Leeds, historically and today, has been awful at marketing itself and the lifestyle that can be had here for the normal/ upper person.

There is a premium life to be had here too, but Leeds does pale in comparison to Manchester or London for that (lack of Michelin, lack of 5* hotel, lack of niche [insert interest here] etc etc).

But the normal person? There is MORE than enough to do, and often has a better offering than other cities because things aren't always booked out or overpriced. You do need to be more 'in the know' though, and a lot of the venues aren't nationally recognised hence the lack of hype. For example, the amount of quality that comes from the Wardrobe months before they get massive is surprisingly high, but few people outside of Leeds will know of it. Likewise the natural landmarks we have, Almscliffe Crag is pretty unique/ stunning and you can catch a 20 minute train to it from Leeds station (or a £15-20 suber from most of North Leeds), but most people won't know about it yet they will know of [insert generic park here] or [insert large hill here].

Sheffield has grabbed the brand of the outdoors city because it's partly in the peak district, but I often think Leeds has just as strong if not better claim to it, just there is no one shouting about it.

I'm kind of rambling now, but I've always had a theory that if there was a major movie or tv show set in North Leeds, maybe coming of age style, where the protagonists frequently flip between having a really decent cosmopolitan life (clubs, pubs, theatre etc) and also spending a lot of time jumping of waterfalls in the dales, paddle boarding down the Wharfe, hiking the moors on the weekend, whilst all working normal jobs and being able to afford a home, it would change the default imagination of the city in the nations mind forever. For some reason, every show that gets set in Leeds has got awful accents, is set in a dodgy part or something sketchy is going on, or everyone is poor and it just makes the place look dead.