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 went back in the late eighties, it wasn’t quite so chirpy then. 😉

is Holyhead a city?

No, sorry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom#List_of_officially_designated_cities

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 – Member

But 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… 😀

The cities are bliss compared with most of the countryside. People are living in unimproved Victorian and older houses all over the place, struggling to make ends meet and not heating their place properly. Just walk around any county outside the ones surrounding London. We mistake the squalor for picturesque rural quirkiness.

Salford? Well generally a ring of horible places that are around Manchester City Centre. Ardwick and Harpurhey spring to mind too but don’t think they’re cities!

sefton – Member
if you live in london you could ride a fixie though!

I heard that was compulsory… 🙂

Stoke, Wolverhampton and Manchester. Bleugh!

Very surprised to see Stirling on that list. Anyone who seriously thinks that’s a candidate for worst city in the UK clearly hasn’t visited than many UK cities!

I’ve visited most UK cities and I think Preston would top my list of most awful.

The cities are bliss compared with most of the countryside. People are living in unimproved Victorian and older houses all over the place, struggling to make ends meet and not heating their place properly. Just walk around any county outside the ones surrounding London. We mistake the squalor for picturesque rural quirkiness.

Gosh, really? And here I am thinking the reason I moved out to the country was to escape the squalor of cities.
And inner city deprivation takes some beating for squalor – drugs, prostitution, streets painted with saturday night vomit. Bliss.

Truro.

The hustle and bustle, nightmare commutes, gun crime, gang violence, racial tension, AIDS epidemic and stifling heat.

Oh, actually I meant Torquay.

Portsmouth’s not great but no way coventry, birmingham, luton are better and i’m from soton and its my 2nd job to rip pompey!

oh and i dont know what the hell slough is clasified as but its dire..

is Reading a city as I’m not sure and I live in the **** hole of a place?

Reading has some lovely road biking nearby tho..

I can’t believe Salford hasn’t been nominated yet 😯

I lived in Salford and I think it’s an uber dump

wolverhampton should be made into a city just so we can slag it off… it’s horrendous

ever been to Dartford? don’t

I worked in Newham for a bit and now Tower Hamlets (well OK, Canary Wharf). Tell me please Elf, how nice are these areas?

Not too bad actually, considering the deprivation and all that. I live in Tower Hamlets, and I like it. There are worse places in London, let alone the UK. nothing in London compares to some parts of some cities in Britain.

Canary Wharf is the worst bit of Tower Hamlets, actually. Soulless dump. Fortunately I don’t have to hang around there. 🙂

New York’s on the list, it’s higher than London, so the list is wrong = the list’s crap.

Well, placing New York, a city with a history only going back a couple of hundred years, above London is just a bit daft when it comes to architecture. London has far greater depth and diversity, any expert will tell you that.

And I, as you know, know me onions when it comes to architecture. 😉

Since others have mentioned Salford, let me join the chorus. Holy **** that place needs to be scraped into the sea.

Oh yeah. Liverpool too.

(I lived in Salford and had many meetings in Liverpool, so what I say is indisputable.)

slough

Reading

Dartford

Not cities. Actually, I didn’t even know that Dartford was a town, I just thought it was a tunnel! 😳

Personally I’d turn Birmingham into a smoking hole in the ground if it wasn’t already a smoking hole in the ground

Dunno why everyone is slagging off London as “worst-most-hated-most-vile-uk-city”. That’s just blind daft. I lived there for 11 years, sometimes in real shitty areas with no money, and I can say I wouldn’t swap those experiences cos it was such a vibrant melting pot. I like being In North Wales as well, with all the fab landscape and coast and relaxed vibe and family. It’s brilliant too, just different. One place I can afford, the other I can’t. both have their positives and negatives. depends what you want.

I’d never go back to Hull though!
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwtSdJaPCSI&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

Jealousy innit Kev?

Thing is, just about everyone on here what slags London off will come here at some stage, whereas I will probbly never visit the place they live in. Simply no need to. I don’t say that to be rude or owt, it’s just a fact. My home town offers me more of what I want than any other city possibly could. Anywhere else, and I’d feel I was missing out on certain things. That’s just my honest feelings about it. I accept it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and far from ideal for some others. Same way I can feel content here, I can appreciate someone else will feel the same about their home.

Be happy where you are. I am.

Crikey … I am just about to have my fag. LOL!