Leeds - Actual Capital of the North?

[E-Man Groovin]

I'm interested in what the good folk of Sheffield Forum think about this article.

 

https://theculturevulture.co.uk/blog/speakerscorner/leeds-devolution-why-i-hate-yorkshire/

 

The writer is arguing that Leeds is too big for Yorkshire. That its economy is bigger than Manchester, and bigger than Wales. He argues that it is in fact the "actual capital of the north".

 

Needless to say Sheffield doesn't even get a mention.

 

(Note: Popcorn and comfy chair check complete)

[alexander874]

Leeds is the third largest city in England , Sheffield is forth & Manchester is about 7th behind Bradford .

[geared]

Isn't that only because the definition/border of Manchester city is fairly small.

 

Whereas really it's a huge sprawling place thats grown into other villages/towns in the surrounding area.

[kidley]

interesting reading on the subject of english cities.

 

http://www.citymetric.com/business/london-still-start-capital-europe-its-crown-risk-1584

[Stoatwobbler]

The problem with this article is that it isn't very good. For one thing it's not well written IMHO. And serves as a reminder of all the L**ds stereotypes that make the rest of Yorkshire dislike the place. For another, the evidence used is extremely disingenuous, relying on "Leeds City region" which includes West Yorkshire and a large swathe of North Yorkshire rather than just L**ds itself.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_City_Region

 

Also, the portrayal of the BBC as the "Manchester Marketing Board" when they are responsible for a local TV news show referred to derisively across the county as "Look L**ds" does come across as being grievance-mongering for the sake of it.

[1978]

Leeds is not the capital of the north. If Yorkshire wants to claim that title let's opt for York, despite it's smaller size. The Romans were happy with it, so why change?

 

But here we go again, another thread likely to be taken over by willey comparisons. The Manchester region is far ahead of Leeds, and Sheffield. (Don't forget Birmingham and it's hinterland either when looking at British cities.) Boundaries can be drawn anywhere you like to prove one thing or another.

 

Maybe the position of George Osborne's constituency gives him a little more insight into the north than David Cameron, but as soon as you alight at Piccadilly station (and there's also Victoria) you sense the greater level of activity. There's certainly been a lot of money pumped in for the Metrolink system alone, and that wasn't just driven from Westminster.

 

The Northern Powerhouse that George sees is largely based on Manchester, and driven by the people from that area. It follows the drive of earlier days when Manchester stole trade from Liverpool with the Ship Canal! They did well then, and are doing well now, just go and look at all that's being built around that area. It's spreading out - although it needs to if you look at some of the surrounding towns.

[AndrewC]

Leeds is the third largest city in England , Sheffield is forth & Manchester is about 7th behind Bradford .

 

Statistical fact, but clearly not the whole picture. The city of London has about 6,000 people living it, or something like that.

[Stoatwobbler]

The Northern Powerhouse that George sees is largely based on Manchester, and driven by the people from that area. It follows the drive of earlier days when Manchester stole trade from Liverpool with the Ship Canal! They did well then, and are doing well now, just go and look at all that's being built around that area. It's spreading out - although it needs to if you look at some of the surrounding towns.

 

Despite the cringeworthy rhetoric, there's a few good ideas going about with this "Northern Powerhouse" gumph. Although at the same time there are moments when it seems to involve ideas from people with no knowledge of local history and culture, and worse still, no understanding of basic geography.

 

The biggest issue I have is with the city regions. Evidently, an elected mayor for Sheffield won't just be for the city itself but also for Barsley, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Doncaster, and even Derbyshire Dales and Bassettlaw! I'm not sure that people in places like Dronfield really want their local government controlled from Sheffield rather than Chesterfield & Matlock.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_City_Region

Edited November 25, 2015 by Stoatwobbler
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[alchresearch]

Its down to quality (of output) not quantity (of people).

[alexander874]

The size of towns & cities is always based on population not the county that its in .

People often confuse the City of Manchester with the county of Greater Manchester which is very different . Greater Sheffield is the county of South Yorkshire and Greater Leeds is the county of West Yorkshire .