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Qualitage....
Not read all this but Bradford (or Bratford as the local would say) has to be at the top of list.
Big hole at one end, soon to be piddling little pond full of empty stella cans and used durex at the other. Only shops are pound shops and full of crap curry houses. No contest really.
That's pretty poor to be honest. In much of the country you can be riding in the hills by the time you get to the end of your street.
Not in a city you can't which is the point of this thread. I moved out to Surrey and have a bridleway 100 metres from my house so definitely prefer the countryside.
Chippenham is rubbish.
Not in a city you can't which is the point of this thread.
I beg to differ.
On the outskirts of Cardiff (which isn't very big) you can be in the trails in minutes, from the middle it only takes like 20-30 by bike. And many cities up North I believe. Edinburgh also has handy riding on the outskirts IIRC.
Speaking of Leeds, I'm annoyed I missed Iration Steppas in Brixton on Friday
Small world, I used to know Mark quite well back in the 90's. Does he still wear a Leeds top at every gig ?
Chunky, had a nice pint in the Roebuck last week and recognised that Vista straight away even though I left London 6 years ago. I usually stay in the Petersham whilst down and took the misses along the toe path to twickenham (the white swan) and she couldn't believe it was London.
I generally dislike most cities being an anti-social curmudgeon who feels uncomfortable surrounded by lots of other people.
Originate from Dundee which used to have few redeeming features but has improved greatly of late.
Uni in Glasgow which was fantastic.
Worked near Ipswich, mmm can't realy think of anything stand outabout it other than the tractor boys.
Now live outside Chester, ok quite touristy, walkable round. Can get to Liverpool or Manchester for events etc.
Went to London quite often by train when down south and the museums etc are great. However I would hate to live there. Relatives do and have probably seen less of the attractions than I did in 5 years as you rarely visit what's on your doorstep.
Worst city would be devoid of culture/events, difficult to get out of, have high levels of poverty/crime, have little in the way of redeeming architecture etc. It could be where you experienced a bad time, for me that would be Birmingham (plus that accent really doesn't help!) though if forced to choose between it and London it would be close.
Obviously Sunderland!!!! and coming from Newcastle you can be assured that his view is of a fair considered nature
In my limited experience and entirely subjective view of places I've lived or worked, I'd have to nominate Southampton. It just doesn't seem to hang together very well as a city - somehow forms less than the sum of its parts.
Huge waterfront that it makes not a great deal of, being mostly given over to a container port. Dual carriageway spearing through the heart of it, and quite big in terms of area, making it an unwelcoming place to negotiate on foot. Utterly dreary high street/shopping area that is a triumph of bad post-war town planning. Seemed like a bit of a cultural vacuum, too. That provincial crackle of menace from booze-and-coked-up bams if you're out on a night out.
On the plus side, it has a benign climate for the UK and proximity to other, more beautiful bits of the beautiful south.
And London's kind of too big to generalise about. If you have a certain amount of dosh it can be a great place to live but you do need a fair bit of dosh or live in an OK part of it. There must be millions of Londoners ekeing out a miserable existence in its endless squalid suburbs. Richmond Terrace isn't exactly representative. OK you can visit it but you still have to get back to Crapston Villas, SE69, the bit you can actually afford to live in.
i'd thought about mentioning southampton (6 years down there, uni and working) but I wouldn't call it "bad" so much as "not good". There's nothing much to get excited about, and to quote a scottish friend that lives down there "it's just a loosely connected series of council estates" (the thought of Millbrook still makes me shudder).
Bit of a non-entity as far as cities go, but always reminded me of home (the locals didn't approve of me likening it to "Dudley without the canals and history" - fussy gits).
I would just like to point out the minor technicality that the City Of London is in fact only 1 square mile big so all the comments about stuff outside of this area iz in fact will null and voidz
London.
London has some negatives but it also has positives - that is difficult to argue against even if you yourself do not get invovled in them.
Some cities (like Brum) are almost as big, ugly and smokey but don't have the nice bits or the positives.
I would just like to point out the minor technicality that the City Of London is in fact only 1 square mile big so all the comments about stuff outside of this area iz in fact will null and voidz
That is absolutely correct. Only cities listed as cities here are eligible for nomination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom#List_of_officially_designated_cities
Posts relating to Greater London (excluding the City of Westminster) are disqualified.
I notice that no-one has nominated [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield ]Lichfield[/url]. This may be because no-one knows where it is.
Portsmouth will be in the top 10!
[i]since the development of Gun Wharf, the knocking down of Tricorn centre and the other new developments, its actually not bad at all anymore[/i]
WHAT? Gun Wharf's no improvement. Just a new place for the chavs to fight.
I notice that no-one has nominated Lichfield. This may be because no-one knows where it is.
Me me - I know where it is.
Its down south somewhere isn't it
No, it's in the Midlands 🙂
See - i WOS RIGHT
I've had the experience of many UK, US and some continental european cities.
For me, I can't understand the negatives on London, it is one of the best cities I have ever lived in with some of the friendliest people you can meet. The cultural diversity, access to so many different show, cuisines, small markets etc is fantastic. I think the negative views of London stem from people coming into Covent garden for an afternoon, if that is the case then no wonder you have a bad perception.
Worst cities, well in no particular order:
Stoke, Wolverhampton, Preston, Dumfries, Portsmouth
Coventry. By far. Spent two years there at college. Nasty, nasty place.
London's shit but I guess it does have a few good points. Coventry has none.
TJ it goes like this, in order of increasing latitude:
South
Midlands
North
Far North
Scotland
It's because all the most interesting stuff happens in London, so all points are relative to there 🙂
Worst city (or maybe it's just a large town - don't know, don't care) for me is Middlesbrough. Nothing wrong with the people, and it's in some lovely countryside, but it's got that 60s concrete brutalism which robs the place of any charm. The grafitti and the poverty obvious in many parts of the town don't help either.
A miserable place.
been to Belfast a couple of times recently and was surprised about what a really nice, friendly place it is with a really buzzy atmoshere.
Just thought this thread needed a bit of positiveness.
However, to cotinue with the negativity - is Holyhead a city?
But Mr TJ you wuzz well rong innit cuz. Eye cud well pedal fasterish then you cud a cross CoL then you cud a cross da Burger
[i]been to Belfast a couple of times recently and was surprised about what a really nice, friendly place it is with a really buzzy atmoshere.[/i]
I went back in the late eighties, it wasn't quite so chirpy then. 😉
is Holyhead a city?
No, sorry.
Top 10 so far (it's been a slow morning):
1 London 13
2= Newport 8
Portsmouth 8
4 Stoke 6
5 Peterborough 5
6= Hull 4
Preston 4
7= Birmingham 3
Coventry 3
Sunderland 3
10 Stirling 2
Other popular votes for Middlesborough, Swindon and Blackpool have been excluded as they are towns, not cities.
Oh, how odd; I don't see Edinburgh in the Top Ten in that book, TJ. I wonder why that is?Interesting that New York gets a higher rating than London for architecture; sure, it's got some iconic skyscrapers and is undoubtedly home to some fabulous structures, but it lacks the depth and history of London, by a very long way indeed. And it's got absolutely nothing to compare with St Paul's cathedral, or the Houses of Parliament, or even stuff like Greenwich Observatory, Brunel's stuff or Arnos Grove Tube Station. On that basis alone I'd put it above New York, and I'm sure many people globally would agree with me.
or, put another way - London's on the list, Edinburgh isn't, the list is god, Edinburgh's crap.
New York's on the list, it's higher than London, so the list is wrong = the list's crap.
Based on extensive experience of all three no doubt
Nothing to do with Westboro Baptist Church are you?
Samuri - earlier vists were in late 70's and early '80s. Which is why today's such a big surprise
Crewe, by a length. I presume none of you have ever been there as i can't believe it's not been mentioned yet.
TandemJeremy - Member
Of course I can cope with others opinions. However you make two claims that are factually wrong. London is not a green city and it is not easy to get out of.
This made me laugh. You claimed a subjective statement to be factually wrong. Twice. Also, there are plenty of places in Edinburgh without the twee vista you mention, have you ever spent any time in Broomhouse, Wester Hailes, Niddrie or Craigmillar?
For what it's worth, I've lived in Edinburgh all my life, and love it. However, I've been working in London a lot, and I'm growing to like it too. I thought I wouldn't like it, but the vibrant nature is really appealing. That and the food.
Also, in contrast to the claim of being insular, I find that the City is the only place outside of Scotland where my tartan dollars are accepted without a moment's hesitation.
My vote is for Belfast. All nicely polished in the centre, but go a couple of miles out and there is still a simmering hatred. Also, far too many planned developments and not much actually getting done.
Crewe, by a length. I presume none of you have ever been there as i can't believe it's not been mentioned yet.
Not a city.
TJ said And Glasgow has the highest amount off open space.
It's called derelict land.
I'm from Sunderland and the town centre is awful, though nicer bits and bobs on the outskirts.
The wife studied in Hull for a year and it is far worse.
Peterborough - nice cathedral or church in the town centre, but otherwise grim.
My local city is Peterborough, I don't live there thank God. It is grimer than a grim thing on grim Monday (bit of Black Adder to cheer up the Peterborians :-> ).
However Reading, Middlesborough and bits of Laaandan are not very nice. I worked in Newham for a bit and now Tower Hamlets (well OK, Canary Wharf). Tell me please Elf, how nice are these areas?
Lot of people talking rubbish on here. I live in London, and there's loads of greenery in the city. To say there isn't is just wrong. Also, I live in zone 2, and can be in the North Downs in 40 minutes.
I'm from near Inverness, and have lived in Southampton, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and London is the best place I've ever lived. Mind you, the traffic is christ-awful. But is any city any different?
But is any city any different?
Yes. Cardiff traffic is trivial compared to London.
molgrips - MemberBut is any city any different?
Yes. Cardiff traffic is trivial compared to London.
Pah! I live in Ely, there is probably more traffic on the road in Cardiff at 3am on Christmas morning than we get in a week...
Ely is a special case. I bet there is more traffic there than in St David's on a Tuesday in winter 🙂
Cardiff traffic is trivial compared to London.
Anywhere's is to be fair.
For me the defining factor of a city's worth is the city centre but the flotsam and jetsam of the suburbs can completely put you off the place before you get there. For example whilst I really like the centre of London and all the culture and iconic architecture it has to offer, arriving there by car through endless miles of crap puts me off the place. In contrast my closest city of Portsmouth has limited appeal but arriving there by yacht, bobbing around in the harbour for a bit before coming ashore AND NEVER SETTING FOOT OUTSIDE OF OLD PORTSMOUTH, BITS OF SOUTHSEA, THE OLD DOCKS AND GUN WARF and it's a very pleasant if not life changing experience.
Can't remember much to recommend Coventry from the year I lived there
Bradford is real shitty!
Exactly,
Even though I love going to London for the weekend, I could not imagine anything worse than living there all the time.
Except living in Widnes, Coventry or Luton.
In my opinion its better to live in the green open countryside and travel into town once a week to do the shopping, than living in smog, traffic congestion, and housing estates, and everything which goes with them, - chavs etc etc.
if you live in london you could ride a fixie though!
"just one gear on my fixie bike..."
😆
Chuckle at deep river. No Chavs in the countryside, oh no... 😀