rich cities and towns of Negros province, which supplies more than half of the country’s sugar needs. But you don’t have to be a sugar baron. Bacolod City has a thriving commerce and trade economy. And there are lots of business and job opportunities in growth areas such as technology, business process outsourcing, financial services, travel, ecotourism, and energy. Entrepreneurs and investors will like the fact that the MoneySense
March - April 2008
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