According to a survey from 2007, Zurich is the city with the highest quality of life in the world. Contrary to its image, the financial metropolis on the Lake Zürich (Zürichsee) is far from being conservative.
Towards the end of the 1990s, the city experienced a revival due to a change of building: Many trendy restaurants, bars and clubs gave the city a facelift that overthrew old prejudices of Zurich as a boring one-horse town. The nickname "Zu reich" (=too rich) is a widespread insult.
In fact, enviers can harldy be wronger, at least as far as outward appearances are concerned: Citizens of Zurich don't like to display their wealth. Cultivated understatement is the motto of the city that owes a large part of its wealth to the Swiss banking secret. The famous Zurich banker Hans J. Bär confessed in his memoirs to have bought two identical limousines to make his neighbours believe he would possess only one. Under the name of "Turicum" the city has already existed in Roman times. In the 18th century, it became one of the most important industrial cities of Switzerland due to its textile industry. Today, the international financial centre Zurich ranks among the so-called Global Cities next to New York, London and Tokyo.
