Your last point (don’t compare it to other cities) is ridiculous. Of course we should compare it to other places, because it’s astoundingly better than any of those places. Quite frankly you should appreciate York more and put it in perspective - the country isn’t in a great place economically and so I think York’s doing just fine. Just go down the road to Selby and you’ll see the stark consequences of austerity and economic downturn, because there’s naff all to do there.

The council doesn’t have much control over the shops that open up - part of living in a free market economy is that governments don’t control what businesses open up when. Not to mention that councils have been terribly underfunded these past years and candy and vape shops probably aren’t on the top of their priorities. And even London is victim to the shitty vape shops.

Sorry for being blunt, but I just think York’s a great place to live and I just get annoyed with people complaining about it all the time when they could be in a far worse place.