I found a copy of L’Express from the end of June lying around the apartment a few days ago, and noticed it was the rankings of the best and worst départements in mainland France. The winner overall is Haute-Garonne (Toulouse) in the Midi-Pyrénées, followed by 2. Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Pau) in Aquitaine, 3. Ille-et-Vilaine (Rennes) in Bretagne, 4. Isère (Grenoble) in Rhône-Alpes, and 5. Gironde (Bordeaux) in Aquitaine. The losers? 92. Creuse (Guéret) in Limousin, 93. Eure (Evreux) in Haute-Normandie, 94. Meuse (Bar-le-Duc) in Lorraine, 95. Aisne (Laon) in Picardie, and 96. Ardennes (Charleville-Mézières) in Champagne-Ardenne.
There are three main classements annexes, i.e. the best départements for:
Young people
- Hérault (Montpellier)
- Haute-Garonne (Toulouse)
- Gironde (Bordeaux)
- Bouches-du-Rhône (Marseilles)
- Rhône (Lyon)
Seniors
- Hautes-Alpes (Gap)
- Aveyron (Rodez)
- Corrèze (Tulle)
- Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Pau)
- Vendée (La Roche-sur-Yon)
Families
- Haute-Garonne (Toulouse)
- Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Pau)
- Vendée (La Roche-sur-Yon)
- Ille-et-Vilaine (Rennes)
- Hérault (Montpellier)
Then there are 14 classements thématiques, according to health, security, education, transportation, the economy, the environment, culture, etc. All of the results can be found here: Les départements où il fait bon vivre. There’s also a test interactif you can try to find out which département best suits you if you’re thinking about moving to France but don’t know where yet.
Haute-Savoie came in at 19 overall, which isn’t too bad out of 96. It’s at 45 for young people, 46 for seniors, and 20 for families. Higher education: 54, health: 24, price of housing: 91!!! (completely agree with this one!); security: 58, culture (museums, cinemas): 42; economic growth: 11; availability of internet: 43; businesses/shopping centers: 21; economic power: 34; living environment (pollution, access to sea or green areas): 44; weather: 75 (unfortunately, it is that bad here); social situation (low unemployment, high income): 2 !!!; medical services: 57; success rate for le bac: 2 !!! (apparently lycéens are really smart here!)
I was a little surprised that Haute-Savoie has some of the highest incomes, but I guess it makes sense considering how many people who live here actually work in Switzerland and benefit from the exchange rate between the Swiss Franc and Euro. Some of these are no-brainers though, like the cost of living is highest in Paris, the weather is the best on the Côte d’Azur, and the safest area is Limousin & Auvergne (because the population is lowest there). How is your département ranked in the palmarès 2008?
