We’ve had the london one so…what do non-Mancunians think of Manchester?

[RishisPA]

Interested to see how it compares? Any insights into Manchester? I hate how so many visitors end up getting off at Piccadilly and going straight to Piccadilly gardens when (imo) that’s the worst bit of the city centre!!

1 positive. It is cheap to park but like Leeds when they build on all the waste ground there will be no parking, it will be exorbitant and visitors wont go there.

Forgot to say I lived there for two years a decade ago. Used to live in Sale and didn't go into town too much as I found it rather depressing. Mind you I find quite a few British cities repressing so it may be me!!

Live about 15 miles outside Manchester and work in the city. The increasing number of residential Tower blocks is really worrying. Round places like the "green quarter" the sunlight hardly ever hits the pavement and now that's being replicated in other areas. The university area is unrecognisable from a decade or so ago. Both MMU and the university have built so many new buildings and whole campus areas.
Unlike Liverpool or York or Edinburgh it's fairly new. There is one little medieval area and the rest is Victorian onward. Cotton made the city and there is very little that predates the 1850s or so in the city centre.

@HobnobsChoice the uni has changed a lot but it’s brilliant. Oxford road now taxis and buses only so much safer and quieter and loads of green spaces- think it’s one of the top Environmentally friendly campuses in Europe (I read my alumni emails 😂)

I’ve been quite a few times - although I would claim to know it well.
Im not keen on the centre. As others have, I find it dirty, busy and lots of homelessness. There seems to be plenty to do though and I’m sure there are nice central bits.
I’ve got a few friends who live in the suburbs and I like where they live. I like that you can get out to lovely countryside easily as well as being able to get to museums/theatres/gigs in central Manchester. I’d happily live there although I’d say the same about other smaller cities too.

I'm from Liverpool and love Manchester.

Wouldn’t claim

I'm a northern girl and love Leeds so much so thought I would like Manchester, especially in my late teens/early 20s.
But only ended up going a few times.. I can't pinpoint what but it didn't have a good vibe.

I travelled a lot before work and DH brought me to Manchester. I’ve lived in and around the city for the past 22 years & I can honestly say it’s the place I feel least connected to. I don’t go into the city centre at all now, save for work meetings. There are better theatres, music venues, shops and restaurants outside the centre. People are generally aggressive, chippy and until the Arena bombing there was little evidence of a Mancunian ‘spirit’ or community. It feels horribly artificial and unsustainable. Constant building work everywhere. From a distance the skyscrapers make it look like a northern LA; big buildings plonked down on a flat plain. The prices of new apartments are jaw dropping. It all seems to be foreign investors and there’s loads of empty flats and commercial space.
The weather’s awful; not so much the rain but the constantly grey skies and cloud cover. Sometimes it’s like living in constant twilight. Depressing, dirty and overhyped.
The levels of crime, homelessness and drug use are horrific. GM police are in special measures and morale is awful.
We’re looking forward to moving away as soon as DCs finish school.

The shops were great in the 80's if you liked music and dept stores as there were plenty. I hardly venture in now as all these have gone. Apart from great museums, galleries , theatres and music venues it's grim so unless going for these specific purposes I avoid. Shame you often have to go through the concrete shit hole that is Piccadilly to get anywhere, that esp is grim as f**k.

I love Manchester whereas I can't stand London.

I lived there for five years as a medical student. Loved my first year. Hated it after that. I lived in the city centre for a while which was fine but I have no desire to go back. The facilities; restaurants, theatre, shopping was all great. But nothing I can't get anywhere else.

I found it bleak, wet, miserable and dirty

I was just in Piccadilly gardens, stopping at M&S for some food, on my way to see my parents in Yorkshire. The place is an utter armpit, it’s like the council and the police have given up on that bit of the city centre.

@CookPassBabtridge

I'm a northern girl and love Leeds so much so thought I would like Manchester, especially in my late teens/early 20s. But only ended up going a few times.. I can't pinpoint what but it didn't have a good vibe.

Manchester doesn't really have a city centre- unlike Leeds It sprawls with loads of nothing in between

A scary dump. Have been a few times and it’s never improved.

I live in the NW.....quite like Manchester...visit for shows...Sunday shopping and lunch...events for the grandkids...but I absolutely love Liverpool....Manchester doesn't come close to it

I'm a non-Mancunian who has now lived nearby for longer than I've lived anywhere else. Other than going to the office as little as I can get away with, I never go into town unless for a gig etc. Never go in just to go shopping or a browse around. I feel no connection to the place at all. My kids like it though so that's a positive.

Bill Bryson said it was unique in major British cities in having no recognisable landmarks to anyone outside of Manchester.

I am from Leeds so biased

I think shopping wise the centre of town is too spread out, it’s exhausting, Leeds is a much better shopping experience - although we don’t have a selfridges.

I am very jealous of the trams and public transport though.

Used to travel in a couple of time

We took the kids pre pandemic.
It rained constantly (we’re Welsh so not rain-phobic) and the city felt very dirty.
So many high rise blocks and there was a lot of building and road works going on. We came across very little green space.
The general atmosphere felt tense, almost aggressive.
I wouldn’t rush back tbh!

Does it still have loads of bars that won’t let you in wearing trainers? So up it’s own arse in that respect.

Everyone here is talking about the city centre including picadilly which is grim.
Re green space there's absolutely loads, Mersey valley, chorlton and sale water park, Heaton park, all the parks in Salford. You just have to do a bit of research and you'll find them, also whitworth park with the art gallery. Loads and loads of individual bars, restaurants, indie theatres and cinemas plus the "big guns" palace and opera House for the big productions.

Food scene is big here now and excellent for vegans and vegetarians. Also one of the most gay friendly cities in the UK, plenty of diversity generally.
You do need to know where to go out you'll end up walking through picadilly and drinking at the moon under water weather spoons pub

Lived in Leeds and found it provincial and insular and pretty rough in a football lads out on the piss kind of way. Sheffield find it very drab although some nice bits on the outskirts.

Also within easy reach of amazing countryside. Peak District walks only 40 minutes away.

When I went to Manchester in 2000s (to stay with a boyfriend) I stayed in one of the villages, began with a W. Not bad, Coronation Street type houses and cobbled streets. What was really annoying and put me off was that most Mancs were very openly and quite aggressively disparaging about southerners, assumed we earned loads, made fun of my London accent etc. I naturally countered with flat cap and whippet jokes . Girlfriend of my boyfriend was very nice, we all went to Rusholme (Curry Mile) to spot football players. Went into city centre, very concrete jungle and lots of converted warehouse style bars. It rained like I’ve never seen in my life! On the way home on the train it started snowing…! I did see a few nice buildings and suburbs but the first part of this para is what really put me off.

@Ifailed

It reminds me of Croydon: trams, high rise blocks, graffiti, concrete, homeless people.

@Ifailed - I live near Croydon (20 minute drive), Manchester doesn’t seem similar to me but maybe I’ve forgotten the similarities.

Was Manchester bombed heavily during WW2 like Croydon was?

Croydon town centre has got worse and worse over the years as has Streatham town centre. Both used to be lovely, nice shopping areas, shops etc.

Where I live now, Crystal Palace it’s been voted the best place in London to live but I’m originally from here (1970s) moved back a few years ago and it certainly was unlovely for a period of time!

I'm a non-Manc descended from Mancunians, and I find they're more than a bit up themselves about their city.

I currently live in Birmingham, and find the locals are a lot more down to earth. I frequently get asked "why have you come here, it's shit" - but it's nicer than Manchester IMO.

Brother’s ex girlfriend is from Manchester (Moss Side). She lived there til she was 8 and then got taken into care and moved down south. She still has family living there but rarely visits and has little desire to do so!
She’s very friendly and outgoing but her Manc accent only comes out when drunk!

I used to work with a Manc who said he was from Moss Side, at the time when Oasis were super famous, he knew Gallagher brothers and supported Man City. Very very friendly, but lived in London and dined out a bit on being a Manc in London. He wasn’t overly complimentary about certain areas of the city.