To think people are generally happier in the South of England than the North?

[TigerPath]

I've lived most of my life in the North... major cities like Manchester and Leeds, pretty Lake District towns and villages, Harrogate, York, a small town in the Dales etc... I've moved around a lot.

A few months ago we moved to the South Coast. I've noticed the people here seem so happy! They are friendly and smiley. They ask me if I need directions when I look lost, without me even approaching! They bend over backwards to help and just seem so content and positive. This includes nursery managers, Tesco staff, estate agents, taxi drivers, waitresses in pubs etc.

It's much sunnier here, in fact so bright I feel disorientated at times. The town is full of flowering trees and bushes and blossom- every street looks like a beautiful park! So maybe it's the climate. I'm used to rain and drizzle and cloud.

What do others think?

the north south divide as perceived
www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/maps/nsdivide/north-south_divide_UK_no_labels_blue_red_small.jpg
rubbish - I would love to know how they measure it

The North is huge Mollie!

Give me the South anytime- please don't get me started on the North- people are so clueless it's 'unreal'. And they are SAD. (all the bloody time)

What a horrible nasty post. I could say if everyone in the South is as nasty and judgmental as you then Im glad I dont live there, but luckily I dont do lazy stereotypes.

Well I was happier when I lived in the south! I prefer the southern landscape, live near the pennines and it's too bleak for my liking, whilst undoubtedly objectively beautiful

annie it was intentional. T'is what I half jokingly refer to that area of the U.K as.

Enthusiasm - your nan was spot on!

DH is a born and bred Yorkshireman, he is never happier than when he is complaining about something.

To me Manchester is South, but then I like in Scotland.

through - yes the North is huge
I get the feeling that someone drew a line to define the South and then lumped the rest into not-south (i.e. the North)
'Twas the same with their idea of 'the northern powerhouse' which only extended to a few big cities in the North of England
I would happily live in the South West but not the South East!

Are people from the midlands just a bit indifferent?
I'm from the south but I live in the north
I'm confused as to whether I should be happy or miserable
I do live by the sea though. Does that make a difference?

I'm in the sarf. Have lived here all my life, weirdly, I prefer oop Norf.

I have family and friends oop Norf and there's always more for my kids to do, and us. We even flew out of Manchester airport last year as it was cheaper. Even when we paid for a nights hotel and airport lounge.
Seems like less traffic too, especially where mil lives.

I grew up in the North and loved it, people are friendly and chatty. They also seem a bit more open to forming friendships.

Down south, I've found it hard to make friends with people. I don't know why, it just seems people are not as open. They have their friendship groups and are happy with them. Which I found odd if I'm honest.

However, I don't think people are miserable. I've found everyone friendly and chatty. People help you out on the tube and I've never had any issues when out and about. But there are miserable people everywhere aren't they.

I'm a Southerner, and my DP is a Northerner, he lives just east of Manchester and he thinks the South is prettier but the people are more miserable. I do think Northerners seem more friendly, but then again it could just be the people I interact with.

Funny you should mention Sussex, TheSolitaryBoojum. I'm a northerner who retreated back home after some time in North Essex/South Suffolk (generalisation - full of bullshit & standoffishness) and couldn't be more delighted to be back amongst my kith. My firm has clients all over the country & my fave non - North ones are all in Sussex. Lots of small clients, so quite a broad selection of folk. Lovely people and, yes, seem to have a very sunny outlook on life. If I were to move South again that's where I'd head.

Wallis Did you mean to be so rude

It depends where you are. I'm a Yorkshire lass living on the Wiltshire/Somerset border and people's interests are different here. My colleagues in their 20s are all into quite outdoorsy lifestyles (dog walks on the coast, running, festivals, BBQs, surfing, cider) whereas in the town I'm from in your 20s it's a bit more about shopping, eating out and holidays abroad as leisure activities because it's not particularly pretty or full of green space. I kind of enjoy all of the above! You would really need to compare somewhere coastal with somewhere else coastal e.g. Whitby vs Bournemouth.

I come from Lancashire but now live in Sussex. On visiting my parents home town for the first time, my then-11- year -old daughter remarked on how easily people talk to you, something which I thought was normal for everywhere.
I find people down here slower to warm up and less likely to start random conversations with strangers, but once you do find a way to get to know them they are just as nice as anyone else.

I'm a northerner but have lived in London. The north is way friendlier! I'll never forget a train journey from SW London to Leeds a few years ago. Heavily pregnant, bags and all, no one in a huge and overheated tube carriage would give me their seat. I had to sit on the floor as I practically fainted (summer and no aircon). Make it to the London-Leeds train, get off at Leeds to transfer to a tiny regional train and four people on the platform, all northerners (could tell by their accents) offered to help me onto the next train. To be honest, that pretty much summed up the differences between the north and south for me.

I'm with you on the weather, Treaclesoda. When I moved from Belfast to Yorkshire, I realised that I'd spent my formative years mostly living inside a cloud.

I bloody hate all this North South business... where is the invisible line that separates them?. Are people in the midlands or the east or west just 'sometimes' happy? do they do a split shift of happiness?

Unless you know masses of people of all ages, wealth and health nobody really can say.

I am generally happy ... because I have a happy home, health, food on the table and a roof over my head. Whether I live in The Outer Hebrides or St Ives if I didn't have the above I may be miserable

(north west ex midlander)

And tbh, I think the differences in the weather are hugely exaggerated.

This 1000000000000000% makes me laugh all the people going on about the "cold and rainy North" etc - I quite often post pics of the sunshine out of my window on FB when it's raining down South :)

Whether I live in The Outer Hebrides or St Ives if I didn't have the above I may be miserable

Ah yes, but which St Ives though? :)

The most southern one ... Cornwall!

I think it's quite a bit colder in some parts of the north than I have ever felt in London

The wind across the moors and at Whitby it's absolutely freezing

I guess it depends where in the north

I've been miserable living in both north and south. The weather makes things slightly better down south though.