Where In The UK Should You Actually Live?

[Brazen]

So Doner Kebab is Turkish, right?  Now that makes sense in Germany with your Turkish population, but why did the UK go with Turkish?  Surely there are more Levantines in the UK than Turks.

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but my particular enclave of North London has a massive population of second/third generation Turks, Greeks and Cypriots who run most of the kebab, fish and chip and barber shops. Turk vs. Greek gang violence is one of the biggest drivers of murders hereabouts.

Strangely, there are no Polish restaurants here yet

[Ed Anger]

I ask the Lebanese resturant to hold the veggies. Lettuce and tomatoes. 

[Syt]

I can't speak for the rest of the country

I'll take Things Londeners Are Unlikely To Say for 300, please, Alex.

[Brazen]

I can't speak for the rest of the country

I'll take Things Londeners Are Unlikely To Say for 300, please, Alex.

You're almost not foreign.

[Gups]

England's second city.
Half of the country's good music does seem to come from there.
In many ways a scaled down London.

If you ask a Manc what England's second city is he'll say Manchester
If you ask a Brummie, he'll say Birmingham
If you ask a tyke, he'll say Leeds
If you ask a scouser, he'll say London


Manchester is a great city in many ways but it isn't a scaled down London in any way at all. It's a proper northern provincial city with no buildings from before 1820, lots of energy, rain and pissed up girls in impossibly short skirts.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Calling it a scaled-down London is a bit of an insult really. It is a different sort of place to London and that is precisely what a lot of people seem to like about it.

[The Larch]

I also got Manchester. 

[Josquius]

It does heavily strike me as a smaller London. Not an exact analogy by any means but somewhat.
Big, grey, lots of international business, lots of crime, loads of minorities, imperial war museum.

And it is definitely England's second city.
Liverpool is a joke, rather cute in thinking it is a player. It would be in its best interests to throw its weight behind Manchester alas sadly their attitude towards their regional centre makes people from Sunderland look indistinguishable to those from Byker.
Leeds is quite secure in knowing it is 4th. I've never heard anything from Tykes claiming Leeds to beat Manchester according to any metric other than just being a nicer place to live.
Birmingham is the only competitor and back in the 80s it was the second city but things have changed. Manchester wins in pretty much every category.

[PJL]

I actually think it wouldn't be a bad idea to make Manchester the capital. One of the problems in the UK right now is that it's so London-centric, what with it being the main political, financial and cultural capital of the country, which is driving x10 as much investment into it as any other city. Moving the capital to Manchester would at least remove the political aspect from London, create lots of new jobs and reinvigorate the economy in the North, and actually make HS2 worthwhile.

Besides it's quite common for countries to have separate financial & political poles. Washington / New York, Berlin/Frankfurt, etc

[Warspite]

It's so fun watching the provincials argue. Here chaps, have some more benefits.

[Richard Hakluyt]

It's so fun watching the provincials argue. Here chaps, have some more benefits.

Thank'ee your honour (tugs forelock) 

[PDH]

I got Budleigh Salterton.  I must have done something wrong.

[FunkMonk]

My Argentine friend said there are only two restaurants in Manchester. I would not want to live there.

[Valmy]

I don't think that's true. Many parts of the us don't even say gyro.

Well I can say for sure in Texas that is something you get a Greek restaurant and it is called a Gyro.  I was with Yi on this one.  Also when people were saying 'kebab' I was also thinking shish kebab.  Maybe he is speaking for us here in flyover America.

[Valmy]

One of the problems in the UK right now is that it's so London-centric, what with it being the main political, financial and cultural capital of the country, which is driving x10 as much investment into it as any other city.

Yeah Paris and London are to France and the UK what a combination of DC/LA/New York/Chicago would be to the US.  It is just crazy how dominant those cities are in every aspect of life.