An observation from a non-Sheffielder

[Lady Star]

I get fed up with people comparing Sheffield to other cities.

 

Do a few designer shops and some high rise flats make other places better?

 

Sheffield might not have everything a modern European city is supposed to have but its a nice, friendly place with decent enough centre.

 

In my view the citizens of Sheffield in the majority have an underlying sense of how to be good with people which a lot of other places don't.

 

We have an identity, and that goes when you make it into what other cities view as "the future".

 

You will find that other cities also feel that they have an identity too... Designer shops and flats do not make a city, but we don't have many good shops at all, and a city really does need them! Not chain stores, independents - It's these that give a city a identity, shops that appeal to various people, not all, and that make both your home and your 'look' individual... I have to say as an 'non-sheffielder' that Sheffield isn't that friendly a place either - I've seen more 'community' when it comes to strangers knowing how to be be 'good with people' in South London, and many people who only know London from the perspective of a Christmas shopping trip believe that London is a pretty soul less city, when because it's so big they don't see how they relate to one another in their own habitat...

 

Manchester and Liverpool have a much clearer, more defined, identity than Sheff - what is the prevalent attitude of the average Sheffielder? I've lived and worked here for almost 13 years and I cannot work it out!

[Mr Sheffield]

Sheffield is not the 4th largest city but who cares it doesn't have the gang culture I grew up around in London whereas Manchester does. You can breath fresh air in Sheffield not smoke like in London Birmingham and Manchester. You talk about those cities like they are better than Sheffield but being from London I can tell you that Sheffield is a much cleaner pleasant sort of place. London is an extremely volatile place where nobody cares about anyone but themselves. I know northerners view London as a place with posh people but the place is full of slums where unemployed young men resent those with money and are extremely ruthless in the way they conduct themselves. I have seen people trying to behave like that in Sheffield but certainly not on the same scale as London.

 

London can be exciting at first sight but when you live there over a long period what you'll find is it consists of annoying tourists. Stuck up toffs, rude idiots, drug dealers, pimps, pick pockets, con men and women.

 

mmmmmmm Sheffield IS the 4th biggest city!just go back a few pages and look at the links provided!it may not seem like the 4th largest but it IS!!Actually here is a link!http://go.sheffieldforum.co.uk/?id=203X323&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citymayors.com%2Fgratis%2Fuk_topcities.html

Edited August 22, 2009 by Mr Sheffield

[spinac]

For me personally, top end shopping would not be the decisive factor in deciding whether I wanted to live in one city or another.

 

However, IF I was a business person thinking of opening a large store in a major UK city, I'd want to open where the population was largest - where there'd be a greater chance of attracting the largest number of customers.

 

The factor I'd look at is how many people live within an hour's drive of the centre - NOT how many people live within the strict city boundary.

 

For that reason I'd be looking at these stats rather than any other - http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1307

 

Is there any other reason Sheffield shopping doesn't match up to other cities? Who cares how many people live in the strict city centre? It's the big picture that counts and business owners know that and open up elsewhere before opening up in Sheffield.

 

In particular if I was choosing whether to open in Leeds or Sheffield then the difference between the West Yorkshire urban area and the Sheffield urban area is striking.

 

Is Sheffield a great place to live? Yes. That wasn't the point of the OP. It was just about the size of the city and why the 4th largest city stat seems to be such an anomaly when you've experienced what goes on in supposedly smaller cities.

 

What's the best place to live? Well that's purely subjective. It depends on what you're looking for. Would I swap Sheffield's closeness to great countryside for even more city centre shops? No.

 

There's a good balance to Sheffield. I like it for what it is. 4th largest city with great countryside where other cities have urban sprawl.

 

It's this reason that makes Sheffield only 9th largest urban area.

 

This is a fact.

 

It's a good fact - something to be celebrated rather than ignored or denied.

Edited August 22, 2009 by spinac