What comes to mind when you think of Birmingham?

+1 DFP, my local convienience store is spot on, even to the point of lending me cordless drills, screwdrivers and various other implements when i am in the shizz.

having a steaming pony

Allright Moxy?

In london, somewhere like Brixton say. All those fried chicken shops are really impersonal and grotty.
wash your fucking mouth out.

In london, somewhere like Brixton say. All those fried chicken shops are really impersonal and grotty. Whereas fast food and even mini-mart type shops here, are personal indpendent enterprises which people put a lot of care into.

Least we got jobs in Brixton Bro

Are you settling here for good then? I reckon its actually pretty good in terms of family, schooling and work. If you have your wits about you, you can get a lot out of it. I mean its easy to get out to the countryside either up to peak district or westwards to wales/coast etc.

There is enough middle class leafy surburbs AND cheap & more cultural places to live inner city. We actually have zillions of independent food retailers, which can be cheaper to shop at than supermarkets.

If you live anywhere near, ladypool, stratford or soho road you can do all your food shopping on foot. Our fast food outlets are also much more well kept/nicer than the equivalent stuff in London.

In london, somewhere like Brixton say. All those fried chicken shops are really impersonal and grotty. Whereas fast food and even mini-mart type shops here, are personal indpendent enterprises which people put a lot of care into.

Sorry DFP, I appreciate your point, but I don't know where your fast food references apply to me? I don't want to live near any such establishment, or even care how they source their food.
I guess that living in the city centre has given me a bad representation of the area. It fucking sucks balls.

I think London has the best and worst fast food. I think Birmingham just has the worst. I really can't think of anywhere (bar a few fish n chip shops) that are even 'good', let alone great.

However, I agree with DFP's point about quality of life. I have the same lifestyle here in Birmingham that most of my London friends do, except they earn more than double what I do. Birmingham is affordable, and the suburbs are the same as anywhere, except closer. I live 4 miles from the centre, in a two bed end-terrace with a large garden in a safe area surrounded by nice parks.

Chennai Dosa on Hagley Rd and Jyoti on Stratford Rd.
Vegetarian fast(ish) food that is edible.

Fast food - food is usually one or the other, never both.

Mr Egg great food ,you also get free entertainment watching the fights kick off as they come out across the road dragging their knuckles on the floor

turn it up
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs9kzmzHgmQ"]YouTube
- grace jones - nipple to the bottle 1982[/ame]

I guess you are happy in places where you have good experiences and memorable events..... Oh, and I'd rather eat the peanuts out of my shit, than eat from places near me.

Mr Egg is dead.

I guess you are happy in places where you have good experiences and memorable events..... Oh, and I'd rather eat the peanuts out of my shit, than eat from places near me.

Friends of the Earth cafe is the only good food in your manor, it's way better than half digested peanuts

I think of good things dying, of high levels of unemployment, of the tory council who do not support the independent, of all of our cash tied up in retail, of shit infrastructure, of a massive fucking ring road that kills people.

It's all shit, pass me the razor blade.

Oh wait, we have REYNOLDS and BROOKS.

must be some way of using iconic Reynolds font or logo on a polo shirt...

http://fivenineclimber.com/bikes/gazelle/misc/reynolds_80.htm

I trained the staff at Chiquitos Hagley rd when we opened it in 1996 (true)

was up there week before last as it goes, swam at Selly Oak pool which was lush,

first tasted city riding there-- some good fast road systems to howl round.

I read that of the top-twenty most densely populated cities in Europe, 10 of them are in the UK. British cities are compact, not sprawling... As I said - 6 miles from the centre to countryside with 1 million population is actually very compact. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&biw=1362&bih=583&q=aston+villa+leisure+centre&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il

This true I think the type of sprawl people are thinking of is the impression that the B'ham different areas are more like outer London suburbs rather than inner London suburbs, or the mid-sized town but scaled up, like a scaled up Bracknell. It's the outer London suburbs that sprawl and for most people, outer London suburbs don't represent city living, they are all rather similar, Daily Mail areas, same high streets e.t.c.

I'm no expert in B'ham as I've only been there are couple of time but this is also the impression I got. I was also taken into the city centre (or at least part of it), and the town centre left me feeling cold too, it was too similar to being in a town centre such as Swindon or Reading but a bit bigger. It mainly seemed like chain pubs, and shops and restaurant in complexes. Comparing to Manchester or Liverpool centres which have a more "city feel". I'm sure B'ham has it's good bits but this is the impression I have gained from a couple of visits.

Mr Egg is dead.

im over 40 i never go out anymore :)

[QUOTE=TheBrick(Tommy);1908886] I was also taken into a part of the city centre (or at least part of it), and the town centre left me feeling cold too QUOTE]
Ya! I know exactly where you mean. Its my garden.....

This true I think the type of sprawl people are thinking of is the impression that the B'ham different areas are more like outer London suburbs rather than inner London suburbs, or the mid-sized town but scaled up, like a scaled up Bracknell. It's the outer London suburbs that sprawl and for most people, outer London suburbs don't represent city living, they are all rather similar, Daily Mail areas, same high streets e.t.c.

I'm no expert in B'ham as I've only been there are couple of time but this is also the impression I got. I was also taken into the city centre (or at least part of it), and the town centre left me feeling cold too, it was too similar to being in a town centre such as Swindon or Reading but a bit bigger. It mainly seemed like chain pubs, and shops and restaurant in complexes. Comparing to Manchester or Liverpool centres which have a more "city feel". I'm sure B'ham has it's good bits but this is the impression I have gained from a couple of visits.

dosent help when the marketing twats promote fictional places like 'northlondonshire'

• wellingborough, kettering, corby, I mean wtf?
  

I feel i should apologise. The thing is, I spend most of my weekends away from Birmingham, and really feel like we live in the city centre to accomodate my job. It doesn't add up if i'm honest.I had a jaw dropping weekend of riding around warwickshire and north oxfordshire - and caught up with some very good friends, and its this that makes me draw comparisons to my current set up.
My only friends (check this motherfucker out for a sob story) are forum alias'.....
Love you guys......

+1 - when the report came out last year that Cambridge has the most chain-stores, I was suprised. We must be up there.

There are independents, but they're forced out of the centre. The Bullring has had a really negative effect I think. All of the succesful chains have moved in there, so that the older city streets are filled with poundland-style shitholes.

To be honest though, the shopping I do is either supermarket/local market or internet based. I hardly ever go to high-st shops, so the fact that it's all chains bothers me not.

If you live on the south side the cycling roads are heaven and only 10-15 minutes away

If you live on the south side the cycling roads are heaven and only 10-15 minutes away

Exactly my point. If you're a roadie/in training, there are much worse places to live.

dosent help when the marketing twats promote fictional places like 'northlondonshire'

• wellingborough, kettering, corby, I mean wtf?
  
  

I went mad when I herd that shit on the Radio, North Londonshire. Fucking bollocks!