The town of Varna, located on the Northern Black Sea coast and often referred to as the summer capital of Bulgaria, is the best town to live in, according to a survey.

The poll was conducted by the leading local media private Darik radio, 24 Hours daily and the news portal DarikNews.bg and compared the quality of life in 35 of the biggest towns in Bulgaria.

The results were announced at a press conference on Thursday, attended by Regional Development Minister Assen Gagauzov and Varna mayor Kiril Yordanov.

Varna topped the ranking after collecting 243 points, followed closely by the second-biggest town of Plovdiv with a score of 228 points and the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo, which garnered 226 points.

The capital Sofia came in fourth after collecting 223 points.

At the other end of the scale are the towns of Lom, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Dupnitsa, Samokov and Pernik.

The thirty-five entries in the poll were picked by the reporters of the media and ranked according to forty criteria, including green areas, air cleanness, architecture, good conditions for raising children, parking lots, traffic, unemployment rate, investments. Part of the criteria were borrowed by similar surveys in other countries.

"The survey may be a good starting point for the local authorities in drawing up their programs for the next four years," Darik radio Executive Director Radosvet Radev said.

"The survey is the first public procurement for the newly elected mayors," commented 24 Hours Editor-in-Chief Venelina Gocheva.

She expressed the hope that the survey will provide them with extra incentives to develop and move upward the ranking.

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