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Northerners what do you think of North vs South?

Also, people who've lived in both, I have questions-
1)What are the places you've lived in/been North and South?
2)What are your overall impressions of each?
3)Where would you choose to live, all considered-prices, country, cities etc?

Do many northerners envy the south, want to live there? Or are there any northern 'supremacists' in? Is it more/less interesting?

Just curious as to what it's like up north nowadays, is there a lot of pride in being northern, a lot of atmosphere, what's your town like? Or is it just seen as you go south for work, and a load of immigrants taking over the culture, e.g muslims in ex-mill towns?

Obviously there's more in the south who just think why go somewhere else, if they do leave their home it'd for holidays or working abroad, and they think the wealth, weather, health etc is better down south.
There may be some who feel differently. more curious what northernes feel about the north really.

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Reply 1
Broadly speaking the north is better, as long as you can find a decent job (which is the problem) - friendlier people, more sense of community, better nightlife, far more affordable costs of living, etc. There is no reason why any ethnically British person should want to live in or around London these days unless they either have to for work, or are in their early 20s and enjoy the novelty. A commuter lifestyle is no way to live as an adult, and the general unfriendliness, lack of community, and poor quality night life are all constant problems if you live in the city itself.

There are nice cities in the South (Bristol, Bath, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, and much of the West Country) but London and the commuter belt is best avoided these days unless you really need to live there for work reasons, which many do.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by SaucissonSecCy
Also, people who've lived in both, I have questions-
1)What are the places you've lived in/been North and South?
2)What are your overall impressions of each?
3)Where would you choose to live, all considered-prices, country, cities etc?

Do many northerners envy the south, want to live there? Or are there any northern 'supremacists' in? Is it more/less interesting?

Just curious as to what it's like up north nowadays, is there a lot of pride in being northern, a lot of atmosphere, what's your town like? Or is it just seen as you go south for work, and a load of immigrants taking over the culture, e.g muslims in ex-mill towns?

Obviously there's more in the south who just think why go somewhere else, if they do leave their home it'd for holidays or working abroad, and they think the wealth, weather, health etc is better down south.
There may be some who feel differently. more curious what northernes feel about the north really.


I'm a northerner and I know this probably has nothing to do with what your asking but in the many southern cities I've visited I've realised how compared to where I'm from many southerners aren't really big on their fashion. I know obviously some are but here they dress up and spend lots of money on clothing whereas I think southerners spend their money on more practical things because their dress sense are very odd. ( I've gone so off topic)


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Reply 3
The North Sauth divïd iz the möst poyntluhs thing evuh. Wee orl that the Sauth iz richuh and mor uhdvarnsd, orlthö that iz meynlee joo too Luhnduhn tuh bee fär. If Luhduhn wer tuh disuhpër then the YK (Yoonïtid Kingduhm) wuhd beysiklee bee a pïl of trïp.
(edited 9 years ago)
The divide in terms of the economical factors in society is very real.

Not too big of a deal though, really I don't find the cultures to be that different at all. The government need to work on the inequality though as there are many economic downsides to equality as it causes a lot of cyclical problems.
Original post by SaucissonSecCy
Also, people who've lived in both, I have questions-
1)What are the places you've lived in/been North and South?
2)What are your overall impressions of each?
3)Where would you choose to live, all considered-prices, country, cities etc?

Do many northerners envy the south, want to live there? Or are there any northern 'supremacists' in? Is it more/less interesting?

Just curious as to what it's like up north nowadays, is there a lot of pride in being northern, a lot of atmosphere, what's your town like? Or is it just seen as you go south for work, and a load of immigrants taking over the culture, e.g muslims in ex-mill towns?

Obviously there's more in the south who just think why go somewhere else, if they do leave their home it'd for holidays or working abroad, and they think the wealth, weather, health etc is better down south.
There may be some who feel differently. more curious what northernes feel about the north really.


1) Lived near Merseyside for 18 years, lived in Lancaster for four years.

2) Visited a few major Northern cities: Liverpool (lovely for a big city), Manchester (not so good), Sheffield (grim AF), York (lovely, but on the wrong side of the Pennines). Also been to London (didn't like it), Hastings (meh), Salisbury (nice), Hereford (technically midlands but it was alright), Southampton (mostly meh, some was nice), Tunbridge Wells (too wealthy for its own good, great Wetherspoons though). Absolutely loved living in Lancaster. Where I live now isn't too bad but I'm too far from the city to do much.

3) Lancaster

I don't envy the South, if anything I pity Londoners who have to live in such a massive metropolis with all its noise/air pollution, high crime rate, ridiculous property prices, high cost of living and total lack of nearby mountains. If you're paying more than £3.50 for a pint you're being ripped off. The trade off is that London gets every international touring band playing there and a whole heap of great museums. There are grim parts of the North definitely and there isn't enough investment by large businesses because they seem to prefer to look towards London because London has a lot of investment. It's a cycle which massively benefits London at the expense of the rest of the country - not just the North. It's hard to break but projects like Media City in Manchester should help. I also think when the Houses of Parliament are being repaired that the government should temporarily move to somewhere like Manchester for the ~5 years it will apparently take to conduct all the necessary structural repairs. It is an option that is on the cards but unfortunately I suspect London-centric politics will mean it won't move far.

I wouldn't call myself a "Northern Supremacist", but I think it has a lot more to offer than people think - even many Northerners.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 6
I prefer the North. Mostly because it tends to be friendlier, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. I'd happily live in Manchester for the rest of my life.

That said, it isn't all great. Some of the places are poor as hell and are really struggling. My hometown's industry is failing and the place is made up of, in most parts, council estates (not that there's anything wrong with that). On the bright side, Channel 4's poverty porn program ('Skint') got a nice laugh out of it
I'm from the south and I live a few miles outside of London's green belt. I will attempt to stick up for my fellow southerners, we are not all posh, rich and stuck up! You will find a wide array of people here including the rich who can afford to live in the Chiltern Hills!
I have visited up north a few times and I liked it (The Lake District, Manchester, Leeds and York) and I am going to uni in the Midlands. I have to say when I went to Leeds I found it so surprising to have the cashier actually strike up conversation with me; shows my southern awkward "don't talk to me" side!
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 8
I don't think there is a divide anymore - if there is, it's certainly not as strong as it used to be.
Reply 9
Up north, people tend to be friendlier, and more open. There are also loads of nice cities up here, and the countryside in particular is really beautiful.

That being said, I'm getting out of here as soon as possible and (hopefully) going down south for uni. As much as I like the north, I've never really wanted to live here for the rest of my life.
Where I live in the north in the lake district, the only thing I've really noticed is the internet is really abysmal, whereas when I went down to near Basingstoke the download speed was actually pretty good.

Beyond that there's no real difference other than accents.
TSR has lots of Northerners it it and all of them are obsessed with how bad the south is.

In reality, us southerners don't care about the divide, we don't think about northerners, we just get on with our lives.
North of the river in London- interesting, lots to do.
South of the river in London- occasionally visited by taxi drivers or people who are brave.
Original post by aoxa
Up north, people tend to be friendlier, and more open. There are also loads of nice cities up here, and the countryside in particular is really beautiful.

That being said, I'm getting out of here as soon as possible and (hopefully) going down south for uni. As much as I like the north, I've never really wanted to live here for the rest of my life.


Here, here.
Original post by poohat
Broadly speaking the north is better, as long as you can find a decent job (which is the problem) - friendlier people, more sense of community, better nightlife, far more affordable costs of living, etc. There is no reason why any ethnically British person should want to live in or around London these days unless they either have to for work, or are in their early 20s and enjoy the novelty. A commuter lifestyle is no way to live as an adult, and the general unfriendliness, lack of community, and poor quality night life are all constant problems if you live in the city itself.

There are nice cities in the South (Bristol, Bath, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, and much of the West Country) but London and the commuter belt is best avoided these days unless you really need to live there for work reasons, which many do.


Yeah I look at a lot of property programs etc and I think a lot of people in the south-east are overrating their lifestyle, it seems like there' something quite conformist about just going on about London, and it's life, but if you are way out on a tube that shuts at 11 or earlier, and everything is costing a bomb and you have no room, it's a bit of a joke. Plus it can have a really miserable atmosphere. I like the country better in the north, it has more character, mind you some of the cities look grim. Still want to go to Leeds, never been , think Manchester is overhyped and haven't been to Liverpool for years. I get the impression that people maybe take themselves less seriously up north and it's a different ethos, maybe that's generalised though. I guess there's differences within it too. One thing that really appeal to me is the people who are totally uninterested in it and would never live there, namely establishment, public schoolies etc. You could be very independent from that, and even less doctors, laywers etc up north are from 'posh' backgrounds where they are very patronising and establishment. It would be more egalitarian, there's more labour voters and anti-establishment people. But the space and better prices and beautiful country is the real draw.
It's all a matter of perspective, I'm from the North so I'll be bias but one thing I will say is the quality of life is so much better if you secure a good job up here. Living costs in London are ridiculous.
Reply 16
I'm from the South but live in the North.

I'm not a pillock so I don't pretend that one is superior to the other, both have their *******s.
Reply 17
The North has the best football teams. Hence why southerners support them.
Original post by TheSilentBang
It's all a matter of perspective, I'm from the North so I'll be bias but one thing I will say is the quality of life is so much better if you secure a good job up here. Living costs in London are ridiculous.


When people say bout nightlife and culture also, think they just mean posh museums and pretty expensive bars and restaurants, in that way somewhere like hampstead or west London is a bit of a superrich soulless enclave. And other parts are genuinely dangerous. And the costs too. I get the feeling that Northern cities have plenty in terms of live music, comedy, football, cheap beer, good Indian food etc etc. And the country is more beautiful. Downside is the weather but then maybe you go to the continent for that anyway, we are British and maybe the north is the beating heart. From where I live, I have dealt with a lot of establishment people, and how you're talked to and all, and again I like the north's independence from that, plus the way the likes of scouser and mancs are so different to cockney culture and don't envy them or give a ****.

The country is way more romantic too.
Original post by SaucissonSecCy
When people say bout nightlife and culture also, think they just mean posh museums and pretty expensive bars and restaurants, in that way somewhere like hampstead or west London is a bit of a superrich soulless enclave. And other parts are genuinely dangerous. And the costs too. I get the feeling that Northern cities have plenty in terms of live music, comedy, football, cheap beer, good Indian food etc etc. And the country is more beautiful. Downside is the weather but then maybe you go to the continent for that anyway, we are British and maybe the north is the beating heart. From where I live, I have dealt with a lot of establishment people, and how you're talked to and all, and again I like the north's independence from that, plus the way the likes of scouser and mancs are so different to cockney culture and don't envy them or give a ****.

The country is way more romantic too.


I agree 100%


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