[Closed] The best city you have ever lived in?

I'll be the first to declare Edinburgh.

Another vote for Edinburgh

Glasgow because there is a vibrancy about the city and it's easy to get to some nice big hills.- I thought Edinburgh was an unfriendly place to live.

Melbourne by a country mile.

Kathmandu, fantastic climate, great food, great biking and miles of it from the door.

i loved brussels but best place ive lived is morgin its a fantastic location 🙂

Sheffield. Amazing trails right out the door, big city facilities but feels small and friendly. I came to uni here and never left.

Montréal. Hands down.

@corroded, my old work has offices in sydney and melbourne, i've heard it's pretty nice there, what makes it so good for you? is there much riding to be had?

Amsterdam. Really had a great 2 years living there.. And not just because of the obvious... Great people, great area, and had one of the best bunch of people I've ever workd with.

Another vote for Glasgow, great people, great night life, great cycling near by.

UK: Edinburgh
otherwise: Paris or Copenhagen
(worst: Houston)

Can't be Glasgow, he said his language skills sucked

Huddersfield.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

My issues with riding in Australia would be twofold; too bloody hot half the year, and not the network of trails that exist over here. Not much you can do about the weather, but local knowledge would improve the riding I guess. Beaches of course are fantastic 🙂

Any particular reason you'd have to live [b]in[/b] a city? You could live in the country and commute.

The best city I've lived in was Salisbury and even then I couldn't wait to get out. It's nice and small, and encircled by rolling hills. Now living about 4 miles away in a small town, best of both worlds IMO.

UK: Newcastle upon Tyne, a great City surrounded by fantastic countryside and coastal beauty. I came here 15 years ago and love it....

Abroad: Seattle or Vancouver, North American without the madness. Clean, safe, great standard of living and more outdoor fun than you could manage in a lifetime

IMO Cape Town, working here for a World Cup project, but mountain biking is the fastest growing sport here they organise events almost every weekend and there are loads of trails to get out on. Plus the cost of living is really cheap, bottle of beer in the tourist areas about £1. Crime in cape Town no worse than any major city, but avoid JoBurg after dark!

I've lived in Cardiff, Colchester, London and Oxford!
Cardiff is by far the best! You have everything in one place, a great city, sea and mountains on the doorstep for some awesome riding or trail centres locally for a change. I'm dying to move back to Cardiff! hopefully soon!

Adeliade in australia...awesome, the hills have loads of really good mountain and road bike riding and are cool enough in the mornings and evenings...amazing place...i was there for 8 yrs and should have stayed longer

Auckland. Relaxed vibe. Great road riding scene. Close to some fantastic mountain biking. Came back home after a few year, regret it every day. A bit wet and clod in the winter, but that's the only drawback.

Hobart. Got here 9 years ago & everything just fell into place. Within a week I'd met a good crew to ride with, a great job & the girl I married last year. Everything you could want in a city, but small enough to be nice to live in.
& the singletrack is right over the road.

Durham. 3 years at University. Someone pls invent a time machine so i can go back again.

Brisbane

Don't really like cities, but I could never tire of Paris.

Spindleruv Mlyn, beautiful mountains with no access restrictions, loads of single and friendly Norwegian girls in the Winter or Czech birds in the Summer. Beer is virtually free, food awesome, views to die for.

London-Best and worst!

Lived in London, Sheffield, Chester, Hull, Coventry and New York. New York is the best but prefer the (Surrey) countryside now.

Brighton.

Chichester

Florence. Liking Portland, Oregon a lot.

Edinburgh - by a big margin!

Leiden, Netherlands
(with Bristol a close 2nd)

I've lived in London, Canterbury, Peterborough, Lincoln, Sheffield and Nottingham.

Canterbury is a lovely place, the right size and great to look at. Bit touristy though.

London is a sh*te-hole, full of bloody Londoners and takes for-ever to get out of.

It's a no-brainer though, Sheff has the night life, the people and of course the Peak on the door step.

APF

San Diego would get my vote, although I hear San Fran and as above Portland, OR are supposed to be great. California just has everything from great beaches to skiing, it is the birth place of mountain biking, great food its even got yosemite. Nuff said.

ANother vote for Edinburgh

the only city I've lived in was Bradford, from '82 when I went to uni, to '98 when I finally got out into the 'burbs. Sh&thole.

now in a 'village' on the outskirts of the Bradford district, but with trails, hills & countryside right from the doorstep. Still have to go through town to get to the motoroway to work though. Still a sh&thole, made worse by the Westfield Hole where they promised a shopping centre

but it [i]is[/i] cheaper than Leeds 😉

Sheffield, haven't live there yet but hope to do a pgce there next year and have spent a decent ammount of time there visiting friends. The riding on your doorstep is awesome, the people are really friendly and down to earth and its a cheap place to live.

Vancouver - wish I could have stayed longer than a year.

Best biking in the world on your doorstep, skiing, ocean, great food

+1 for Glasgow in the UK and Vancouver globally

New York. Worked and lived there for 3 years just before Sept 11. Had a fantastic time, single and in my early 30's and was paid obscene amounts of money which I needed and spent. Not great for biking.

Although I loved my time there I could never see myself going back. Happy now with a relatively tranquil existence in SW London.

Although, if an opportunity came up the the two places I would love to stay for a while are Vancouver or Sydney but that is just wishful thinking. Been many times on extended business trips but never lived there.

Has to be Vienna... Studied there for a while.

Closely followed by London.

Salford is the only city I have lived in, it was ok. Lived just outside Cardiff which was slightly better.

Durham

& it's Durham for me too, still my 'home' even though I live 65 miles south.

Munqe-chick - Member
I've lived in Cardiff, Colchester, London and Oxford!
Cardiff is by far the best! You have everything in one place, a great city, sea and mountains on the doorstep for some awesome riding or trail centres locally for a change. I'm dying to move back to Cardiff! hopefully soon!

yeah!
totally agree,
cardiff is a fantastic place to live,

i think the only place i've been to abroad and thought I'd like to try moving to is Canada,
Vancouver or Toronto
2 vastly different cities but loved both,
Vancouver would probably edge it

Anyone who rides and says London really doesn't belong on here. I lived there for quite some years and it was rubbish; I mean it would be nice if you were on £100K and worked 3 days a week, but otherwise no.

I'm quite liking Malaga. Beach, 1000m mountains, 'culture'- will report back in 6 months when I have done a year.

Sydney, Bristol and London!

(Fave counrty is Italy though)

I have been to New York 3 times (holidays).. I would love to live in Manhattan - I would go there at the drop of a hat...

San Francisco for me. Lived in London for a while & it was just way too crowded but it does have some of the best ents of any city I have ever visited..

I grew up in Hong Kong and loved it, you'll get by speaking English.

Now happily settled in Huddersfield, which is NOT a city and proud of it: 'the biggest town in Europe' I believe> And Harry the Spider: I didn't like your tone... 👿

Vancouver - but I wasn't in mountain biking then 🙁

Kilkenny City. More of a town than a city, but so many good pubs......

Toss up between Lisbon and Bilbao.

The Toon.

😀

Portree
They are F***ing mental up there 😯

i'm surprised BRISTOL hasn't had a few more mentions. i love it

good riding in every direction, easy access to wales/cornwall/south coast, loads going on, balloons, festivals, bush & troy...

anyone ever lived in San Francisco? me and my missus are thinking of going there for a few months

Best? I'd love to live in Brugges or Edinburgh. London, if you hate it its because you didnt get around it enough and get under the surface. So full of different people, things to do! Its the only place you can have a stand up heated arguement with a stranger without having to fight! 😀

Worse? Huddersfield. Croydon doesnt even come close.

[i]Worse? Huddersfield. Croydon doesnt even come close. [/i]

another Hora special. Croydon is so many times worse than Huddersfield.

Huddersfield as in the centre, Fartown, Deighton/Sheepridge....

Now- do you still disagree?

what? no mention of Manchester?? got to be one of the best cities in the UK to live in; for a start it's pretty darn central for riding: you can be in scotland/peaks/lakes/wales/dales etc all within 2.5 hours driving. got a good job opportunities whilst not being crazy busy as the smoke. lots of amenities and whilst it's not the most cultured place you'll find there's plenty to do if you want it.

lived in Melbourne for a while & really liked it; i think mainly because it felt a lot like Manchester; it feels distinctly similar as you walk around. don't know what the riding is like in victoria but i reckon it's probably one of Australia's best spots as the biggest mountains are around northern Victoria/Canberra/southern NSW. also got great access to Tasmania too, which i'm sure would offer plenty more. i wouldn't worry about the 'not as well established trails' comments; everywhere i went in oz there were loads of walking trails that could be used for riding, not sure about their land access rights for biking out there though. definitely the best place to live in Oz for me, loved it. loads of culture and some great restaurants and bars too.

Perth might also appeal if you wanted something a bit more laid back. loads of riding in the South West around Margaret River, Bunbury etc. not as busy a city as Melbourne but it has a good feel about it.

i reckon Vancouver or Seattle, as previously mentioned, would also be up there.

Manchester?

[i]Huddersfield as in the centre, Fartown, Deighton/Sheepridge....

Now- do you still disagree?
[/i]
I certainly do. Have you ever even [i]been[/i] to Croydon? I'd take Fartown any day.

We used to live on Woodhouse hill itself (as a kid I used to push to the top then ride down on my Strika. I do wonder why I was never squashed 🙄

I also lived in East Croydon. It wasnt that bad- it has great links to some good riding/15mins from central London and as long as you turn LEFT out of the train station entrance, your fine IMO. I was in Hudds town centre yesterday and I wanted to machine gun everyone in sight. Then open a camp for the remainder and experiment on them. 😯

Outlane, Edgerton, Scholes, Holmfirth etc etc- are all great places. The rest you can lay waste to.

I spent 3 nights in Vancouver last summer & loved it. Not sure if I'd want to live on Robson Street though. Spent another 5 nights in Canmore and 2 in Calgary. Calgary I could do without, Canmore would be great if there was work for me - but it's not a city.

re Huddersfield - Fartown makes Bradford look nice 😉

I'm torn a bit with this one.

I really enjoyed living in Newcastle, great night life, great trails, though I felt I'd overstayed my welcome within the little clique that exists within the alt scene....Had I have stayed longer, maybe that would have overcome itself.

Lived in Glasgow for 10 years now, initially I was a little underwhelmed with the place, though it was better than the tourist trap that is Edinburgh (IMO) it didn't jump out at me in the way Newcastle did.

It's grown on me quite a bit, trails a short ride from the west end, on my doorstep from where I am now, nightlife is great and once you get over the way Glaswegians use the english language the banter is fantastic.

I think I'm going to have to go with Glasgow, if not just for the accessibility to fantastic trails

+1 for Sheffield.
To be able to cycle out to Edale and ride round the Peak is just fantastic. Only been here a year and have no intention of moving anytime soon.

I lived in Manchester for a decade and its rubbish for cycling. Very little good stuff to cycle to from the city, huge urban sprawl. Not a bad place to live but a long way down the list for a MTBer.

[i]Very little good stuff to cycle to from the city[/i]
I cycle from the city to good stuff every single workday 🙂

[i]+1 for Sheffield.[/i]

NB - this is the 'best city' thread. The 'sh1thole' one must be elsewhere...

andy - where? Hills?

Seriously I lived in whalley Range and although I could get down to the Mersey and cycle along it cycling out into the countryside was a long way and not great riding once you got there. The urban sprawl is huge as well.

many hills. Calderdale, Saddleworth, the Peaks.

TandemJeremy - Member
I lived in Manchester for a decade and its rubbish for cycling. Very little good stuff to cycle to from the city, huge urban sprawl. Not a bad place to live but a long way down the list for a MTBer.

load of bollocks mate. i live in chorlton and can ride from here and get out through stockport and in the hills within 25-30 mins. granted a little bit of tarmac, but still easily done. north manchester is surrounded by the pennines.

Sheffield and Manchester should go in room 101. Flatcity- both of them.

You'd be going some to cycle from Chorlton through Stockport to the Peaks in 30 mins IMHO... Manchester definitely has the feeling of taking some time to get out of, particularly down the A6. Sheffield on the other hand just stops dead 3 miles west of the centre, at the Peak District boundary.

Having lived in both, I'm torn.. Manchester is a big city with more opportunities, Sheffield is in some ways a nicer place to live in that the good bits are both nearer the centre and nearer the countryside - and it has hills.

If we can include places we've visited, I'm going to vote for Seattle. Though Cambridge, Mass. is nice too (less outdoorsy though).

I've noticed all the comments are based on ability to RIDE out of the city rather than on the city itself 😉

Christchurch or Wellington in NZ

Right - I've looked into the price of a round the world ticket and shortlisted a few stops on route that are on the list. I'm thinking NZ, Oz, USA, Canada. Maybe a few others. Schools, Healthcare, Things to Do being high on the list.

Found this in an article too, but don't know how biased it is:

The world's top cities offering the best quality of life
(New York City is the base city with a score of 100 points)

2009 Rank 2008 Rank City Country
1 =2 Vienna Austria
2 1 Zurich Switzerland
3 =2 Geneva Switzerland
=4 4 Vancouver Canada
=4 5 Auckland New Zealand
6 6 Düsseldorf Germany
7 =7 Munich Germany
8 =7 Frankfurt Germany
9 9 Bern Switzerland
10 10 Sydney Australia
11 11 Copenhagen Denmark
12 12 Wellington New Zealand
13 13 Amsterdam Netherlands
14 14 Brussels Belgium
15 15 Toronto Canada
+16 19 Ottawa Canada
=16 16 Berlin Germany
18 +17 Melbourne Australia
19 =17 Luxembourg Luxembourg
20 20 Stockholm Sweden
21 21 Perth Australia
22 22 Montreal Canada
23 23 Nürnberg Germany
24 24 Oslo Norway
25 =25 Dublin Ireland
=26 32 Singapore Singapore
=26 25 Calgary Canada
28 27 Hamburg Germany
29 28 Honolulu USA
=30 =29 San Francisco USA
=30 =29 Helsinki Finland
=30 =29 Adelaide Australia
32 32 Paris France
34 34 Brisbane Australia
=35 35 Tokyo Japan
=35 37 Boston USA
37 36 Lyon France
=38 38 Yokohama Japan
=38 38 London UK
40 40 Kobe Japan
41 41 Milan Italy
=42 48 Portland USA
=42 42 Barcelona Spain
=44 =44 Washington DC USA
=44 =44 Osaka Japan
=44 =44 Lisbon Portugal
=44 =44 Chicago USA
48 43 Madrid Spain
49 49 New York City USA
50 49 Seattle USA
Research by Mercer Consulting

Now all i have to do is allocate my own bike/lazing around scale to the shortlist, and rule out the places that require me to speak the lingo - out the window for Osaka then!

never lived in a city or a town or a village my closest neighbour is 300yds away and i like it 🙂

All cities blow goats hugely since they're full of people but I guess the least awful city I've ever lived in was Lincoln. It's really flat and shit and it's full of old people walking around like zombies but at least the inhabitants of that city accept their fate and get down to walking around like zombies unlike other more 'cosmopolitan' cities like the smoke that pretend they're brilliant.