Manchester Destroyed in Eartquake

[KeithD]

As for bham what a **** hole,dirty,intimidating and manky

... goes for Leeds as well....

[les_taxi]

... goes for Leeds as well....

Yes it's a different world

[Amaw2008]

I will be a bit more serious folks, and not just **** off Bimingham for no reason. I lived in Manchester from my early teens (1973) until 1989, and fair enough, at that time there was no big difference between the two cities. What has happened is more recent. When the economy was doing well, between 1996 and the start of the present slump in 2007, people in the computer and media industries found London office space too expensive and began looking further away. The blunt truth is that converted cotton mills make more pleasant offices than converted steel works (Manchester was built on cotton and Birmingham on steel). Nearly a third of the BBC is now in Manchester. Besides this, there is the money from the football clubs (including Liverpool), and the fact that Manchester has spent on infrastructure (the airport and the Metrolink system). Another factor is that Birmingham is much nearer to London; people with money travel there anyway at the weekend, rather than spend their money in Brum. Deansgate and the area around it have a very London-like atmosphere, and south and south-west Manchester and the part of Cheshire next to it are mega-wealthy. If you don't believe me, travel there and have a look for yourself. I often wish that I hadn't moved away from the area. In many ways it is brash new money, but it is impressive. It's just a statement of fact, Birmingham is ahead on population only, and that may well change in the future.