[OriginalNebula]

The reason why Vienna is so liveable is because it's the heartland of the Social Democrats. They governed the city from 1919-1934 and ever since 1945. As much as I don't like the current Social Democratic Party, their predecessors transformed Vienna into what it is today. A good place to live for everyone.

[ginko]

In fact at it's imperial height, Vienna had a higher population than today(2.1M then 1.9M now), living in significantly less space. The living conditions of the poorer part of the city were pretty grim. This is what got the Social Democrats to gain power in the first place.

[iguy]

This history also means there's a lot of pre-1914 city per capita today. The urban planning of that era has tended to result in more liveable neighborhoods today, compared to districts & cities built from scratch more recently.