coolangatta

I personally think a big resounding 'not'.
Many more cities with a better shout, Manchester for one (no doubt others will have alternatives). No one I know, outside of the UK, has even heard of Birmingham.
It's not all about population, or shoudn't be.

Ant

i would of said manchester aswell to be honest, certainly not birmingham

The Dogs B******s

And the first is,,,,,,,,York City

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Ah yes, York is a nice choice Although Durham gives it a good run for its money

scoobyvirgin

All I can say is sh*t hole!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

One half of the city want to kerb stomp your head in,the other half want to blow you to bits. Its a lovely place

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Whilst I dont mind Brummies, I cannot abide the accent, even compared to Scouse, Geordie is nice though, especially when spoken by young ladies a bit further out of Newcastle, say Hartlepool, with large pendulous breasts, ahh, happy days....

Ste RB5138

Of course Brum is the 2nd city, its home of the mighty Aston Villa!

Dan Gleebits

I Concur

S.O.T.C.

richiewong

Birmingham is a concrete shithole!!!

I'd go for Manchester as well

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Brum is a complete kackhole.

Its a shame,as some of the areas on the outside of brum are really quite nice..

But places like Nechells,sparkhill,Aston,Bordseley green,Lozells and handsworth are some of the worst places in the UK..

Definately the sphincter of britain..

finalzero

aren't they all the same, Brum, Manc, Liverpoooo etc... saying that Edinburgh is like London without all the **** stains

BIG FUD

iTrader: (84)

Im from birmingham and as fats stated the above areas are very bad but manchester as had more shootings in 1 week in moss side than brum has ever had .

There is many many nice areas in brum and solihull has the most millionaires per square foot than any other area i know ..

Then there is walmley,sutton coldfield erdington,streetly,coleshill,and many many more

The Dogs B******s

Good on you,stick up for where you live,Respect

ScoobyDoo555

There are some fantastic places in Birmingham. Sadly the places stated above are not some of it's finest

That said, I love Manchester, BUT, Moss Side, Salford...... equally, if not worse areas to traverse

The biggest problem with Birmingham is that it's status as the second city brings with it one of THE biggest chip-on-the-shoulder attitudes about. A major sense of resentment.

Mostly from the bus drivers

That said, I've had the pleasure of working with some of the biggest Birmingham-based bands, and the people (like most places) can be fabulous.

It's certainly no more of a concrete jungle than other cities up and down the country.

But second-city status? Not sure. I think it's a cr@p term anyway - "the second city"..... in itself a derisive statement.

All imho of course

Dan

ScoobyDoo555

IIRC, Herefordshire has a higher amount (with more money too) - a major case of super-rich and the paupers!!!

jods

Birmingham is certainly a "number two"

Daz34

No that would be Coventry. I guess that makes Bham the gooch.

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

Thought the millionaires per square foot bit was reserved for certain parts of Cheshire..??

My missus used to live in Solihull,and although the odd person with a few quid might live there,its certainly no haven for the midland jet set..

My sister in law lived in Erdington...its bloody horrible..Warmley and sutton coldfield arent much better although New hall is very lush.

Head down country a little bit and its absolutely gorgeous..My in laws live in inkberrow and its very nice..

DYK

Hold up a sec your downing Birmingham for being the second city,but what about the number 1,London,what are your thoughts on London.im sure it's a bigger ****ehole than Birmingham...i must admit York is quite nice..

Dan Gleebits

Inkberrow is reasonably nice, but wouldnt really class it as B'ham.. the postal coding area of B'ham is crazy, stretching far wider than the city itself, ergo some of the more rural areas are very nice . one decent thing about Brummies is the fact that they are not as thick as the Northerers, nor as up themselves as the southerners.

*Oh, and Fud.. only a real Brummie would know and undestand, eh

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Maybe if Brum had a similar amount of money invested in it as London has had over the past umpteen years, then maybe just maybe it would be worthy of the accolade of being the capital of middle England and be a true second city.

Maybe at one point its industry and manufacturing vibrancy made it worthy of that. But there is not much of that left now. Only small stuff, or subsidaries of large foreign owned corperations (hence no local wealth).

I haven't been there for over a year now, despite its locality; lack of decent transport infrastructure puts me off, as I can go elsewhere for what I want, easier, cheaper and less likelihood of the car dented/broken into, or missing the interconnecting train from Smethwick because there is no longer a direct train on the Worcester line to New Street.

I always thought it was ironic that a long term Labour strong hold should get such poor investment or support from the very government it voted in.

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

I have to agree,i dont find London any better.

I havent been to every city/town in London of course,but as yet i have never seen anywhere that isnt scummy,filthy and semi derelict...

Im sure there are pockets of leafy suburbia,but the big smoke aint for me at all..

York is very nice,i also like Stratford on avon..

gatty

King of Turds has hit the nail on the head.

The truth is Brum WAS once a fantastic city thats why every man and his dog wanted to be there, unfortunatly they was not the type you would like to live next door to you.

I should know, Every one of my family is from Brum and had 1st hand experience of the effect of this influx.

This opinion is not formed from elite liberalists, Who form an opinion from there nice surburban detatched abodes.

fatscoobfella1

iTrader: (1)

^^^^^^^^^^

Ah...Now thats hitting the nail on the head.

coolangatta

What's Brum got in the planning stages to recreate it's former glory?
Surely a 2nd city should have an Olympic bid or something in the programme

Ray_li

I live in Birmingham. Its ok but not great

Just wait for the ice caps to melt and then I'll have a sea view worth millions and you'll all be dead

boomer

Brum isn't perfect, but it certainly gets screwed by the biased lan-dan-aas in charge of the country...

Millennium Dome - should we base it in the centre of the UK, with good access via road, rail and air (or even canal); or stick it on a difficult to get to patch of contaminated land? Answer: Landan

National Footy stadium - should we base it in the centre of the UK, with good access via road, rail and air (or even canal); or stick it in a difficult to get to area funded by the Germans (and at nearly nine grand a seat)? Answer: Landan

Olympic stadium - should we base it in the centre of the UK, with good access via road, rail and air (or even canal); or stick it somewhere realistically only accessible via govmint-nominated VIP lanes? Answer: Landan

etc. etc.



mb