It’s bad news for Sydney in the latest Time Out Index, a survey of more than 30,000 people in 48 cities around the world. Apparently, we’re more likely to spend our nights at the gym instead of clubbing till sunrise, which hardly screams ‘fun place to hang out’.
We all know the story: we’ve seen five years of the lockout laws, and countless venues close or adapt to the shifting night-time culture, so many more of us have adapted to earlier bedtimes and earlier alarm calls to go for a run, or get that sunrise selfie at the pool. (How do you think we got so buff?)
It’s a sad story for our city, and one that’s having a global impact. In fact, 71 per cent of Sydneysiders said they exercised this week, compared to the 7 per cent who rated Sydney for its live music.
The Time Out Index, which asked people questions across eating, drinking, culture, nightlife, relationships, community, local neighbourhoods and happiness, found New Yorkers were most satisfied with their city living.
New York topped the list of 48 best cities in the world for its excellent cultural scene, followed closely by Melbourne – which ranks as the world’s second most creative city, second happiest and among the best for live music, food, drink, fun and multiculturalism.
Sydney came 39th. Out of 48.
But, look, it’s not all bad. Sixty-two per cent of us said there’s ‘usually something good on’ when it comes to arts and culture, and 79 per cent of us said we felt happy in the last 24 hours. We’re pretty sociable, too – 80 per cent of us said we met up with a friend in the last week. So, at least we have friends? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We also found out that Parisians have the most sex, Manchester is the drinking (and hangover) capital of the world, and Tokyo is the city most people want to visit this year.
Why was Sydney rated the tenth worst, and what can we do about it?
Read the definitive ranking of the world’s best cities right now. Find out how we crunched the numbers.
Wish you got out and did more fun stuff in Sydney? We’ve picked out the best things to do in March – give 'em a crack.
In an earlier version of this article we said we were the 9th worst city, which is bad maths. Sorry, internet. We've corrected this error.