I was born and have lived all my life in Glasgow. I have witnessed its
regeneration over the last twenty odd years and seen how successfully it has shed its girtty and unpleasent past to become one of the countries most hip and dynamic cities.
It has all the big ctiy draws like culture, theatres, amazing shopping, sport, clubs cinemas, jazz and open air cafes. What is nice about it is that it still feels like it is moving forward all the time.

Now I am moving to Sheffield because of hubby's work and feel that it will be like moving to what Glasgow was twenty years ago.
Full of good intentions but with a huge amount of work still to be done.
I have visited Sheffield a couple of times and it leaves me feeling depressed each time.

Please someone tell me what the real score is.

good points as well as bad.

I was born in sheffield and have lived all my life here,sheffield today is very nice compared to what it was after the last war. It is a city on the move,with the new winter gardens,new peace gardens,meadow hall,city centre regeneration,lot's of park's,woods,green area's,open spaces,clean air,night club's,la chambre,spearmint rhino,supertram,excellent public transport system and the crowning glory is DERBYSHIRE and sheffield's lake district. The last time I drove through Glasgow on my way to the highland's three year's ago,I found it depressing and said at the time I would not like to live there, it was dirty,cold,overcast,the road system was pathetic and confusing and I was releived when I got out of it.Please give sheffield a try, and I feel sure you will get to like it eventually,try having a few day's in. derbyshire to see the lakes,go walking,see the beautifull derbyshire villages and I am sure you will be won over. :D. WECOME.

Originally posted by "halevan"

... The last time I drove through Glasgow on my way to the highland's three year's ago,I found it depressing and said at the time I would not like to live there, it was dirty,cold,overcast,the road system was pathetic and confusing and I was releived when I got out of it.

Hmm, Glasgow being an ex-European City of Culture, Architecture and also sport, Sheffield being... dirty, cold and overcast!

Nah, just kidding. As an ex-pat Glasweigan living in Sheffield, and having done so for a few years now, the similarities between the two cities are really quite striking. Aside from the fact that they are as hilly as each other, the people are also very alike - friendly, open and up for a pint. Shef. is a very safe city in which to live, and, given its huge student population, the fact that there is comparatively little street crime is a testament to a police force that really does care. The nightlife here is also pretty sweet,a lthough not on par with Glasgow (obviously) - it suffers from a distinct lack of "proper" restaurants, bars and clubs, although what there is here is of a high quality. The main flaw I've found with Sheffield is a lack of places to shop - Meadowhall is good for the scallies among us, but if looking for decent clothes you have to go to Leeds or Manchester (please, don't tell me division street is a good place to shop - a couple of "wacky" print t-shirts and a pair of evisu doesn't a fashion district make).

I love Sheffield to bits. Good people, not as expensive as the south, and it certainly is a city in the process of reinventing itself. Rather than look upon this time as the city finally coming of age, it might be better to think of the fact that you're moving to Sheffield just as things are starting to hot up, culturally and socially.

Hope you enjoy your move, I'm sure you will. It ain't all grim up north

I think maybe I should really give it a chance, but Glasgow is tops and I'll just have to consign myself to the fact that there ain't no place like home.

However i will look forward to exploring this beautiful derbyshire countryside that everybody keeps going on about.

And although bad news for me i' sure my husband will rejoice in the fact that his cash will not be as easy to spend due to the lack of good shopping in Sheffield.

oh well

I know that Fopp started off in Glasgow, and if your keen on music, we do have a Fopp!

Once you get past some of the rather more drab and dirty parts of the city you'll find theres something about it hear that keeps all kinds of people from all over the world from moving. One of my best friends moved here from Rome, for a few months, three years on he's still here. Hates the weather but loves the people, the music, parkland, trees and mostly the Peak District. A little smaller scale of the amazing scenery you must be used to seeing but still there's some brilliant things to be seen and done. You have a point about the shopping though, aparently Meadowhall is where people go :wink:
I hope you settle in OK, and I suppose it's down south to you, not the grim north.

Awwwww! Poor you! I also moved from Glasgow to Sheffield and it was the worst mistake of my life. Tell your husband to find a job in Glasgow and stay there. Even if it means less pay as quality of life is much more important than money. The 8 months I spent in Sheffield were the worst 8 months of my life. Stay in Glasgow and warn everyone you know not to go to Sheffield!!!!

What are you talking about? don't come to sheffield Indeed!!! have you got your tongue in your cheek??? you must be JOKING, playing the devil's advocate EH. trying to stir it up are you??? well, we all know your game!!! go away and don't be a naughty boy OR GIRL. :D :D :D

Originally posted by "Anonymous"

Awwwww! Poor you! I also moved from Glasgow to Sheffield and it was the worst mistake of my life. Tell your husband to find a job in Glasgow and stay there. Even if it means less pay as quality of life is much more important than money. The 8 months I spent in Sheffield were the worst 8 months of my life. Stay in Glasgow and warn everyone you know not to go to Sheffield!!!!

Care to tell us why?

dude,

If i we're you i'd move to an area outside of sheffield and commute in. generally the people are very unfriendly. the student areas (eccleshall road, and crookes) are ok, however these are just 2 streets in a big city. if your after a city on the move, commute from leeds/nottingham. sheffield will only destroy your soul and will to live. since I will probably be lambasted for this posting. I will give you some evidence.

I remember when i 1st moved to sheffield. I was having a scout around town. could not find any decent shops :cry:

I went for the bus (left the car at home as i heard Sheffield has good public transport) and asked the bus driver to confirm that i was boarding the correct bus - Did the driver politely confirm this. nope. He told me that he did not have time to confirm that HIS bus went to my destination and told me to stop wasting his time.....friendly...nope.

I thought that the above might be an isolated incident. a couple of weeks later i read in the sheffield star that a disabled person had tried to board a bus, and was told to F*** Off by the driver....what are the odds that this is the same driver, unlikely.

2nd incident.

Driving along the city centre, I had accidentally chosen the wrong lane. no-one would let me in. ended up cutting someone up on the road. did the person

a/ ignore the apology but contnue with his journey.
b/ stick fingers up at me but continue with this journey.
c/ shout at me, chase me for a couple of miles, try to beat me up and kick a big dent into my car?

the driver chose C

3rd incident.
My girlfriend was walking back home from a supermarket, where she was told she was going to be "cut up" by a man who was following her.

these are real life experiences of sheffield. I have many, many more.
the reason i am posting this is not to say that sheffield is crap. however out of everyone I know who moved to sheffield from a different part of the country i would say 60% say its awful, 20% really good, 20% could tolerate but did not enjoy it.

hope this helps.

now i'm not slagging sheffield off, if people like the place, each to their own, i'm just giving my opinion.

Sorry to hear about your time in Sheffield dude, I've lived here all my life and never had any of those experiences, not to say it does'nt happen. These sort of incidents happen all over the UK, unfortunately they happened to you in Sheffield. I would say your time here was not pleasant and understand your feelings about the place. But I must say that overall the people and the city of Sheffield are certainly no worse than anywhere else.

Here is a link regarding UK crime figures and you will see S.Yorks does not come close to comparable areas, which suggests you were unlucky dude.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1120018.stm

Yeah, see i'm not too bothered about crime stats etc. because all of this information can be fudged. however there always seems to be quite a bit of racial tension in South Yorkshire. also when I first moved to the area, and went to the Moor, oh my god what an awful place. honestly it is worse than the the worst places in glasgow. and this is where Debenhams etc. is. There are no shops in Sheffield, the Police were inmcredibly unhelpful. when asked if they could check the CCTV footage of the Car incident, they told me no!

Also, places like, hillsbrough, Brammall lane area. that place near Shalesmoor where all of the prostitutes hang out. the ignorance of the drivers. it just has an awful grey feeling to it.

I hope Sheffield does get better, however I cannot honestly see how you will enjoy your new life here. but I hope you and your family do. :)

also to add another comment, the reason the crime rate is no worse than anywhere else, I was advised by the police not to report the car+attempted assault+road rage incident because, (quoting sheffields finest law enforcers "it is highly unlikely that we will find the person". great. so maybe the fact the crime rate is low, is people have stopped reporting crime. this usually happens in crime rife areas. I cannot believe they said that to me. when there is several CCTVS on the various roads i was chased through.

sorry about the crap use of the english language, i'm quite tired

Fair point about the crime stats dude, but the fudging and incident ignoring is commonplace not just in Sheffield. I don't like the fact that many crimes go unsolved because of that attitude, but the copper was probably being frank when he said they wouldn't catch the culprit. I think the response you got was typical of all too many people these days, they can't be bothered etc...you rightly expect the police to take such incidents a bit more seriously......"serving the public" and all that !!!!!!!!

not so sure about the 'racial tension' statement though dude

Sounds like there must be another sheffield,and you went there.

I have never heard of any bus driver behaving in such a manner and find it very hard to believe.

hope this is all ********!

Right let me put a few things in place before I submit my opinion:

I am Scottish.
But I grew up in Nottingham
And moved to Sheffield 5 years ago.
I have a good friend who lives in Kelvinside

The Sheffield entertainment scene is not a patch on Glasgow I'm afraid, as it does lack the bar/cafe/restaurant society present in the Westend. Leeds, Nottm, & Manchester are all superior in this department.

Likewise shopping.

However, the people of Sheffield are BY FAR the friendliest big city population I have ever had the pleasure to reside with....and without wanting to stereotype my fellow Scots...its CHEAP! :-)

Sheffield is a regeneration city, so you are right to believe that it is 10 years behind cities such as Glasgow....Ecclesall Road is hardly a match for Byres Road, but the Barrowlands Market is no match for anywhere within 100 miles of here!! :-)

So come and enjoy the change and embrace the chance to influence this city's direction.

(Whereabouts do you intend to live?)

I go to Glasgow several times a year and must admit that it's far livelier.

However there are two things which are much better about Sheffield 1) the Peak Disrtrict on the doorstep and 2) it's a lot easier to get Hendersons Relish.

You are going to think I am joking abour Henderson's - just wait until you taste it! Apparently you can get it in Glasgow at the Buchanan St Galleries. I'm not being sarcastic but try it with Haggis, really adds a lot of flavour to it.

My family moved over from Melbourne (Australia) about ten years ago and although there aren't enough cafes and the shopping isn't .great. (well... at least we've saved money) we've loved living here. And it has got a lot nicer in that time.

It's no way near a major city but it is really a nice town. It does scare me how many people seem to know you through someone else sometimes. It's kind of like a big village.

The bus drivers can be quite grumpy but as a girl whose travelled on a LOT of buses here there are some really nice ones! Even one guy who started letting me on for free because I was having to catch the same bus to town and back six times a day (crap job - don't ask!)

If you love live music then it's good too, and the clubs aren't as bad as many places I've been to (although... Kingdom...) Although if you don't you can get left wanting. It's made a big deal that the Showroom is the best independant cinema in England (and I'm sure it is! I do like it there) but it's a bit of a shock coming from a town that had more cinemas than I count.

As for crime rates or whatever I've never felt unsafe on the street, even walking the hour home at 3am - but I lived in one of the "better" areas.

Sheffield is like that though - it's not one place, it's lots of areas. So if you live in a "nice" area it should be alright, then there are other areas that I know people who have lived in for years and absolutely hate it.

I think it says something that so many people "come to uni here and never leave" but I beg for my friends who have been here all their life to get out and try something new. As long as you've seen other places I think you can appreciate what you get here (whether you think its a lot or no way near enough)

Anyways, don't come in dread or you're never going to enjoy it. Be opened minded. And if it's horrible - just save up enough to get the first train back to Glasgow (it's a lot cheaper than a ticket to Australia!) ;)