If you had to choose between Manchester or Birmingham which would you choose?

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Grew up near Birmingham, now live near Manchester. I'd never move back. The people are friendlier, there's some amazing scenery when you head towards the Pennines, and you don't have to listen to that horrific accent.

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Melodic_Amount_5117@reddit

The Mancunian accent is hideous though

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Melodic_Amount_5117@reddit

Manchester. Only good thing about Birmingham is Black Sabbath.

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homeofthe_dave@reddit

Manchester

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Intruder313@reddit

This won't even be close: Manchester is far above Brum

Brum is usually ranked one of the 10 worst towns/cities in the UK, Manchester is just the rainiest

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Effective_Topic_4728@reddit

Having been to both in the last few years, I thought Manchester was bad but Birmingham was considerably worse. I'm sure both have nicer areas though but the filth in Birmingham, before the bin strikes, really disgusted me.

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Difficult_Essay4337@reddit

Manchester

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mdzmdz@reddit

Manchester

It is massively ahead of most other places in the North in terms of having "high-tech" jobs.

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dbxp@reddit

I would look closer at specific areas you can afford, Altrincham and Newton Heath are very different

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TheeHappyDude@reddit

Because one is in Manchester and the other isn't.

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No_Chemist2922@reddit

Manchester is way better than Birmingham in terms of almost everything.

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lavayuki@reddit

Manchester of course, great city, I personally love it.

Manchester has lots of shops, bars, stuff going on, the football, trafford centre, good schools for kids including the grammar schools. I love living here.

When I was looking for cities to live in, Birmingham was not on my list at all. Manchester was my first choice which I managed to find a job in, Liverpool was the backup option.

Safety is variable, as both cities have a degree of crime. Manchester has some nice safe areas though. I don’t know the areas of Birmingham since I have only visited. Birmingham doesn’t really have a good reputation though.

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Stunning-Pudding-514@reddit

Just throw a dart at any area of Birmingham on a map and it will be riddled with crime. I should know i have lived here 55yrs now.

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Fit-Vanilla-3405@reddit

I also live here and that’s insane to say. Crime is extremely low for a major city.

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Enamoure@reddit

Birmingham is actually safer than Manchester surprisingly

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GarlicEnvironmental7@reddit

Both are big cities with their good and bad bits. But on the whole, Manchester is the better option. Unless you have family in the south you’d like to see now and then

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Fit-Vanilla-3405@reddit

I live in Birmingham and I also second Manchester. Birmingham is just super insular. It’s wild because it’s a massive city with everything you need but it feels hokey and not cosmopolitan enough.

It’s like massively diverse in that there’s people of all different colours and languages and countries all growing up pretty similarly outside of Walsall and Dudley.

Now… it’s changing a lot a lot. In the 6 years I’ve been here it’s completely different and slightly cooler. Digbeth and Stirchley had like 4 cool places when I came here and now they’re like old hipster Brooklyn invaded so there’s high quality food, drink and bakeries everywhere.

You can really really love your neighbourhood in Birmingham. But in my estimation unless you’re here it’s not as easy to love Birmingham in general.

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BeaumarchaisApu@reddit

Manchester is better overall, by quite a bit to be completely honest, but is also quite a lot more expensive.

Birmingham I think can be very underrated. It has some really nice areas, and some areas that are definitely improving. Also with HS2 coming there’s a huge amount of regeneration going on - feels like it’ll feel like a pretty different place in 10 years time. But it also has some absolute shithole areas.

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Enamoure@reddit

Yes with Birmingham it really depends on the area. Some are very nice! Some are very bad..

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BeaumarchaisApu@reddit

Most of Edgbaston, Moseley, Kings Heath, Bourneville, are all lovely. as are good parts of Sutton Coldfield. And areas like Stirchley and Cotteridge are very much improving. I think most people wouldn’t believe they were so close to the centre of Birmingham if they walked/drove around the Church Rd, Arthur Rd, Wellington Rd kind of areas of Edgbaston.

Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Alum Rock etc. Not so much. Apart from Shababs.

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Enamoure@reddit

Yesss Edgbaston is beautiful. I would say what makes Birmingham lovely is the greener, loads of nice parks and greenery

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s_l_a_c_k@reddit

Manchester. Birmingham is such a shit hole

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Stunning-Pudding-514@reddit

Depending on your budget for housing etc? If you want Birmingham i would look to move slightly out from it. Places like Solihull, Knowle, Tamworth, all still have good schools, supermarkets easy access to motorways still for travel/work etc.

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Sexy_Stoner94@reddit

Manchester for sure

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TheMujo@reddit

Just go to Liverpool, it's nicer than both.

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Donny-Kong@reddit

Upvoted this, lived in Brum for over 30 years we have moved towards Merseyside.

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NewtRider@reddit

Best of the worst... Manchester... Hopefully you can find other options :)

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SeaworthinessNeat516@reddit

Oh, you're moving there.

I thought we were choosing to get rid of one.

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USS_Barack_Obama@reddit

Hey, Homer. What's your least favourite ~~country~~ city, ~~Italy or France~~ Manchester or Birmingham?

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SeaworthinessNeat516@reddit

I think I'm obligated to say Coventry. No one wants to be sent to Coventry.

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Dangerous-Skirt-9234@reddit

I've lived in both. Birmingham is not a good place to live.

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Deep_Top8433@reddit

Manchester without a shadow of a doubt. Have you been to Birmingham??

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D1789@reddit

If in doubt, go somewhere in the middle… Stoke.

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BasisOk4268@reddit

Manchester has the higher crime rate and is slightly more expensive from a cost of living pov. Birmingham is more centrally located so easier to get to London and the rest of the south. Earnings will likely be roughly the same between the two cities depending on your industry.

As some have said, Birmingham has some areas which aren’t great. But as someone who does around 40,000 miles a year dotting between cities for work, Manchester has as many areas of the city that aren’t great.

I’m a massive man united supporter and work in the music industry but I would lean Birmingham personally.

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Curious-Scholar4692@reddit

Manchester. Birmingham is grim af and the manc accent is better 😆

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Curious-Scholar4692@reddit

You don’t wanna be hearing that brummaaaay accent avvry daaaaiiiiy

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Capable-Campaign3881@reddit

I like them both have great people there and sense of humours, I would probably go for Manchester !

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tillydeeee@reddit

Definitely Manchester

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Warburton379@reddit

Yeesh. If you held a gun to my head and told me to pick I'd go with a swift death.

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Existing_Doughnut985@reddit

You may think the Birmingham accent is bad but just wait until you head a Salford chav open their mouth

Either way it’s still Manchester I’m picking

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