On last year’s survey, Monocle’s editor noted: “We then looked at both murder rates and domestic burglaries and this kicked most US cities out of the running.” Similarly, in this year’s write-up, New York was cut because its livability continues to “grind to a halt under the weight of automobile traffic, has no coherent scheme to get more people on to bicycles and still no sign of a high-speed, non-stop rail link to any of its airports.”

For a similar survey (that cuts out the quality of coffee and adds things like political stability and currency exchange rates), check out the following: http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/livable_cities_worldwide/