Is Manchester a tough place to live in?

If Madrid/Lisbon/Buenos Aries had damp weather for 9 months of the year you would be saying the opposite.

The weather plays a huge part in what a place is like, it’s easy to get confused when analysing a city.

You're mad mate. How can you think Manchester is even comparable to those cities, weather aside? Out of interest what do you base your argument as to whether a city is good or not? Most of us would compare cuisine, culture, price, weather (yes disregard if you like), activities, nightlife etc. They trump Manchester probably on every level.
 
I suspect there are worse places. Some suburbs are very nice.

Having said that I would leave GM tomorrow if the Mrs was up to it. Go to some small town like Wells in Somerset. But being an old get, I now like peace and quiet.

It's also worth mentioning that most places have their problems. There are druggies and 'problem families' practically anywhere. It's just that - in parts of GM - their number is legion.

This country has massive social problems - and there as much chance of anyone doing owt effective about it as there is of me being picked as an Olympic sprinter.
Wells is a city not a town. Just sayin'.
 
I suspect there are worse places. Some suburbs are very nice.

Having said that I would leave GM tomorrow if the Mrs was up to it. Go to some small town like Wells in Somerset. But being an old get, I now like peace and quiet.

It's also worth mentioning that most places have their problems. There are druggies and 'problem families' practically anywhere. It's just that - in parts of GM - their number is legion.

This country has massive social problems - and there as much chance of anyone doing owt effective about it as there is of me being picked as an Olympic sprinter.

Back in the day, I could never envisage not living in the big city. Loved it, spent so much time in the centre in my late teens/twenties/thirties. It wasn't far from where we lived in Newton Heath (then Failsworth) So shopping, pubs, clubs, restaurants, gigs, matches were all there .... must have been in four times a week minimum, often more. And this was in the pre gentrification days of the late 70's/1980's. But the crime and grime as such didn't bother us a jot. It was our city.
Had there been apartments to live in back then, I don't doubt we would have bought one.

Fast forward to now, not quite yet an official FOC, but can see it ahead .... and now both the missus and myself rarely go into town, never go shopping, only for gigs and meal with friends. We both long to leave GM, and live somewhere more rural, and plan to do so next Spring. Devon or Cornwall would be number one choice, but a little too far from family and friends really, so will be somewhere south of Nantwich, into Shropshire.
Will always me a Manc lad in my heart, but time for a change ...
 
You're mad mate. How can you think Manchester is even comparable to those cities, weather aside? Out of interest what do you base your argument as to whether a city is good or not? Most of us would compare cuisine, culture, price, weather (yes disregard if you like), activities, nightlife etc. They trump Manchester probably on every level.
They probably don't.
For music and football Manchester is second to none. There are (or were pre-pandemic) restaurants catering for every taste from all over the world. There are no shortage of museums, art galleries, pubs, theatres, concert venues etc. Chances are there's more in Buenos Aires and Madrid simply because they're bigger but outside London, Manchester has more going for it than any other city in England. There isn't the equivalent street cafe culture here but that's not everything. Manchester has its ugly side obviously, Piccadilly and some of the inner suburbs, but name any major city that doesn't. Drugs and homelessness are a blight but again, we have no clue how comparable it is to other cities worldwide. For example I was offered more cocaine in the short time I was in Porto than I have in years in Manchester, and I did the Napoli away trip a couple of years ago and seeing the station area at night there makes Piccadilly look idyllic.
 
They probably don't.
For music and football Manchester is second to none. There are (or were pre-pandemic) restaurants catering for every taste from all over the world. There are no shortage of museums, art galleries, pubs, theatres, concert venues etc. Chances are there's more in Buenos Aires and Madrid simply because they're bigger but outside London, Manchester has more going for it than any other city in England. There isn't the equivalent street cafe culture here but that's not everything. Manchester has its ugly side obviously, Piccadilly and some of the inner suburbs, but name any major city that doesn't. Drugs and homelessness are a blight but again, we have no clue how comparable it is to other cities worldwide. For example I was offered more cocaine in the short time I was in Porto than I have in years in Manchester, and I did the Napoli away trip a couple of years ago and seeing the station area at night there makes Piccadilly look idyllic.

Red herring. I suspect you already know but possession of all drugs is decriminalised in Portugal. Better environment for pushy street dealers because the police have a hands-off approach and there is less street violence because they don't have as much pressure to compete over turf.
 
You're mad mate. How can you think Manchester is even comparable to those cities, weather aside? Out of interest what do you base your argument as to whether a city is good or not? Most of us would compare cuisine, culture, price, weather (yes disregard if you like), activities, nightlife etc. They trump Manchester probably on every level.
Of those three, I've only been to Madrid, and Manchester is a much more interesting place.

Even the weather is a mixed blessing - Sure it's lovely to sit out late at night having a drink, but it can be hell to work in, and you have to adapt to avoiding the heat just as much as we adapt to avoiding the rain.

When you add in the countryside that closely surrounds Manchester, I'd choose it over Madrid every time.
 
They probably don't.
For music and football Manchester is second to none. There are (or were pre-pandemic) restaurants catering for every taste from all over the world. There are no shortage of museums, art galleries, pubs, theatres, concert venues etc. Chances are there's more in Buenos Aires and Madrid simply because they're bigger but outside London, Manchester has more going for it than any other city in England. There isn't the equivalent street cafe culture here but that's not everything. Manchester has its ugly side obviously, Piccadilly and some of the inner suburbs, but name any major city that doesn't. Drugs and homelessness are a blight but again, we have no clue how comparable it is to other cities worldwide. For example I was offered more cocaine in the short time I was in Porto than I have in years in Manchester, and I did the Napoli away trip a couple of years ago and seeing the station area at night there makes Piccadilly look idyllic.
Manchester is pretty comparable to most cities I'd say. It has it's own culture where everything depends on the time and day. It's really nice and relaxing in the morning or afternoon on a weekday however its downside is at the weekend where the afternoons and nights get filled with people coming in to go on the lash.

The best city I've been to recently is London. London is a great place at the moment because you can take advantage of everything whilst it's quiet. You can't really compare it though because you can find absolutely anything you want in London as it's so massive. My favourite one abroad is Miami which is rough around the edges but the people, culture and food are great.

The worst city I've been to is LA which has its moments and is nice around the coast and inner valleys but if you get close to the actual city then it's a total dump. If people think that the homeless and those kind of problems were bad in Manchester, LA will really shock you. It's the first place I've seen homeless people living in tents on grass verges by the motorway.
 

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