Moving to Italy? Quality of life classification best in northern Italy

If you’re moving to Italy and looking for a good quality of Italian life while you’re at it, you’d best consider the northern regions of the Belpaese.
In a time when Italy is struggling through a significant financial crisis, and is experiencing continuing low wages, the autonomous regions of Alto Adige and Trentino have unsurprisingly turned up as providing the best quality of life in Italy.

The 2010 quality of life results come from research done by Italy’s national financial paper, the Sole 24 Ore, which lists the best places to live by province.

Bolzano and Trento top the list, followed by another mountain province in the north of Lombardy, Sondrio, which rounds out the podium ahead of Trieste, which was the winner last year.
The evaluation and classification of Italy’s 107 provinces are based on the following criteria: standard of living, business and employment, health and environmental services, population, public order and free time.
From Bolzano to Trento, Sondrio and Trieste, the top ten places to live in Italy are as follows: Siena, Aosta, Gorizia, Bologna, Oristano and Belluno.

The big cities find themselves further down the list with Milan taking the 21st spot, Rome at 35th and Naples is last.
The northern and central Italy have the best classification with southern provinces unsurprisingly struggling at the bottom.
See the quality of life list here.