Birmingham ranked in Europe's top 30 cities

National World - LocalTV

Birmingham has been named the 30th best city in Europe in a major new study. It was ranked for culture, jobs, and quality of life. We hit the streets to find out if locals agree — or if the experts have got it wrong.

Transcript

00:00Birmingham's landed in the top third of Europe's best cities at number 30.

00:05Not bad for a place that's either overlooked or unfairly mocked.

00:09The study looked at how liveable and prosperous cities feel,

00:13from jobs and infrastructure to how enjoyable day-to-day life is.

00:17Big investments, a young population and major redevelopment projects

00:21likely helped boost our score, but it's easy to tick boxes on a spreadsheet,

00:26much harder to reflect real lives and lived experience.

00:30So we've been asking, based on what you know and see,

00:32does Birmingham feel like one of the best cities in Europe?

00:36Yeah, I mean, so I've been working here for the last couple of weeks.

00:41We've had, I think it's gone now, but we had, like, the fairgrounds thing.

00:45The Birmingham rep is obviously amazing.

00:47I think there's loads going on.

00:49I think it's nice.

00:50I think there's a lot of opportunities here,

00:54but I feel like it could be improved

00:58by the amount of homelessness there is.

01:04It's quite obsessing to see.

01:06I feel like there could be better attention paid to them.

01:10I feel like if you're from here and to have local pride is definitely good

01:15and to think that the city's good and to want it to become better,

01:18there's definitely problems, especially nowadays,

01:20with binge strikes, local government and just the state of Britain in general.

01:25But I think it's good to believe that it's a good city

01:28and to stay positive about it.

01:29Yeah, definitely.

01:30One of the things that gave Birmingham a boost in this ranking

01:34was its cultural scene.

01:36The study picked up on nightlife, music, events

01:39and what the city offers socially.

01:41It's the sort of thing that shapes how people connect with a place,

01:45whether they stay, invite others in or just make memories here.

01:49But we know what a city's like on paper

01:51isn't always what you get on the ground.

01:54Culture can feel exciting, stale or even inaccessible

01:57depending on where you're standing.

02:00So we asked people what they make of Birmingham's character

02:03and if they think the city's got its spark back.

02:07It's nice.

02:08It's very lively during the weekend times.

02:11It's full.

02:13There's a variety of places to go for drinks or even clubs,

02:23which is good.

02:24Yeah, and restaurants.

02:25And it's good if you like a night time.

02:30Theatres, the symphony hall, town hall, those sorts of places.

02:37And from what I understand in terms of nightlife for young people as well

02:41and our diversity, I think we should be proud of Birmingham

02:46in terms of the breadth and depth of the culture that's represented here.

02:52And I think how well people get on in this city.

02:56It's a credit to Brummies.

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