Do you think Leeds is a happy place?

Yorkshire Evening Post

09/08/2023

We asked people do you think Leeds is a happy place.

Transcript

00:00 consider Leeds a happy place? Yes, I love Leeds. I think it's like I came back from

00:07 Greece to live in Leeds. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. How did the two places compare in terms of

00:14 happiness and lifestyle? Well, obviously the sunshine and the beautiful scenery is lovely

00:23 in Greece, but it hasn't got the warmth and the family. Yes, they have the family, but

00:30 they haven't got the warmth of Leeds. Yeah, yeah. Where would you consider out of everywhere

00:35 is the happiest place that you've ever sort of been to? That I've ever lived. That you've

00:40 ever lived or visited or anything? I'd have to say Leeds. Oh, really? I keep coming back

00:47 to Leeds. I think so. I've only been up here two years, but I was here many years ago as

00:54 a student. I think it's changed a lot. I think it's very difficult to describe whether a

01:00 place is happy or not, because obviously there's so many varieties all over the place. I mean,

01:06 if I compare it to where I've just been living for the last 40 years in Norwich, I would

01:11 have said it is basically, but there are obviously going to be areas where there isn't happiness.

01:17 But generally, yes. And so where would you consider is the happiest place that you've

01:23 ever lived or you've visited or? You mean in England, I take it? Anywhere? Oh, well,

01:33 my happiest place is in Switzerland. Nice. I love it there. And why is that? I've never

01:38 been to Switzerland. Well, I've been going since a child. I love the mountains and I

01:41 just love the fact it's a very clean country. Everything runs on time and it doesn't have

01:46 to be expensive if you're careful. But it's not a place I can afford to live, unfortunately.

01:51 I'm going to say yes. Yeah? Yeah. Why so? Why? I was born here. I don't know too much

01:57 different, to be honest with you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like I say, I live in Otley, so it's

02:02 quite quiet there, but then I come into the city centre to work, so I get best of both

02:06 worlds, to be honest with you. Yeah. How would you compare the two places in terms of happiness?

02:10 Obviously, Otley is a bit more sort of out of the way, isn't it? Well, it's more exclusive,

02:15 yeah. It's quieter. Let's say we have the sherry, we've got more walking places there.

02:21 Yeah. Yeah. Very countryside-y to the busy town. Less traffic. Yeah. You say they all

02:27 sort of contribute to the levels of happiness and... Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely on the

02:32 river. Yeah. Oh yeah, of course. I'd say so. Yeah. Yeah. In what way? How long have you

02:37 lived here for? I mean, it's quite diverse. There's people from all backgrounds, so...

02:41 Yeah. Yeah. Have you lived here about 10 years? No. Yeah. Compared to where is it you're from,

02:47 Lachlan? Arizona. Arizona? A much happier place in Arizona, 100%. Here is? I would say

02:52 so, yeah. Yeah? In what sense? Just the people, you know, the way of life. Yeah. Yeah. People

03:01 are walking around here, and where I'm from, everyone's on their phone, everyone's staying

03:05 inside. There's no community, you know, in that respect. Yeah, I'd say a lot over here

03:12 than over there, that's for sure. Yeah. Yeah. How long are you staying for, and what have

03:16 you been doing since you've been here? Well, I've been here for about two years. Okay.

03:19 Coming up to three, finally, so I'm losing a lot of my American swing, picking up a lot

03:25 of the Yorkshire quips and kind of language tips, and yeah, studying, doing my stuff.

03:31 Cool, man. And what about yourself, Nick? Would you consider Leeds a happy place, having

03:35 been born and raised? Well, happiness is a state of mind. There's angry people around,

03:40 there's happy people. It's subjective. I'm in my 50s, I see society very differently.

03:46 Yeah. A lot more angrier people, divided people, scared people. I see a definite loss of community.

03:56 Neighbours not talking to each other. Insular. We're digitally imprisoned. Yeah. Do you think

04:03 that's a countrywide, sort of worldwide thing? Yeah, it's a worldwide thing. Yeah. I mean,

04:08 Leeds, how would you say it compares to other places in the UK? It's just a city. It's somewhere

04:13 to live. Yeah.

Do you think Leeds is a happy place?

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