Noida most livable, Gurgaon costliest: Residential Preference Survey 2015

NOIDA: There are people who always defend "dynamic" Gurgaon, and claim it's the best city in NCR. And then there are others who swear by "planned-city" Noida. Now, finally, there's a study that factors in various parameters to reach a more informed ranking.

According to the 'Residential Preference Survey 2015' by real estate services and consultancy giant Colliers International, India, living in Noida is the best bet for people who like to lead a hassle-free and laidback life with enough amenities, even though many residents may have to travel long distances to Delhi or Gurgaon for the sake of their jobs.

In the study, Gurgaon has predictably emerged as NCR's office district. It is the swishest NCR city and creates most employment, but also has the most expensive real estate.

The research by Colliers on the basis of a Pestle study of comparative indices— based on political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal parameters—includes five NCR cities of Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. Colliers compiled its research with the help of field experts, as well as secondary sources like NUMBEO, Wikipedia, Google and other government databases.

"Pestle is a strategic tool which gauges macro environmental factors. Accordingly, we ranked cities on parameters such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal, which impact a person's decision making on which city to live in. The research shows some interesting pointers," Surabhi Arora, associate director (research) at Colliers International, India, told TOI.

It appears from the study that when people choose a city to live in or invest in property, political stability is one of the most important deciding factors. "To determine political stability, we have taken qualitative indices of crime in the cities over the past six months.

It revealed Faridabad as the most stable across a combination of factors, with Ghaziabad the least stable. Gurgaon, Noida and Greater Noida are all at par," Arora said. However, Ghaziabad is the most crime-prone with 79.30 points according to the survey. Noida and Greater Noida are both at 57.79 points.

In economic indices, Gurgaon, at 160.27 points, is the most expensive NCR city to live in, while Noida stands at 93.94 points. "This shows that for the same basket of goods — a qualitative combination of rent, grocery, restaurants, etc — you spend a low of Rs 93.94 in Noida, but a high of Rs 160.27 in Gurgaon," Arora said.

In social indices, Gurgaon scored the highest in healthcare facilities at 78.17 points, based on secondary sources. "Although professionals choose to live in Gurgaon because most corporate offices are located there, in the long term, and in terms of lifestyle quality, Noida is so far the best bet in NCR," Arora said.

So, you can safely live in Noida and work in Gurgaon, and get the best of both worlds.