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Birmingham would struggle to make the top-ten list of places called Birmingham.
Teaspout!
Birmingham is a much better place than you expect it to be.
As you can tell from the general tone of the answers, thats really not that high a watermark
A mate of mine was at uni there recently. He came home every weekend. When asked why, he just looked at me incredulously and said 'have you been to Birmingham?'
russ295 - Member
I'd sooner walk through Newcastles bigg market on a derby day with a Sunderland top on!
Walked through Bigg Market the other day at 11pm. Ya, still the same lively crowds, why do the girls have to keep shouting? 😆
I would rate Newcastle higher than Birmingham anytime.
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Any old skaters know exactly how much of a dump Brum used to be as it was our playground. Very little of the original dump Brum is left in the central area.
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Interestingly I didn't think toooooo much of Wellington when I was there.*
It's still paradise compared to Birmingham tho!
*It's still a lovely place on the waterfront, just an oddly set up city with more than its fair share of hookers and sketchy people.
*It's still a lovely place on the waterfront, just an oddly set up city with more than its fair share of hookers and sketchy people.
They're called hipsters apparently
Squirrelking I think you have the wrong Wellington in mind, the one that is Christchurch, I imagine.
Wellington is very hilly and a long way from being in "architectural disarray" it fact it has the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. So suck on that.
Another tedious list generated purely for PR.
I'm from Birmingham originally and now live in Manchester via several other cities.
Birmingham is comfortably one of the worst big cities in the UK for me. I've had a few nights out there recently and must be going to a different city to everybody else because the nightlife was woeful. The Custard Factory is alright but that's about it really.
The main accolade seems to be that it's so much better than it used to be. well that's definitely true but given what a dump it was before it's hardly surprising.
I have to admit to being surprised at how much better Birmingham is now than when I grew up nearby in the 80s/early 90s. I have memories of the annual christmas shopping trip to Birmingham and the horror that was the old Bullring. We avoided the place most of the time.
Roll on about 18 years and we started having 6 monthly team away days in Birmingham through work. We usually stay near the canal (Mailbox/Brindley Place) and it's far more pleasant than I expected. I do remember even the locals struggling to think of somewhere decent for us to go after our meal though.
My expectations were VERY low though!
I think Birmingham is a fantastic city, being a Wolverhampton lad and that........ 😆
[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/11176858/Britains-10-best-cities.html?frame=3079904 ]Telegraph's top 10 UK cities[/url]
Oh look, no Birmingham.
Obviously a bit of a stunt, but a slightly odd list. Must be hard putting pointless lists like that together anyway. Not easy to compare totally different cities in totally different countries.
i like Brum. it's like any place you go to, to make the most of what it has to offer you have to research and plan...
here's a link with some good stuff if you should ever venture there...
[url= http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2014-10/13/birmingham-city-guide-best-hotels-restaurants-bars-barbers ]brum stuff[/url]
Squirrelking I think you have the wrong Wellington in mind, the one that is Christchurch, I imagine.Wellington is very hilly and a long way from being in "architectural disarray" it fact it has the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere. So suck on that.
Such a great city I got it confused with somewhere else. Says it all really 😛
Hah, just realised I committed the cardinal sin of getting the islands mixed up...
As a Brummie who has spent a lot of time in Jburg, I find it baffling that either make the list!
Anyone who thinks that Birmingham shouldn't be in the list clearly hasn't lived in Acocks Green.
Gutted France didn't make the list. Great city.
Birmingham is the best big city in the UK. Fact.
Show me anywhere else you can live and be in the peaks or North Wales in an hour and a half, lakes or Devon in 3 and if you really can't be bothered to drive, cannock in 30mins!
Also excellent for the annual Scotland and Alps trips. That there London is 5 hours from anywhere, and I can probably get from birmingham to Dover on a Friday night in the same time it takes to get from London to the m25.... So in summary, Brum is a great place to live if you don't want to be there!
lots of exciting development on the way for brum
paradise...in fact
[url= http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-news/road-paradise-mapped-out-11-8306746 ]paradise[/url]
Birmingham is nowhere near as bad as it was, but it's still struggle to make my top-10 cities in the UK list never mind top-10 in the world.
Birmingham is the best big city in the UK. Fact.Show me anywhere else you can live and be in the peaks or North Wales in an hour and a half, lakes or Devon in 3 and if you really can't be bothered to drive, cannock in 30mins!
So what you're saying is, the best thing about Birmingham is that you can leave it to get to other places?
New Orleans being the inspiration for my login name has a certain place in my heart but that is a typical list designed to attract debate and publicity. Wellington NZ is the only remotely interesting city on that list and thats because its a gateway to other places. As posted above (binners as usual 🙂 ) Birmingham is awaful as are Rough Guides, there is. Reason Lonley Planet outsells them by some margin
@nickdavies - so the main selling point for Birmingham is you can get to other places easily 😉 (I see monro beat me to that observation)
Brum is a great place to live if you don't want to be there!
I think NickDavies beat you both to it... 😉