Which City would you consider best to live and why?

It would be nice to see the reasons why the cities are chosen. I mean, Blackpool ahead of London? Oh come off it. Please re-post your list when you're sober!

Manchester

London is the best, but it is expensive. Manchester and Birmingham are cheaper.

University Cities are usually good places to be based. Apart from that anywhere on the south coast. The best beaches are at Bournemouth. The weather is good as well along that coastal stretch. Workwise, anywhere along the M4 can provide good opportunities, e.g. Reading, Slough, or Swindon.

Yes. it's true, London is very expensive most in 1 and 2 sectors

London for me. Specially if you are an expat. Easy access on anything if you are also looking for specific food, item etc. you would like there are lots of options in where you can get it. transport is also easy.

of course London

I have been to London and Manchester and living in Birmingham. London is very lively and busy super expensive. Manchester is multicultural, Birmingham is nice, quiet and very green ..

The idea that Portsmouth has a good university is odd.

It has a university, is ranked about no 60. It's status as a uni is generous to say the least.

You can't say one place is better than another in general. You can say the north is cheaper than the south to live in, but quite often wages reflect in that price as well.

If you like a good night life then you will choose a larger city than a small village, as if you like peace and quiet with countryside on your doorstep you will bick a village. This all goes without saying.

Sometimes you don't have a choice in where you live as you have to go where the work is. Not always easy, but the best way I always found is a balance with work, good social life and peace.

I hope I am not off topic. I want to visit England for 6 months in the country side. Can anyone reccomend what towns/area are good with local village flair. I dont need extravagance.. Thanks

Countryside?  I heard good of/visited Yorkshire dale, Lake District, North York Moors, Peak District, Snowdonia (Wales), Cornwall.  There are so many places.

The one I best know is Peak District as just 30 min drive from where I live.

Lake District is also amazing and when I went in October they were looking for volunteers.

I was reading about the lake district. I will research about renting. Anything else you can share is greatly appreciated... Thanks

Portsea island... Well I have just discovered something new...thanks

As many have said, it depends on your requirements. The idea that London is expensive though is a matter of opinion. Meaning, if you are one person with one job, paying the average £1,000 to £1,200 per month for rent (up to £1,500 with bills) with a rubbish salary then, yes, that is expensive.

However, "in the real world" many people share a house to cut costs. It is not unusual for 5 people to share a flat, if not 10, in London. People also live within the boundaries of London (i.e. Wembley, Romford, Barking, Woolwich, Edmonton, etc) and commute to work. If they are forced to, they will also get a second job (even as a toilet cleaner). They will also utilise the markets, such as Brixton market and East Street market for cheaper, but often better quality fresh food. They will also shop as a family to cut costs, even though they are 5 individuals sharing a flat. They will stay in the living room, so as to use minimal electricity (i.e. they do not necessarily have the luxury of having a light bulb on in every bedroom).

Illegal renting of council flats is also on the up. Hence why the councils are having a crack down. It is not unusual for someone renting a council flat to charge £10 per night per person, for up to 10 people (all sleeping in the living room) between the hours of 11am til 7pm (when they go to work). These are some of the realities.

@petercori: well with such a description, you are clearly saying London is very expensive.  Anyway Yengyang is looking for countryside.

Yes for 6 month visit

Yengyang may be looking for countryside, but I was replying to a topic (thread) called - Which CITY would you consider best to live and why?

My message was stating that London is expensive if you have one job, etc etc..... but "in reality".......there are ways to make it more affordable and so on (i.e. sharing a flat). Lets face it, if I go to a poor country with GBP I might say that place is cheap. Just as people coming to the UK will say London is expensive. I could with the same token say, if I live in the mansion house in the poor country that mansion house is expensive to rent. And if I live in a shared flat in London that flat is cheap/cheaper.

Sorry if I upset you petercori but I was speaking within the same country. If I compare your description of life in London to make it affordable and the life in my current city, the conclusion is London is the hell expensive.

@Yengyang: I've been recently in Lake District, wasdale head for instance, there're nice places up there. I won't be an expert but if you have any question regarding that area, please ask.

Thanks joyfik

Plymouth.
It's where I live. Not a very large city, but it is on the South coast by the sea. If you love sailing, fishing, beaches, anything sea related, it's wonderful. Rents and houses are cheaper than elsewhere. Two universities and three Higher Education colleges. It is safe, clean (-ish) and absolutely gorgeous. Great night life and lots of things happening throughout the year. I wouldn't live anywhere else; I moved here from Pittsburgh, PA, in the States.

I live in Manchester but i think London is absolutely beautiful!

Portsmouth is a Big Navy Base City.  Hence it's very Conservative - Liberal thinking.  Keep that in mind. 
However, it's a very lovely place; but for us, we prefer Weekend Getaway visits rather than living there.

I read an article that had Portsmouth in the Top 10 Worst places to live in UK.  Hers some links to help U:

South Coast
most vibrant places to live on the South Coast of UK - Google Search
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=most+ … ent=safari

10 Best Up-and-coming Seaside Towns | www.coastmagazine.co.ukhttp://www.coastmagazine.co.uk/content/ … side-towns

10 of the UK's most creative towns and cities to live, work and play | Creative Boom
http://www.creativeboom.com/tips/10-of- … -and-play/

We spent our 1st x 12 months living in UK - in Cardiff, Wales. 
Home of  BBC Studio / Dr Who and many other well know TV Series.   
Fabulous place and people super friendly.  Fabulous assortment of Shops, Restaurants, Nightclubs, World-Class: Sporting Venues, Entertainment, Artists and Venues.  Cardiff Bay is a Gem with the famous Barry Beach just 6 miles away.  Accessible by train into London for a day; but way too expensive and long for Commuting into London for Work. 
The Cons; the only cons are being too far out from London for our liking and the Weather is Terrible - with year round RAIN - and very little Sunshine.   To be honest; it rained nearly every day of our 12 month stay.
Wales = Is Filled with Liquid Sunshine.
However; Warm, Welcoming & Friendly Folks make up for it ten fold in Cardiff, Wales.   If your ISO a large City feel; yet still with a Community Spirit - then Cardiff is the place to live! 
We now prefer to enjoy spending our weekends in Cardiff. Such a Vibrant place where there's always something happening down the Bay or at the Beach. Barry Island enjoys Pet friendly Cafés plus a year round Beachside Amusement Center - Barry Island Pleasure Park: http://www.barryislandpleasurepark.co.uk/

To be closer in to London; yet live in a affordable and active area; we relocated to live in Reading, England.  We've now been living in Reading 9 months and we couldn't be happier.  Commutable distance to London and it'll be even Cheaper and easier come the completion of the Cross-Rail Link: (Fast Train - Direct, non-stop train line between Reading and London).  Until then we find it more affordable to drive to Hounslow and park at Station for £5.00 for the day (Free on Sundays) for a cheap return ticket into London.
We love everything a Reading has to offer. Sunday Assembly helped us meet like minded people; these groups are throughout the UK and the World.   SA meet up one Sunday each month; however, there are other opportunities to meet up socially throughout the month at various fun activities or social get together's.

Sunday Assembly Reading (Reading, England) | Meetup
http://www.meetup.com/Sunday-Assembly-Reading/

What is Sunday Assembly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QPwq1JZkq4

Sundayassembly.com

Links that may assist in your decision making:
Cost of Living in United Kingdom. Prices in United Kingdom. Updated Aug 2016
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co … ed+Kingdom

Compare different areas against each other:
Cost Of Living Comparison
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.co.uk

Cost of Living in United Kingdom. Prices in United Kingdom. Updated Nov 2016
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c … ed+Kingdom

Cost of Living in United Kingdom. 2016 prices in United Kingdom.
https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-livi … ed-kingdom

I can't praise Reading enough.  It has everything we were ISO.
Thames River, Shops, Nightclubs, Sporting Events, Pubs and Restaurants everywhere you look, Location - close to everywhere you want to be; including Airports and Train links to everywhere else.  Good weather, plenty of Entertainment Activities both Indoor and Outdoor.  Plus we host the annual Reading Festival too!
Reading has too much to list here; I recommend you visit Reading, England on the reliable Google link. 
What's not to like!

Territory: READING AREA INFO - 2014

Population (mid-2014 est.
• Town & Borough    160,825 (Ranked 115th)
• Density    10,310/sq mi (3,981/km2)
• Urban    318,014 (Ranked 20th in England and Wales)
• Ethnicity[4]    74.8% White (65.3% White British)
9.1% South Asian
6.7 % Black
3.9% Mixed Race
4.5% Chinese and Other Asian
0.9% Other
Postal Code:    RG1, RG2, RG4, RG5, RG6, RG30, RG31
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(mid 2014 est.)

The Borough of Reading has a population of 160,825.

whereas the town of Reading (which includes the large suburbs of Earley, and Woodley) has a total population of 232,662.

This figure currently makes Reading the largest settlement in the UK without city

The town forms the largest part of the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area which had a population of 318,014 (2011 census).

This population was originally higher (close to 370,000) until Bracknell was transferred to the Greater London Urban Area.

Reading is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet.

Reading is located 39 miles (63 km) east from Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) south from Oxford, 42 miles (68 km) west of London, 17 miles (27 km) north of Basingstoke, 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Maidenhead and 19 miles (31 km) east of Newbury.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So wanted to ask you all if you know much about Southhampton?  If so please share anything and everything both good and bad - your honesty would be appreciated.  Will I have a desired market for my Donestic Cleaning, Ironing and Housekeeping business in Southhampton or honestly probably shouldn't bother investing my hard earned funds into this type of Franchise?  It's suppose to be the top 3 of 10 Recessionproof Businesses today!
It's currently a contender for our next place to live?   It's got the Ships sailing part into and out of the dock - plus it's a large Vibrant City; whilst still being accessible to London by train for hubby's work weekdays. 

Looking towards Southhampton vs where we currently live in Reading; as I'm looking towards buying into a Domestic Cleaning Franchise and Readibg already has 152 Cleaning Company's  (that I could find online  - but I'm certain the number exceeds this number by many more) whilst Southport only has 25 Cleaning Co's. 
It's important to live where there's a majority of householders Commuting for their work - as they tend to prefer to delegate their Housekeeping to Company's offering a Domestic Cleaning, Zironibg and various other Housekeeping Services - to which I'll be offering through my Franchise Business early - mid 2017. 
I'm drawn to areas offering a large body of Water as I enjoy watching Boating Activity; especially Cruise Ships!   Yet it must be easily accessible to London for hubs work and we enjoy Lobdon as our weekend playground.

I'm originally from the countryside, but I lived in Birmingham for 3 years. I honestly think it's a vastly underrated city - if I were to move to England as an expat, I might not consider it, but I know I'd relish living there! It's a large city of 2 million people, yet it doesn't feel anywhere near as claustrophic as London, it has plenty of green spaces, and the locals are generally very friendly. Plus it's highly multi-cultural and is a prominent university city, so has plenty of interesting and diverse events and activities to get involved with.

Brum's only positive point is any road out of the place. The Chinatown is atrocious (Manchester's is about a million times better) and the city is a mess.
Coventry is another story; that's lovely city. Both have the advantage of being a short hop to Stratford upon Avon, the home of my beloved Shakespeare.

Fred wrote:

Brum's only positive point is any road out of the place. The Chinatown is atrocious (Manchester's is about a million times better) and the city is a mess.
Coventry is another story; that's lovely city. Both have the advantage of being a short hop to Stratford upon Avon, the home of my beloved Shakespeare.

Well, it just goes to show there's no accounting for taste! I have a lot of family from Coventry and I still really don't like it, it's so dominated by 1950s/60s dull concrete architecture... at least the city centre. I just don't think it has the vibrancy of Birmingham!

Horses for courses.
I explored the Coventry, finding so much of interest. I dislike the cathedral, seeing it as a monstrosity more suited to worshipping the devil of modern architecture than a place to worship God, but a heck of a lot of good stuff survived the German bombings.
Much as I live in a city at the moment, I'm not really much of a fan of them so that puts Brum in a bad light for me.
That and the Chinatown is pretty bad, but not as bad as Liverpool's.
Manchester is better, both as a place to live and an example of a good Chinatown, but I'd still suggest smaller towns as better places to live for all, both expats and locals.
Brum for me is unattractive, but I suppose a lot like it.

Wakefield, as I recall, hasn't had a mention in this thread, an error as it's such a nice place. Generally safe, not too expensive and loads of nice places around it to visit.

Yeah I think it's the areas that didn't survive the war that are the issue for me - the post-war architecture is pretty ghastly! That said, as you say there thankfully still are some beautiful buildings that survived.
Manchester is also a great shout - always wanted to get to know it better!

London of course is the best it's a no brainer but it's so ridiculously expensive that it forces the quality of life for non wealthy people to a very low level.
In England basically South is more expensive and the more you go to North it becomes cheaper, so Manchester is cheaper than London and Newcastle is cheaper than Manchester.
I would say Manchester has the second best night life after London and there are so many shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes in there.
but if you're old and have money I would seriously suggest you to consider living in Villages there is a really nice lifestyle and good energy in some places...

I'm thinking to rent around Manchester since I heard it's a lively place
but I don't know, I like Portsmouth too I think I should take some
more time to think about it.

Samonella wrote:

London of course is the best it's a no brainer.

The high crime rate in that city is a very serious issue so I would tend to disagree with you.
London is the last place I would recommend because of the crime and the cost of living there.

Crime rate is just a joke, even if there is any it's because of the youth messing around or dodgy people messing around with the paper stuff and legal documents or simply small crimes such as selling cannabis or breaking a glass after a drink or etc...I have been there for years and it's definitely a very safe and sound and also a posh place....

Knife crime is massively higher than any other city in the UK, as is rape.

Knife crime

Firearms

Samonella wrote:

Crime rate is just a joke, even if there is any it's because of the youth messing around or dodgy people messing around with the paper stuff and legal documents or simply small crimes such as selling cannabis or breaking a glass after a drink or etc...I have been there for years and it's definitely a very safe and sound and also a posh place....

As you can see from the above posts, London is easily the most dangerous city in the UK.
Add the absolutely mad cost of living there and I would generally recommend avoiding the place unless you have no other options available.