Bacolod City Chosen as the Best Place to Live by MoneysenseIt’s an affirmation of my choice. From among 65 cities that were ranked, Bacolod City topped the list of “Best Places to Live” by MoneySense magazine. Heinz Bulos, Editor-In-Chief, said that in coming up with the ranking, they relied on two existing surveys, the Philippine Human Development Report and the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project (PCCRP) of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) for 2005. Whereas PCCRP uses seven criteria in ranking the cities, MoneySense chose only three – dynamism of local economy, infrastructure, and quality of life.
Bulos noted that Bacolod City can be considered as an over-achiever. Here’s why:
Most Competitive Mid-Sized City in the Philippines for two consecutive years.
- Based on the results of the PCCRP for the years 2003 and 2005, Bacolod City ranked high in all criteria from among the cities under the mid-sized category. These are non-metro cities with a population of more than 200,000.It ranked highest on Infrastructure and Quality of Life.
Clean and Green Hall of Fame Awardee
- Bacolod City was named the “Cleanest and Greenest Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines” for five years (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002) earning it the distinction to be in the Clean and Green Hall of Fame.
Most Business Friendly Local Government Unit in the Philippines
- Bacolod bested 130 other cities when the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry declared it the “Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit in the Philippines” in 2007. It was the second year in a row for Bacolod to be named the “Most Business-Friendly City in the Visayas”. As the regional winner, it became a finalist and competed with the other regional winners and was chosen as the national winner.
Iloilo City, which was also on the Top 5 of PCCRP for Mid-Sized Cities category, ranked 5th. It should be noted that when Moneysense ranked the “Best Places to Live”, it did not categorize the cities as to population size but based the ranking on the three criteria only.
Is your city on the list?
Want to know if your city is on the Top 20? Here’s the complete list:
- Bacolod
- Makati
- Davao
- Marikina
- Iloilo
- Las Piñas
- Pasig
- San Fernando
- Mandaluyong
- Quezon City
- Manila
- Batangas
- Cagayan de Oro
- Muntinlupa
- Angeles
- Baguio
- Lipa
- Calamba
- General Santos
- Cebu
MoneySense has a lengthy article featuring the cities in the Top 10 of the “Best Places to Live” in the Philippines. Want to know why they’re on the Top 10? Go grab yourself a copy of the March-April 2008 issue.
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I don’t know why any parts of greater Manila would be on any ‘best’ list. Considering the horrendous pollution and traffic, crime, etc. it makes the entire survey questionable and certainly not a useful criteria for considering a move. “Best places to live…” should have a minimum of the aforementioned.
I could say that bacolod is the finest best place to live,in term of climate,neat environment and friendly atmosphere.It really good place for investment, and tourist destination.
I’m looking for a best place to retire in the Philippines. I’m a filipina married to a European. I visited P.I. last year and went to Cebu, GenSan, Davao and Manila. GenSan is my birthplace but I don’t trust so much the city when it comes to security and Davao too. Cebu is too crowdy for me as well as Manila but I am eyeing on Negros Oriental like Dumaguete and the coastal towns of Negros Oriental. My parents were from this other side of Negros and for money sense I think this is a best place since Cebu is not far having an international flight. Dumaguete is famous for foreigners from Europe and USA and even Australians. When it comes to quiet and simple life with beaches and seafoods, I think Negros Oriental is the best place for me to retire.
Bacolod hehehe it was a nice place im a bacolenios also but for my work minsan na lang ako pumupunta dyan sa bacolod. Bacolod is one of the fastest growing mid-cites here in visayas and by the meron na pala dito xa negros na international airport ang bacolod silay airport. I think some day bacolod will be a great cites someday… AMEN
wow.. i am beginning to like bacolod.it all started when i met an ilongga ,and she is from bacolod.i havent been to bacolod but i have plans this coming march..my interest was 1st on her ..but when it becomes deeper,i am also intersted on where shes from.surely bacolod is and hopefully be my second city or place.
its safe to say now that.. ilove her and i love where shes from
wow i smell romance! congrats to you for finding an ilongga. we are noted for being malambing and i’m sure that’s one of the reasons why you love her. i wish you all the best.
My personal view about Bacolod City. Some spanish buildings are still intact. However, I thought the city is a very old city. Streets are narrow and many not properly maintained (potholes), no street name (same in Iloilo city), no street lights in most areas in the evening. One can easily gets lost if not from that area! The building sructures are dilapidated and looked old. Most buildings need paint jobs, are only two stories high except for the hotel-casino which is in modern style and several levels high.
I have the feelings being in a rural area when I was there. For old folks, it may be the place to live, quiet and laid back. I won’t recommend this place for young ones! Girls are pretty, though!
Food is great, but they are so expensive, especially in restaurants. Only rich people can afford.
Davao city is still the best! according to defunct asia week magazine, Davao City rank no. 17 best city in asia nad no.1 in the philippines. 3 consecutive years for most competitive metro city and why davao is in no. 3 in the rank? unbelievable…..
I’m tourist foreigner from Milan Italy and for me the best place to live in the philippines are Davao and Bacolod these both cities tied in the ranking for being no.1 for me and no.2 is makati and no.3 is cebu city and no.4 is Iloilo and no.5 is Manila……. I visited philippines 7 times already!!!! that is my judgment in your country..
i’m a cebuano and a bit sad my hometown is at number 20
but i’m happy that bacolod got the top spot. i’ve been to bacolod just 3 weeks ago, stayed there for 2 days, been to mandalagan and mansilingan and i must say the downtown is really clean, the locals are friendly..hehe..mabuhi cebuano kag bacolodnon! halong kamo da!
DAVAO IS A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG CITY…. THE CITY IS LIKELY SIMILARITY TO SINGAPORE AND BANGKOK……. I’M A SINGAPOREAN AND I VISITED PHILIPPINES FOR MANY TIMES DOING BUSINESS.. I VISITED CEBU, BAGUIO, BACOLOD, ILOILO, METRO MANILA, TAGAYTAY AND CAGAYAN DE ORO, BUT FOR ME DAVAO IS SUCH A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES BUT WHY IS IT RANK ONLY NO.3 IT IS BECAUSE LOCATED IN MINDANAO MANY REBELS??? NO, WRONG PERCEPTION. FOR ME TO RANK BEST PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINES ARE NO.1 DAVAO NO.2 MAKATI NO.3 MARIKINA NO.4 LAS PINAS NO.5 BACOLOD NO.6 BAGUIO NO.7 CEBU NO.8 TAGAYTAY NO.9 MANILA NO.10 ILO-ILO… THAT IS MY JUGDMENT!!!!!!! SURVEY DOESNT MEAN THE REALITY.. OKEY FILIPINOS……
for me Bacolod is also the dream place to live. There are already big malls such as SM and Robinsons, villages like Ayala, call centers, but hindi pa rin nawawala ang pagiging probinsya nya which is the most i like about. I am working here in Cebu as a Software Dev but i already bought a lot in Bacolod because i know hindi malayong maging IT City rin ang bacolod just like cebu and Makati dahil mabilis ang asenso ng province.
hey guys;
which city in Philippines is the best to live in for a foreigner?
thanks in advance
IloIlo is the best.That’s it, wala akong masabi sa ibang provinces na nagpapangap na maganda and highly urbanized.Keep quite na lang.Basta pnta kayo na iloilo anditi na ang lahat.Go…Iloilo,ur the best place to live in the philippines
I’m from ormoc city and tried to visit different places in the philippines like cebu, davao, cdo, gensan, bacolod, iloilo makati and baguio…… i think for me, the best city in which the foreigner best to live is Davao because it is nice metro city, the city is very big, beautiful, fresh air, clean water, a lot of malls, BPO or call centers and of couse maraming mga magaganda at guapo, I like davao, I’mplanning to transfer o live in davao, bacolod also nice pero maliit lang ang bacolod…
Bacolod is a mid-size city a small city compared to the METRO cities mentioned here but the fact is, even though it’s small and not a METRO city it could compete in terms of commerce, education, IT etc… it doesn’t have a lot of high – rise buildings but its annual GDP is very competitive. everything in Bacolod is accessible you can reach your destination from point A to B in a manner of a few minute not hours, a city that you can relax and enjoy quality time with your family even with a small budget. This could be the reason why its the best place to live. go Bacolod, go Cebu, go Davao … Mabuhay ang mga Bisaya!
Top 5 Best place to Live
1. Bacolod
2. Cebu
3. Iloilo
4. Davao
5. Tagaytay
Amo na ya
Just ran into this and couldn’t agree any better, Bacolod is an over-achiever and still more to look forward to.
@Promdi – thanks for the good posts. I think I will be dropping by here from time to time
hi!i saw your site just today.my husband,our son and i came here to cebu,2006 for a yearlong vacation,come 2007 we decided to stay here.we have been here almost three years,life here is good.now that we have tried living here in cebu,we want to try naman life there in bacolod.i was born in bacolod, but grew up in manila,i want to know more about bacolod.and when my husband and i went there 1998,for the palarong pambansa,we fell in love with bacolod.can u suggest ways i can find out about houses or apartments for rent in bacolod(the rates)THANKS!
we are an old family of Landlords from Southern Negros, and I can tell you, the growth of Bacolod is truly remarkable… In this city, it seems to me that buildings just sprout like mushrooms… Its booming infrastructure let alone its relatively high standards of living & very low cost of living makes it a wonderful mid-sized city.
I sure miss Bacolod and the Inasal at Manokan Country. I wonder if Manokan Country is still there. Maybe it’s time for another visit.
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