Why You Should Pack Up and Move to Manchester

• April 14, 2014
• •
• Posted in : Manchester

The UK isn’t short of fantastic places in which to live, so picking just the right one for you can seem like a daunting task. Thankfully though, we’ve put together this handy guide telling you why it’s time for you to pack up and move to Manchester…

It’s the UK’s best city to live in!

Don’t just take our word for it on this, we’re going by the findings of The Economist Intelligence Unit (part of The Economist Group that includes the magazine) in their annual Global Liveability Study. The results of the 2013 study, published in August of that year, concluded that Manchester was the best city in the UK to live in. The study took into account a variety of factors, including culture, healthcare, and infrastructure. Another study suggested over 200 languages are being spoken in the city every day, so it must be doing something right to attract so many people!

It’s the UK’s most vibrant place to live!

Again, stick with us…we can back this up! Research company Experian compiled a “vibrancy index”, using commercial data and census information, to work out the most vibrant place to live in the UK. Central Manchester came top, ahead of the likes of London’s Kensington, Chelsea, and Richmond. This means that it has both the highest concentration of young people with disposable income and of shops, cultural venues and sporting options to service them.

It’s a footballing hub!

The area surrounding Manchester offers football fans the potential viewing pleasures of Oldham Athletic, Bury, Stockport County, Macclesfield Town, Crewe Alexandra, Rochdale, Northwich Victoria, FC United and more. In the city itself, there’s the small matter of two clubs called Manchester United and Manchester City. Keep an eye on them, we’re tipping them to be big some day!

It’s easy to get around!

In 2011, the city was ranked in Europe’s top 10 for transport links by Cushman & Wakefield’s European Cities Monitor. In 1992, it became the first city in the UK to re-introduce trams, with the opening of the Manchester Metrolink, which, by 2016, will be the largest tram system in the UK.

It’s a great city for art lovers!

Manchester has had an important relationship with art since at least 1857, when an exhibition called The Art Treasures of Great Britain was held there. Over 16,000 works were on display, and its estimated that over 1.3m visitors were attracted to it in the 142 days that it was open for. Even now, it remains the largest art exhibition ever held in the UK!

Today, the city is still home to a large number of galleries including –

• The Manchester Art Gallery. Opened in 1824, it’s free to enter and includes paintings by the likes of Cezanne and Manchester’s own iconic artist, L.S. Lowry.
• The Whitworth Art Gallery. Focusing on modern art, the gallery features works by artists such as David Hockney and Pablo Picasso.
• The Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art. The Centre prides itself on putting on debut UK solo exhibitions of work by emerging Chinese or Asian artists, helping them to go on to achieve international recognition.
• Cornerhouse. Though probably best known as a cinema, Manchester’s Cornerhouse is regularly used as an installation space for artistic works across a number of mediums, including film, photography, and performance.
• The Castlefield Gallery. Founded in 1984, the Gallery is committed to developing new artists and has been involved in the development of a number of subsequent Turner Prize nominees and winners.

It’s an iconic city for music!

Manchester has long enjoyed a hugely important role in the UK music scene and particularly since the legendary 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the city’s Lesser Free Trade Hall. The punk trailblazers were watched in action by the people who would go on to found bands like The Buzzcocks, The Smiths and The Fall. Tony Wilson was inspired to form Factory Records by the city’s booming music scene and that label became the home of Joy Division and their later incarnation, New Order. The so-called ‘Madchester’ era of the late 80s and early 90s saw the emergence of bands like The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses, while during the Britpop era Oasis became the UK’s biggest and most successful band.

Moving to Manchester…have we made you mad for it?

We don’t think the city needs much selling but we hope we’ve made a good job of it anyway. If we have, then your thoughts may already be turning to how best to declutter your existing home to make it as saleable as possible. Don’t worry, we’re on hand to help with any Manchester storage needs.

Related post: 5 places every football fan in Manchester should visit.

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