How do you rate a city as being the best to live in? Well, there are many factors determining this aspect which if you agree with me, the factors varies accordingly.

In a more prosperous time where the economy blooms, the thriving factor in picking a city to move in would be for the luxurious comfort or maybe for its entertainment value. But considering as we are in the midst of a financial crisis, the determining factors could not be so far from that.

Now we are more concerned about not burning a hole in our pocket. Before we move into a property, we consider the cost of living in a city, percentage of population and percentage of workforce of a city and particularly the city concerned. People are thrift-conscious while considering properties before settling down by looking for affordable communities that have strong economies and comfort.

In doing so, people are keener to choose a suitable property management agent which will provide extensive information on the city of choice. According to Mesa Property Management among the top few popular cities in the States to live in are Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. No doubt each city has its alluring factors as it all depends on individual preferences.

Before this i had post about the weirdest hotels around the world which was exceptionally interesting. I was utterly amazed at how creative some of them were. Though it was no surprise that the architectures and structures were possible given the technologies that are available today, it was the ability of the designer to stretch their innovation and think out of the box that is more impressive.

Here are another examples of some outrageous architectures around the globe.

The Cubic Houses (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Kubuswoningen, or cube houses, are a set of innovative houses built in Rotterdam and Helmond in The Netherlands, designed by architect Piet Blom in 1984. The concept behind these 3 stories houses is that he tries to create a forest by each cube representing an abstract tree; therefore the whole village becomes a forest.

The Toilet (Suweon, Korea)

The World Toilet Association built a giant toilet shaped house complete with four bedrooms with adjacent four bathrooms to commemorate its first general assembly meeting.

The Basket (Newark, Ohio)

Longaberger is well known for making beautiful hand woven baskets. Their headquarters is in the shape of a giant yellow basket, complete with 150-ton handles.

The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)

Construction of the building started in in January 2003 and in December 2003 it was finished. House architecture is based on Jan Marcin Szancer (famous Polish artist and child books illustrator) and Per Dahlberg (Swedish painter living in Sopot) pictures and paintings.

The Giant Shoe (Hellum, Pennsylvania)

In 1948, Mahlon N. Haines, of Hellum, Pennsylvania (the owner a great shoe empire in post war United State) built a replica of a giant shoe. For years, it was used a guesthouse with its three bedrooms and two baths. But, it was eventually converted into an ice cream parlor. Now, it serves as a museum in an attempt to educate others on the life of the house’s creator. Another shoe shaped building was erected just one year before the Haines house and was used as a shoe repair shop. It was sold with the understanding that it would remain a shoe related venture and is still being used today for shoe repair.

The Dancing House (Prague, Czech Republic)

Vlado Milunic and Frank O. Gehry are the creators, who designed the so called Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1996. The house is created to look as if it is “dancing” by making it curved and large at the bottom, small in the center and then curved outward at the top.

Originally named “Fred and Ginger” (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), others nicknamed it a “Drunk House”.

House Turned Upside Down (Symbark, Poland)

In Szymbark, Poland a local business decided to build a house in protest of what he viewed as injustices; namely the current crisis with the environment and Poland being under Communist control. Thus, this particular house was built to appear upside down. It has become a major tourist destination for the small town and is apparently just as warped on the inside.

Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)

Expo 67, one of the world’s largest universal expositions was held in Montreal. Housing was one of the main themes of Expo 67. Habitat 67 is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint Lawrence River at 2600, Pierre Dupuy Avenue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, built as part of Expo 67.

354 cubes of a magnificent grey-beige build up one on the other to form 146 residences nestled between sky and earth, between city and river, between greenery and light is a symbol of wisdom, truth, moral perfection, at the origin itself of our civilization.

The Robot (Bangkok, Thailand)

The Robot Building, located in the Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand, houses United Overseas Bank’s Bangkok headquarters. It was designed for the Bank of Asia by Sumet Jumsai to reflect the computerization of banking. The building’s features, such as progressively receding walls, antennas, and eyes, contribute to its robotic appearance.

Wotruba Church (Vienna, Austria)

Fritz Wotruba designed a church in Vienna that consists of 152 asymmetrically arranged concrete blocks. It looks like an enlarged piece of abstract sculpture that you can enter.

What a way to start the new year; literally with a bang!

Despite the financial crisis, Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa on Monday (4th Jan 2010) with fantastic display of fireworks exploding from the 169 storeys of the magnificent skyscraper. The building in Dubai, United Arab Emirites is the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). The $1.5 billion “vertical city” boast of luxury apartments, offices and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani also plans to have the world’s highest mosque (158th floor) and swimming pool (76th floor).

It is said that the change of name from the initial Burj Dubai to the now Burj Khalifa is to honor the Abu Dhabi leader who is also president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This in no doubt is speculated because Abu Dhabi has pumped billions of dollars in bailout funds into the emirate as it struggles to pay its debts in the midst of Dubai’s property market major downturn.