World

We're Number One!

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 22, 2001 / 10:36 AM EST / CBS

Tell a resident of Tokyo that he's living in the world's most expensive city and he'll likely answer back: Yeah, so what else is new?

Most of us don't need a survey to tell us what our empty wallets already know: it costs a lot to live, eat, and play in this place.

Consider getting into a cab. The driver hits the button, the meter turns on, and ... my word ... you already owe the driver 660 Yen - more than $5.60. And the meter starts climbing from there.

Consider buying some fruit. I love apples, and a good one can be had for a mere five or six dollars, each. I'm guessing Safeway in the suburbs back home is a lot less expensive. As for melons, often given as gifts here, budget a nice $50 for your next one.

$urveying The Cities

The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit survey compared prices and products in 133 cities around the world.

And what about all we hear these days from New Yorkers and San Franciscans complaining about the high cost of renting? You want high cost? Forget Manhattan or Nob Hill. Try Akasaka or Seijo or Azabudai, all sections of downtown Tokyo.

Let's say you're renting in an older building - smallish, three bedrooms. No view. Budget between $7000-$9,000 a month.

But let's say you've fallen in love with one of those downtown apartment skyscrapers, which benefit from the fact that recent construction makes them more earthquake proof. Enjoy the view, because the monthly rents in those places will range from $10,000 to $15,000.

We're not talking penthouse or unusual. We're talking standard. If you want fancy, it's well over $20,000 a month or more, especially renting homes in the crowded downtown area.

The Pricey Top Ten

1. Tokyo
2. Osaka/Kobe, Japan
3. Belgrade, Yugoslavia
4. Hong Kong
5. Seoul, South Korea
6. Taipi, Taiwan
7. New York
8. London
9. Oslo, Norway
10. Tel Aviv, Israel

Who lives there? Very rich Japanese and foreigners whose companies must pay the high cost of keeping them here.

Ordinary Japanese suffer dearly for all this expense. Their salaries are no higher than those of ordinary Americans, so many cannot afford to live in Tokyo proper. They have condos or apartments in the outer reaches of the metropolis and spend as much as two hours, one way, standing up on trains getting into work.

Sometimes the high cost of Japan creeps up on you. Like when you realize that dinner for two is routinely costing you somewhere in the neighborhood of $300. And, trust me, that comes with a bottle of wine that is not vintage, famous or particularly (by Tokyo standards) that expensive.

No wonder the Petersens eat in a lot.

The high cost of all this crept up on CBS Producer Linda Karas the other day. She was visiting Hiroshima to see the A-bomb museum, and in the evening wanted a nightcap at the hotel bar. Her one brandy was listed on the menu at about $10, but when the bill came it included the extra $8 charge for just being in the bar. Plus tax. Comes in somewhere around $20. For that, she could have bought the whole bottle back in the States.

There were other cities on the top ten list, like Osaka/Kobe. That's right, Japan scores the top two of the most expensive cities.

Sorry about that, New York (seventh) and London (eighth) and Paris (once a top ten city, now number 23.)

New Yorkers and Londoners like to tell sad stories of how pricey their cities are. We don't talk much about it here. We don't need to.

We're number one!

By Barry Petersen.
©MMI, Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved