What do you love and hate about Birmingham, but summaries to three things.

LOVE:

Birmingham City football club ;):D
Lots of shops
A city spirit

HATE:

Alum Rock - It's just dirty, smelly and has the worst main road in history. The area needs pulling down
Birmingham City Council
The bus service

I'm jumping ship to Coventry soon which I prefer because it's quiet, but I do love my city very much.

Good idea for a thread.

LOVE
The Mailbox
The scale and quality of Regeneration
Edgbaston and Harborne

HATE
HockleyAstonNewtownLozellsNechells...etc a great swathe of shit!
The view down Hill St (Arse end of New St station)
The traffic

I forgot to add Kingstanding to the "hate" list. If I was mayor of this city, I'd napalm it ;)

LOVE:
>The events, like Arts Fest
>The gay quarter (even if i dont like the queens too much)
>General city buzz and ease of getting around

HATE:
>Safety - Walking around by myself, it feels dangerous. All my mates have been attacked at night apart from me
>Accent, no offence guys but its a bit of a turn off most of the time
>House prices - i dont get it? Who can afford to buy all these flats!!

Love
Chamberlain Clock Tower and old red brick buildings on crescent in Bham Uni
Alpha Tower - hard to believe it's 30+ years old
St Phillips Square

Hate
WM Buses - Shameful service on many routes
Chavy Brummies
Confusing street layout, poor connectiviy between different quarters of city centre. Manchester and Glasgow's rectilinear street pattern help you feel they are easier and less daunting to wander and explore.

LOVE:

* Lots of tower blocks

* Easy parking in city centre

* Something for everyone there

HATE:

* Just about every surrounding area looks unpleasant, and those areas that are nice are surrounded by bad areas and are awkward to get in and out of.

* Too many 'no go' areas

* Just too many people full stop :lol:

Love:

How leafy the place can get by comparison.

The nice suburbs, like moseley, parts of solihull, edgbaston.

Selfridges building.

Its location.

Dislike

The ring around the city centre

New street station

Second city, but second rate transport.

some of the meh architecture springing up.

Love:
The mix of people - diversity, woo!
The remaining old buildings, and the Central Library
The accent
A bit of summat for everyone
Hate:
Riots
Most of Villa Park's stands (external)
The Chinese Quarter (sticking random bits onto existing buildings does not a China town make.
The Works, I once got kicked out for something I didn't even do, not that I liked it anyway.

Loves:
Victoria Square + the Council House
Digbeth/Deritend
The size of Brum, you can still find places you'd never known existed

Hate:
The arrogance of Blues fans : P
The Emo scum who hang around St Phillips
Travel West Midlands Buses

Yeah TWM buses are a right pain. How hard is it to give change :bash:

I'd rather it was like that. More like London using Oyster. Correct change and off you go.

I'm having great difficulty choosing my three highs and three gripes. I think some of the gripes are very smallminded. Things aren't as bad as some of you make out :(

Aston Expressway - tidal flow rocks. Should really have been sited along the A47 path though - but then you'd miss the sight of Aston Church/Villa Park.
Smallbrook Queensway - the south side is a modern classic.
Oasis Market - a unique collection of independents.

Hate - Estates on the outskirts - seems to be an 'Out of sight, out of mind' mentality with the CC in regards to investment.
Sutton Town Centre - Ruined in the 70's. Needs a complete demolition and rebuild (save the old town though).
Empty HA flats currently (dev't by Bristol St, my apt block) - doesn't look good for the future

Love

The canals, both city centre and surrounding, but mainly around the Mailbox and Brindleyplace area.

The restaurants in the city centre, there are many hidden gems

All the quality projects we've got to look forward to


Hate

The inner city areas, Alum Rock, Small Heath, Nechels.....etc

The traffic, and extemely low standard of driving.

New Street Station

What do you love and hate about Birmingham, but summaries to three things.

LOVE:

Birmingham City football club ;):D
Lots of shops
A city spirit

HATE:

Alum Rock - It's just dirty, smelly and has the worst main road in history. The area needs pulling down
Birmingham City Council
The bus service


I'm jumping ship to Coventry soon which I prefer because it's quiet, but I do love my city very much.

Birmingham City Council? :sleepy:

Best one in the country if you ask me, and far superior to that of Manchester which everyone raves about. If only you knew.

Love:
Cosmopolitan Feel
That there's so much to see and explore and do
The construction boom and great skyline we're developing :D

Hate:
Transport in general, buses in particular...
The way we have in the past unnecessarily destroyed some of our most beautiful architecture
The Media's perception (or lack of) of the city

Don't get me started on TWM. If you're going to have those awful stupid machines, then when I put my change in, HOW DARE YOU try to claim I have not put enough money in and try and throw me off the bus! :bash:

Don't get me started on TWM. If you're going to have those awful stupid machines, then when I put my change in, HOW DARE YOU try to claim I have not put enough money in and try and throw me off the bus! :bash:

I agree with you there. ABout 2/3 weeks ago, I put £3 in for a daysaver and the stupid driver said I didnt put enough in! My reaction of how I felt would be too offensive to put on here and to say to the drivers face, but there was exactly £3 in there.

I just wish Stechford/Kitts green had 2 bus services. The 14 isn't enough and preferably an alternate route that avoided Alum Rock like the plague.

Another negative: The Somalis hanging outside Argos in the city centre. I don't want to turn this into an anti-immigration thread but they serve no purpose to our society.

Love:

The parks (especially Lickey Hills, Cannon Hill & Woodgate Valley)
The new Town Hall
Brindley Place - superb example of mixed-use in perfect harmony, with the canal just adding to the flavour

Hate

Traffic Congestion into the city
BCC dragging its feet on capital projects (Digbeth Coach Station in particular)
Travelodge -Broad Street. The most detested carbuncle in the city IMHO

I forgot to add Kingstanding to the "hate" list. If I was mayor of this city, I'd napalm it ;)

Dont say kingstanding I live there its not that bad, besides there is small development here and there going on in the area. Just because it is full of chavs dont make it a bad area. I would look at stechford where my dad lives as being worser, anyway.

LOVE-
1.Selfridges
2.Amount of development going on at the moment.
3.The mailbox

HATE-
1.Hockley, Handsworth,Aston,Newtown,Lozells,Nechells, Small heath, Bordsley green, Alum rock, Saltly. These areas are horrible and are in need of regeneration. And fast.
2.Snowhill station/ New street station
3.Lack of named shops(e.g. giorgio armani, louis vuitton, FCUK etc etc)

Dont say kingstanding I live there its not that bad, besides there is small development here and there going on in the area. Just because it is full of chavs dont make it a bad area. I would look at stechford where my dad lives as being worser, anyway.

LOVE-
1.Selfridges
2.Amount of development going on at the moment.
3.The mailbox

HATE-
1.Hockley, Handsworth,Aston,Newtown,Lozells,Nechells, Small heath, Bordsley green, Alum rock, Saltly. These areas are horrible and are in need of regeneration. And fast.
2.Snowhill station/ New street station
3.Lack of named shops(e.g. giorgio armani, louis vuitton, FCUK etc etc)

You just asked someone not to slag off Kingstanding and then go on to slag off huge areas of the city!!! I live in Handsworth thank you and its not that bad either!!! I'd rather live here than in Kingstanding!!
Regards to not enough named shops you mention.... FCUK is in the Bullring, giorgio armani is in the Mailbox and Louis Vuitton is in St Phillips Square

I think you need to have a better understanding of Birmingham before you make statements like that!!

Handsworth has really improved, and it's quite underestimated as a place to live (my Grandfather lives there and I did spend the first 2 years of my life there). I don't think much of Stechford either, and I'll be glad to get shut of the place very soon.

LOVE
The Mailbox & Bullring
The Unis
Edgbaston and Harborne

HATE
Divided (ethnically and economically) parts of the city - especially north Brum
Some of the city centre low life (although not as many chavs as many parts of the UK on a per capita basis)
Much of the urban 'planning' outside the city centre.

1) I hate how small the city centre feels

2) I hate centenary square

3) I hate the post war shite

4) New street and Snowhill station

Yeah so it's 4, so sue me.

Things I love :

1) Brindley place
2) Some of the lovely suburbs
3) Colmore Row

Loves:

The Mailbox
Brindley Place
Brummies (I can say that, because I wasn't born here!)

Hates:

Dirt & Scutt. Try taking a walk under spaghetti junction and see what I mean
Lack of public transport
Lunatic Bus drivers

Handsworth is quite nice... i wouldn't live there though, it suffers for proximity to Lozells, Winson Green and Aston

1) I hate how small the city centre feels

2) I hate centenary square

3) I hate the post war shite

4) New street and Snowhill station

Yeah so it's 4, so sue me.

Things I love :

1) Brindley place
2) Some of the lovely suburbs
3) Colmore Row

I wonder what it says about you that you are the only one to put the hate list first... ;)

Good shout over Colmore Row

Its Brindleyplace (Erebus will be mad).

I lived in Handsworth when I was a student and it wasn't that bad. I was never the victim of crime and nor were any of my mates.

Can I also add that I too love Brummies and dislike Centenary Square, it doesn't feel like a square, it's not enclosed enough.

Although you do get a great view of the Central Library :happy:

LOVES (3's not enough though).

1) Parks, Public Squares and amount of greenery across the city.

2) Recent and future developments (Bullring, Brindleyplace, Mailbox etc).

3) How Cosmopolititan Brum is... (different cultures, nightlife, cuisine etc).

HATES

1) Transport infrastructure including coach and rail stations (except Moor St).

2) Dale End

3) Wholesale Markets, only because they're right by the Bullring.

Love:
The Blues
The Greenery
The Skyline
The Accent

Hate:
Lack of Gov investment in the stuff that actually matters (it's just plain prejudice)
Media image of the city
All the great Victorian buildings/architecture we lost in the 50's (big sigh)

:applause:

Quality and diversity of city life.

Always evolving, always something going on, massive untapped potential

A great place for UK plc to invest it's money and do business in.

:toilet:

Unacceptable level of unemployment still (which I find bizarre given the plethora of jobs and skills training on offer)

Too many shit tip council estates in the wrong areas, and ugly buildings in the city centre (Gala casino - that's you that is)

Ineffective quangos, talking shops and an ongoing PR and marketing defficiency. Too much politiking - not enough 'doing'

LOVE:

New Street (great for shopping)
The number of parks/open spaces (a lot compared to Miami, for instance)
Friendly people

HATE:

Being so far away from it
The bad rep that Birmingham has (unfair)
The traffic (used to drive me mad, back in the day...must be worse now??)

Love:

Bournville (Yes, I am biased but it really is something special IMO)

That Canal Roundabout - Gloriously unique

Brew XI - Oh I wish..... Ok Selfridges then!

Hate:

Northfield Shopping Centre

That poor excuse for a station called New St.

Fletchers Walk!

love:

the blues
the skyline
the fact that if i go south a few mile im in the country side, or north a few mile im in the city!

hate:

negative brummies
being stitched up by the gov again
peoples ignorance to the city

Love

Brindley Place

big city feel

Like Manchester, its a no-nonsense ex-industrial inland city transforming itself in what a couple of generations from now will view as a time of revolution and (mild) upheaval.

Lack of Scrotes

Compared to Manchester/Salford and Liverpool, it seems Birmingham's centre is relatively scroat free. I don't see half the trackied-up shitbags roaming Birmingham.


Hate

Lack of pubs

Can be a challenge finding a few decent boozers in the centre. I know Broad St has got loads, but they seem to be of the anybar/anytown chain variety.

Transport

A city that size should have a decent underground/tram/city rail network

Congestion

Not just for those commuting in/around Birmingham, but for the rest of us who have to drive through the West Midlands motorway network to get from one part of the country to another. Hit it at the wrong time and can be there for hours.