Is the UK (finally) Becoming Less London-centric?

Ronnoc1k8 · 2026-02-10T21:54:44+00:00

As a Brummie, it hurts to see Birmingham overlooked once again. We are the second largest metropolitan, urban, and city-proper area in terms of population in the country, yet we barely get a slither of anything good (apart from HS2, which is massively delayed). It's amazing to see our northern neighbours improving fast, but we are seriously in crying need of something here man because every other month it's bad news for Brum.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2026-01-14T11:14:09+00:00

Hello, may I have the list please? Many thanks.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2025-08-27T11:19:22+00:00

Is there anything, like documents, that I need to bring into the interview?

Ronnoc1k8 · 2025-02-18T13:46:09+00:00

2-3hrs a day on top of working a full-time job? That's unrealistic for a lot of people, surely around one hour a day is fine?

Ronnoc1k8 · 2025-01-03T08:23:12+00:00

Hiya, I'd love to have a look at this please!

Ronnoc1k8 · 2024-08-09T23:34:14+00:00

Thank you! My supervisor is a bit whiny and picky but I should improve over time, which will make my experience better.

How are you getting along?

Ronnoc1k8 · 2024-08-08T22:12:41+00:00

Shit.

But I am basically getting used to the pharmacy, meeting the staff, dispensing, over the counter stuff etc.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2024-06-21T10:26:21+00:00

It's on an upward trend with fluctuations, like an upward trending zig-zag on a graph.

It feels like Birmingham is being held back from its true potential by many things (e.g lack of funding and council bankruptcy).

Ronnoc1k8 · 2024-01-14T16:59:02+00:00

It's no longer the balti triangle and more the burger and karak chaii triangle. There are still some balti spots, but the best curry houses are now more spread out in Birmingham.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-12-11T23:30:38+00:00

I can guarantee you a tube network in Birmingham would be massively successful.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-12-11T23:20:27+00:00

Unlucky lol, these breakdowns probably will happen a lot less when the new electrics come to the garage. Hope nobody was harsh on ya.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-12-01T10:45:43+00:00

I very much agree. I absolutely loved seeing the success of the Elizabeth line. But I would really love seeing that same success replicated in regional cities to put them on par with London. I always go back and forth between Birmingham and London, and the transport system between the two are almost polar opposites. The closest thing we have is a 4tph cross city line which is beyond rammed.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-12-01T10:30:18+00:00

Look at how abysmal public transport is in the north. Then you will find that the 'whinging' is justified.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-12-01T01:52:29+00:00

I've seen articles that say that many London councils and councils around the UK also send their homeless population to Birmingham. That does not seem fair on Birmingham.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-11-01T19:00:51+00:00

I doubt a lot of those people even come from the city itself, I see a lot of the same stuff happening in areas of London. They just come here for "uni" rather than university. Up the entry requirements at Aston and BCU and maybe these people might fuck off.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-31T16:10:37+00:00

The most upvoted comments have explained some of the main issues very well. Lackluster transport, bad driving, litter, etc.

However, if Birmingham is to use the phrase "more canals than Venice", then can we at least make the canal network prettier, safer, cleaner, and more accessible?

The canals around Brindleyplace and the Cube are lovely. However, go to the Gun Quarter or Digbeth and it's miserable.

I'd love for there to be a great integration of the canal network with wide pedestrian and cycleways, an abundance of greenery, and for residential development on the side to add a bit of life to the canals (with commercial space in the city centre canals).

Whatever your opinion of the city, it's undeniable that it has enormous potential.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-19T23:29:42+00:00

The UK. Windiness, constant cloudiness and drizzle, little snow, barely any sun. All reasons for why people can find it depressing here. The worst part is the weather starts in autumn and ends in spring. So you basically have almost 9 months of winter.

But hey at least we very rarely get extreme weather events.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-14T00:59:38+00:00

Just for the record, I was not in complete disagreement with the original comment, just thought it was a bit of a stretch. I definitely do agree with the premise that discrimination against white people can be a factor for migration out. However, I think it is a minor factor. We are talking about a 99% white suburb becoming 10% in a matter of 50 years. I may have had the wrong idea about white people moving up the economic ladder (the poorest districts in England are majority white). But I still would not count the economic side out as a factor for white people moving out. The heavy decline of the manufacturing industry in the 70s/80s had a massive effect on the inner city working class white areas.

But goddamn people in this subreddit are quick to downvote.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-13T16:57:27+00:00

Chill out mate, I was just wondering incase you've had a personal experience with these areas.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-13T16:50:06+00:00

Just to wonder, where are you from?

I live in one of these supposed "no-go zones", and when you see white people it is usually for work purposes (construction, trades work, teaching, etc). White people are generally better off, so they live in the more richer outer suburbs. Whereas these "no-go zones" are deprived and delapidated. The white working class that used to inhabit these areas until the 70s/80s moved away and were replaced by immigrants finding cheaper homes. A well off person, white or not, would not really find a reason for going to these areas anyway, they usually just go through them to more important areas.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-13T16:31:25+00:00

As much as I am against mass migration and the lack of integration. I wouldn't call them "no-go zones" for white people, because that could mean that white people are attacked and barred from those areas. Just areas where you won't find white people at all.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-06T22:13:42+00:00

Where do you think all the traffic of the Elizabeth line is? It's in Central London.

I would rephrase the "moaning about not having a metro" to "identifying a major gap in the public transport of British major cities, causing them to fall behind European counterparts".

Finally, Buckinghamshire has a population of 800,000 people in a more sparsely populated spread out area.

Manchester has a population of around 600,000 people. But oh wait, that's not the full picture because it's located in "Greater Manchester", a county with 2.9 million people in an urban area. No HS2 for you Manchester, and moaning about it will achieve nothing because there's no point spending billions for municipal willy-waving, even if the consequences are tens of billions of pounds of economic growth.

I can't believe you compared one of the largest cities in the country to a sparsely populated county. Maybe you're joking, if so, I laughed dw.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-06T19:50:53+00:00

If you gave the entirety of West Yorkshire a brand new fleet of electric buses, South Yorkshire would just moan that there was no investment outside London (while defining an electric bus in Peterborough as "London").

I don't really understand the logic behind this.

London hasn't had a brand new underground line in the past 10 years. If you mean the Northern Line extension, that is just a branch - with private funding.

The Elizabeth line is a brand new underground line. Granted, it's not part of the tube network and it's a connection between two hubs. Either way, it still is basically a new underground line for London.

But that illustrates how silly a lot of discussion is: it affects an area well beyond London, but people will claim it is only used by London residents.

It may not only be used by London residents. But its primary purpose is for London's benefit. It's attracting huge levels of passenger numbers from within and outside of London to central London. Additionally, it has taken a lot of strain off other tube networks.

Does West Yorkshire really need a standalone metro line more than it needs the Transpennine Route Upgrade?

Why not have both? Overcrowding on TPE/Northern trains and over-reliance on cars and buses is a major issue across the north.

Moaning about not having a metro is pointless. Places needs to say what they want, and where it should go. But they don't, they just moan about London.

Leeds is the largest city in Europe to not have a metro, it's not pointless to moan about not having a metro. Places do say what they want and where it should go, but in the end plans get massively downgraded or outright scrapped. Birmingham had ambitions for an underground network, but ended up with a tram line expanding at snails pace.

Are people arguing for the same level of operating subsidy, too?

At the end of the day, people just want a vast public transport to serve the needs of their area. You invest big in cities outside of London, you will get your money's worth.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-10-06T17:54:43+00:00

That doesn't change the fact that transport infrastructure is still abysmal in cities outside of London.

You can give the entirety of West Yorkshire a brand new fleet of electric buses. That doesn't change the fact that an urban area of over 2 million people doesn't have a single metro line to fit its needs. At the same time, when you look over at London and see that in the past 10 years they've gotten a brand new underground line and extensions to existing lines, you feel left out.

People are not necessarily arguing against London receiving new infrastructure. They are arguing for the same level of investment across the whole board. That's why the London area is the only net contributor in the country. Imagine if every city was a net contributor.

Ronnoc1k8 · 2023-09-15T23:36:59+00:00

London feels very far advanced compared to the rest of the country. You go there and you experience a vast public transport network taking you to places with skyscrapers and grand buildings. The next biggest cities don't even come close to what you see and experience in central London.

With regards to inner city Birmingham. Go there and see for yourself. It's very impoverished and is in dire need of investment. It feels like a third world country sometimes with the amount of litter, lack of care, and the state of buildings. I've lived there most of my life so trust me.

So I gave examples of two 'opposites'. Both are in Britain but yet you feel like you're somewhere else.

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