I tend to prefer things made in the USA (I won't buy "made in China"--poor quality, dangerous materials)but SHOES made in Italy are great.  These shoes are COMFORTABLE.  Spring Step shoes are made in a few different countries, I'm sure they are all excellent in quality, but I just prefer the ones made in Italy.  If you consider that more people walk than drive/ride, and so many streets are cobblestone and steep (at least in the areas I traveled in), it's no wonder that they do a very comfortable shoe for every day walking.  The European sizes seem to be dialed in a little bit better than the American sizes, but that's just for me.  At this point, it's hard to find a Spring Step shoe that I don't already have.