A Tale of Two Cities
Since being with Pedro I have spent a lot of my time split between our two cities – Leeds and York. When deciding to move in together, one of our biggest considerations has been where to start searching for a home. Both of us currently have very nice (rented) places, but we soon realised that if we moved into one of our current abodes it would mean massive commuting times for the other person (around a million hours, to the nearest million).
To help us decide where to live, I have compiled a list of a few pros and cons of each city. I would imagine that as I have been totally fair and unbiased that you will struggle to realise which city I currently live in…
YORK
York is a small ‘city’ (I would never refer to it as city personally due to its small size – you can walk from one side to the other in no time) full of historic charm, lovely shops, and an easily accessible pedestrianized ‘city’ centre.
Pros
- York is stunning. I mean seriously beautiful. There are beautiful historic landmarks, such as the Wall running round the old city, the views over the river, and the Minster. The suburbs are for the most part leafy and peaceful.
- The ‘city’ centre is full of interesting independent quirky little shops, cafes and bars – some of my favourite places to eat and drink are in York, particularly on Bishopthorpe Road – make sure you check out the sensational Trinacria if you are ever there – a delicious Sicilian café with an extensive range of delicious home-made icecream! A bit of a favourite haunt of Pedro and mine, his uncle now teases us when he sees us asking if we’ve been – we almost always have!
Cons
- The infrastructure of York is DIRE. Their roads system in and out of the ‘city’ centre does not work as there are only 2 roads that lead in and out. As you can imagine they get jammed very easily and traffic jams are one of my least favourite things. In general driving stresses me out. Don’t get me wrong, I like driving. What I hate are other drivers – they frustrate me massively. I am not the best driver, but other people are either too fast or too slow and it DRIVES me round the bend (see what I did there?!) I am definitely a sweary driver.
- The nightlife is non-existent. One of Pedro and I’s early dates was in York. We went for a beverage in Pitcher and Piano on the river – a very romantic idea. It closed at 10pm. However this was a bit of a relief as awkwardly for one of our first dates I was sat in front of, how can I put this, a very…demonstrative couple. Although I couldn’t see them, I could definitely hear them, and I knew that Pedro could see them over my shoulder. Awkward is not the word.
- It rains quite a lot. Definitely more than it rains in Leeds. (Told you I’d be completely unbiased)
LEEDS
Leeds is a sprawling city with an enormous city centre and a thriving culture of bars, restaurants and clubs. It is a city of contrasts – from the beautiful suburbs and parks to the industrial centre.
Cons
- It can be smelly and dirty looking in certain parts. Only in a few parts though….
- Traffic is bad any time of day at all except first thing in the morning on my way to work at around 6:45am.
Pros
- It has a thriving music scene. Now with a new arena, loads of independent venues, and some absolutely fantastic amateur groups, there really is a lot for anyone with even a passing interest in music. A big part of my life is a very talented am-dram group called LIDOS who rehearse and perform at the Carriageworks Theatre in the rather beautiful Millenium Square. Rehearsing and socialising in the evenings and weekends with them is my main hobby.
- It has some brilliant people in it. People who make up funny names such as ‘Casvegas’ and ‘Pontecarlo’ for some outer-lying suburbs ‘Castleford’ and ‘Pontefract’. Just brilliant.
- It hardly ever rains. Not really.
As you MAY be able to tell I do have a slight preference – but honestly if Pedro wanted me to live in Timbuctoo I would. Our main priority is to find somewhere in the centre-ish of both of our works, and we have a pretty good idea, but I’m intrigued – which city do you think Pedro and I should live in?
movinginwithaboy 