What is your personal top 10 cities to live list in the UK?

Posted by Sufficient_Rope2864@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 33 comments

As an American I prioritize cities transit, walkability, affordability, cleanliness and safety, and development. To me based on those categories I believe it is this 10

London 2. Manchester 3. Birmingham 4. Liverpool 5. Leeds 6. Edinburgh 7. Newcastle 8. Bristol 9. Cardiff 10. Glasgow

Lmk your thoughts and what you would change

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FrontAd8867@reddit

I have a strange list as i don't have alot but:

London
Bridlington
Scarborough
Leeds
Bradford
Whitby
Huddersfield
Halifax
Manchester
Blackpool

But my list is based on my opinion so don't Just used that

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Yeah london is cool it feels like home to me but the average person cant afford to live there so you would be in government housing almost 100% (after waiting 10+ years in temporary housing with random moves) sometimes its alright sometimes your in a bad area, i dont understand why my whole family still lives there, you can do much much better in a smaller countryside spot not even far from london and not worry about trouble, and schools in london are really bad, muggings and stabbings are uncommon

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Sufficient_Rope2864@reddit (OP)

You’re right about living in countryside big english cities all look the same to me

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Orange_Codex@reddit

Sincerely, have you ever visited? London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Medway, and York look absolutely nothing like each other.

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MaybeThisTime67@reddit

Bradford
Milton Keynes
Hull
Luton
Birkenhead
Barnsley
Sheffield
Birmingham
Rhyl
Slough

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Simple-Pea-3501@reddit

What about Jaywick?

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MaybeThisTime67@reddit

Honourable mention

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Stressedhumbucker@reddit

ಠ_ಠ

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Jarcooler@reddit

Newcastle
Glasgow
Sheffield
Liverpool
Leeds
Manchester
Bristol
Edinburgh
York
Norwich

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Eyup_Amigo@reddit

This is it. Dont know how London or Birmingham got on their list.

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musicistabarista@reddit

London is an undeniably great place to live. It's expensive, dirty and time consuming to travel in, but it's one of the world's great cities, and so it seems contrary not to include it on a list of UK cities.

Birmingham is alright as long as you don't have to drive there, imo. Nice parks, good bars and restaurants and lots going on.

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Jarcooler@reddit

London is an undeniably great place to live. It's expensive, dirty and time consuming to travel in

Lol

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borokish@reddit

Probably because they've never been

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ProfessionalEven296@reddit

No London?

…quite right!

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Fantastic-Speech-438@reddit

I would put Leeds above Manchester because it's a bit more chilled out and affordable. I did my postgrad degree in Leeds and it's probably my favourite city. I like Manchester but it has a bit of an edge to it now. Newcastle's great. York's lovely too, but smaller and can get a bit busy with tourists. Liverpool's always buzzing. Sheffield worth an honorable mention.

Didn't really get on with Birmingham the few times I've visited. London's too big / expensive.

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Salfordsmith15@reddit

London cannot be 1 if affordability is part of the criteria, the VAST majority of British people cannot afford to live there.

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Xenozip3371Alpha@reddit

Yeah, my life savings would be like 2 months rent.

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Salfordsmith15@reddit

It’s a great city though I have to admit. It’s lovely to see so many northern cities high in the list, often Americans don’t make it up here! Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle are very underrated generally. I’d probably but Edinburgh at 1.

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Cultural-Turnip-8840@reddit

I'm lucky as I bought a property nearly 30 years ago in Edinburgh. My kids are adults now but still living at home due to Edinburgh bordering on unaffordable. Rent is high and buying a property is off the cards. More and more people are buying property in commuter towns as you get way more bang for your buck.

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Cultural-Turnip-8840@reddit

Same with Edinburgh, fantastic city but prices on everything have rocketed over the years

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Salfordsmith15@reddit

It’s sadly happening across the country. I could afford an apartment in central Manchester 10 years ago but I couldn’t today despite being on a higher salary lol

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AlanofAdelaide@reddit

When I left Sheffield in 1977 to come to Adelaide I thought it was a great place - steelworks in full swing and vibrant socially. Always said 'if I went back to the UK I'd return to Sheffield'. Would I be disappointed? I've been back a few times and things seem quieter

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-Copenhagen@reddit

Sheffield - City on the Move

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Gary_Garibaldi@reddit

Newcastle should be much higher. Safe, cheap, very good mass transit system (I. E. Metro underground) for a medium size city.

I originally come from Leeds which is the biggest city in Europe without a mass transit system (and noticeably higher crime than Newcastle)

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cpt_hatstand@reddit

In terms of walkability, that's every UK city compared to America really.

In terms of affordability and safety Sheffield is up there.

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OppositeWrong1720@reddit

If you want large cities, but smaller ones would be better for quality of life. Norwich, Exeter, Winchester, Cambridge, Bath, Truro, Salisbury, Southsea (Portsmouth),

Can also consider towns as the difference is technical eg Bury St Edmunds

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Fanjo_mcclanjo@reddit

I am partial to York, Dundee, Perth, Inverness, Bristol.

Going by your list you would probably hate them 😂

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