New York

* most diverse and cosmopolitan English-speaking and relatively-free city in the world, by far

* compact with good public transit, creating an incredibly high points of interest per commute hour ratio - the best metric for measuring urban qol

* not the BEST tech/entrepreneurial communities, but still has very good ones, and is better rounded than the very top tier tech hubs: high quality art, design, games, music, publishing, fashion, etc scenes

Hon. mentions: Tokyo, LA