P.M. Briefing : 3 Best Cities to Live In Picked

WASHINGTON — Melbourne, Montreal and Seattle-Tacoma are the best cities in which to live, the private Population Crisis Committee said after surveying conditions in the world’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Lagos, Nigeria, is the worst, the group said today in an analysis based on two years of research.

Sharon L. Camp, the organization’s senior vice president, said the study isn’t a guidebook for retirement or business or vacations but rather a warning about the dangers of rapid population growth.

“More than half of these cities are sinking from the weight of too many people,” she said. “More than anything else, the numbers . . . add up to human population overload.”

Lagos averages 5.8 people per room in living space, only half the city’s houses have water and electricity and there is only one telephone per 100 people.