Whats the most Vibrant city in UK outside of LDN?

[JamesWales]

No I'm not saying we are one homogenous culture at all, but I mean the way we shop, work, eat, travel to work, play, drink, watch football, spend our money is largely the same in all British cities.

Like I said, our cities do have different enough cultures to justify their own vibe, feel and histories etc. Hmmm, how can I summarise? I suppose, change the accent and Coronation street could easily be set in any UK city mentioned in this debate. The fact that it is set in Manchester and not elsewhere though, is an example of the small cultural differences we have...

[ranny fash]

Originally Posted by paulmat

Talking of vibrancy, Gatecrasher One (I'm sure lots of you will know of it):

shocking. at least it happened long after the days of gatecrasher really. i remember hallucinating baguettes and monks practicisng yoga on the dance floor many years ago.

[Tony Sebo]

Originally Posted by JamesWales

No I'm not saying we are one homogenous culture at all, but I mean the way we shop, work, eat, travel to work, play, drink, watch football, spend our money is largely the same in all British cities.

Like I said, our cities do have different enough cultures to justify their own vibe, feel and histories etc. Hmmm, how can I summarise? I suppose, change the accent and Coronation street could easily be set in any UK city mentioned in this debate. The fact that it is set in Manchester and not elsewhere though, is an example of the small cultural differences we have...

Oh!...O.K



I agree with you...at that level of interpretation........ I was thining of culture as something bit more meaningful and substantial than shopping and 'soccer' though!

[Leeds No.1]

I used to live in the south; it was the most boring place ever. London is the only place that can claim to be more diverse than northern cities.

Leeds NW btw is LD not LAB. And isnt there a large LD presence in Liverpool?

[Tony Sebo]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

I used to live in the south; it was the most boring place ever. London is the only place that can claim to be more diverse than northern cities.

Leeds NW btw is LD not LAB. And isnt there a large LD presence in Liverpool?

Liverpool is LD, has been, by a large amjority, for donkeys years!

It is not this commie rust bucket of seething revolutionaries many seem to think it is... ironically it is quite unpolitical... in the party sense!

[Leeds No.1]

Yes I thought it was LD, wasnt entireley sure though. And I dont think their communist! My fav. party anyway and the main party in Harrogate.

[Tony Sebo]

oh Gawd!

[cardiff]

it makes me laugh that northern English people such as Leeds No1 would think that a northern English city is any more diverse than a southern English city. How is Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool more diverse than say Bristol, portsmouth, Brighton, Southampton? If you had a boring time in Southern England (its a big place) then you either didnt make the most of your time there or didnt live in a large city. Where did you stay? i bet it was some cathedral city! You really seem to have a chip on your shoulder Leeds No1, does anyone else think he does?

[Orgoglioso]

Originally Posted by cardiff

it makes me laugh that northern English people such as Leeds No1 would think that a northern English city is any more diverse than a southern English city. How is Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool more diverse than say Bristol, portsmouth, Brighton, Southampton? If you had a boring time in Southern England (its a big place) then you either didnt make the most of your time there or didnt live in a large city. Where did you stay? i bet it was some cathedral city! You really seem to have a chip on your shoulder Leeds No1, does anyone else think he does?

Or maybe you do seen as you reside from the south do you not?

[JamesWales]

Culturally Cardiff is included more in the 'North'. Statisticians have traditionally drawn a line from the Severn to the Wash, and what was above it was considered culturally and economically 'The North' and below 'The South'. Obviously Cardiff is in southern Britain, but personally I think the city has a lot more of in common with the 'edge' and vibe of a Northern city than say Bristol, Reading, Brighton etc.

I can't speak for cardiff (the poster) but if I am biased against anywhere it is the southern shires and south east of England, despite originally being from south west england myself. I feel more solidarity and kinship with Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle or Manchester than I do with cities from the south of england.

[cardiff]

Yes id agree that Cardiff has more in common with the north of England than the south, i dont have a chip on my shoulder as im not trying to constantly boast about how much the south is more diverse, or culturally better as Leeds No1 does for the north. I have lived in the North of England before and found it exactly the same as the south of England. A Northern superiority complex is not uncommon in my experiance, but ive rarely experianced a southern superiority complex (im not saying it doesnt exist but i have not seen it in the way Leeds No1 expresses it i.e. "more diverse".

[Starslight]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

I used to live in the south; it was the most boring place ever. London is the only place that can claim to be more diverse than northern cities.

Leeds NW btw is LD not LAB. And isnt there a large LD presence in Liverpool?

So you lived in the 'south' and it was all boring? Well to be honest I think that must have been amazing because I for one have lived in the South for at least 15 years of my life and there are loads of places I haven't been to and things I have not done. I could say the same about the north but perhaps I might have only lived in a deserted farmhouse on the North York Moors and that would not be a fair statement, would it?

And can you please back up your 'more diverse' claims with some hard facts?

[JamesWales]

This outrageous stereotyping of North and South must end. Now!

[cardiff]

here here!

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by Starslight

And can you please back up your 'more diverse' claims with some hard facts?

Bill Bryson got near the mark when he was explaining why he had chosen to live in Yorkshire when he came to England from America. He found the juxtaposition of poorer cities such as Bradford with pockets of incredible wealth like Harrogate, made the North a much more interesting place to be.

[cardiff]

Well there is just as much of a juxtaposition in cities like Portsmouth and Plymouth (especially the later).

[Snowy]

Originally Posted by di Livio

Bill Bryson got near the mark when he was explaining why he had chosen to live in Yorkshire when he came to England from America. He found the juxtaposition of poorer cities such as Bradford with pockets of incredible wealth like Harrogate, made the North a much more interesting place to be.

Well believe it or not, the south does have poor areas as well!

I think that the south is every bit as diverse as the north. Take a city like Portsmouth, which is a place with a real sense of identity, a great history and a working-class grittiness. You've then got bohemian Brighton, a place like nowhere else in Britain, Oxford and Cambridge with their olde-worlde charm, gritty places like Slough and Hastings, the west country with it's beautiful rugged landscapes and surf culture...............oh and then there's London too, one of the most diverse cities in the world!

I'm not saying that the south is any better than the north, just that England, as a whole, is a pretty diverse place.

[Leeds No.1]

Olde World... dont think Oxford and Cambridge really rival York there. I hate York. But tourists like it. But in complete contrast theres the changing sandstone industrial landscape of Bradford, and the red brick industry of Manchester/Leeds.

[cardiff]

You dont get much more old world than Avebury and stone henge mate! And im sure Salisbury, Winchester, Chichester, Exeter, Gloucester etc are just as historic as York, and are very popular with tourist as well. It silly to try and say there is more in the north than the south as for every one city you say in the north there are 20 similar cities all around the country!

Red bricked buildings are all over the country and industrial cities are also around the country (Bristol being a fine example of a victorian industrial city). The north lacks what the south has as well you know (there is no equivalent of Brighton, Portsmouth and Plymouth, London!! lol, Tourquay, Oxford and Cambridge) and the north has unique things as well. Its just silly to try and say there is more in the north, just accept that England as a whole is diverse or keep looking silly!

[Delirium]

Originally Posted by cardiff

(there is no equivalent of Portsmouth and Plymouth, ....)

thats a good thing