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
FrontAd8867@reddit
I have a strange list as i don't have alot but:
But my list is based on my opinion so don't Just used that
IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit
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
Sufficient_Rope2864@reddit (OP)
You’re right about living in countryside big english cities all look the same to me
Orange_Codex@reddit
Sincerely, have you ever visited? London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Medway, and York look absolutely nothing like each other.
MaybeThisTime67@reddit
Bradford
Milton Keynes
Hull
Luton
Birkenhead
Barnsley
Sheffield
Birmingham
Rhyl
Slough
Simple-Pea-3501@reddit
What about Jaywick?
MaybeThisTime67@reddit
Honourable mention
Stressedhumbucker@reddit
ಠ_ಠ
Jarcooler@reddit
Eyup_Amigo@reddit
This is it. Dont know how London or Birmingham got on their list.
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.
Jarcooler@reddit
Lol
borokish@reddit
Probably because they've never been
ProfessionalEven296@reddit
No London?
…quite right!
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.
Salfordsmith15@reddit
London cannot be 1 if affordability is part of the criteria, the VAST majority of British people cannot afford to live there.
Xenozip3371Alpha@reddit
Yeah, my life savings would be like 2 months rent.
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.
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.
Cultural-Turnip-8840@reddit
Same with Edinburgh, fantastic city but prices on everything have rocketed over the years
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
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
-Copenhagen@reddit
Sheffield - City on the Move
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)
Then-Fortune-3122@reddit
Always thought Newcastle was rougher than Leeds
Gary_Garibaldi@reddit
I thought the opposite, although I haven't lived in either for over twenty years since moving to London
theamazingtypo@reddit
OP could just imagine the tram in Leeds lolol
Gary_Garibaldi@reddit
😂😂
TicksAndBricks@reddit
I live in Leeds. I love Leeds. But it doesn't belong in your top 10 if Transit and cleanliness are criteria.
Public transport in Leeds is terrible and the Council is useless at cleaning the streets.
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.
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
Fanjo_mcclanjo@reddit
I am partial to York, Dundee, Perth, Inverness, Bristol.
Going by your list you would probably hate them 😂
qualityvote2@reddit
Hello u/Sufficient_Rope2864! Welcome to r/AskABrit!
For other users, does this post fit the subreddit?
If so, upvote this comment!
Otherwise, downvote this comment!
And if it does break the rules, downvote this comment and report this post!