Birmingham is a great place to live and work and our city has the youngest population in the continent, with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of our population. There are over 400 schools, 15 universities and three University colleges within one hour’s drive of the city. With a youthful spirit and relentless drive It’s no wonder that Birmingham also has a thriving start-up business scene too with hundreds of creative businesses breaking through. The city remains a champion of innovation since it’s days as leader of the industrial revolution.Birmingham is a great place to live and work and our city has the youngest population in the continent, with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of our population. There are over 400 schools, 15 universities and three University colleges within one hour’s drive of the city. With a youthful spirit and relentless drive It’s no wonder that Birmingham also has a thriving start-up business scene too with hundreds of creative businesses breaking through. The city remains a champion of innovation since it’s days as leader of the industrial revolution.
Birmingham is a great place to live and work and our city has the youngest population in the continent, with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of our population. There are over 400 schools, 15 universities and three University colleges within one hour’s drive of the city. With a youthful spirit and relentless drive It’s no wonder that Birmingham also has a thriving start-up business scene too with hundreds of creative businesses breaking through. The city remains a champion of innovation since it’s days as leader of the industrial revolution. | Adobe

The 11 bostin’ reasons why Birmingham is the best city in the world to live in

Fionnuala Bourke
By Fionnuala Bourke

Editor

Published 20th Oct 2021, 14:11 GMT
Updated 27th Oct 2023, 12:58 GMT

Here’s why Birmingham is the best city in the world to live in right now

It’s official - Birmingham is one of the best cities in the world to live in.

Obviously, it’s a fact that us Brummies are only too well aware of - and now it’s been endorsed in the 2024 World’s Best Cities Report.

Beautiful Birmingham was listed alongside just five other British cities and ranked at number 85 on the list - which covered the entire globe!

The report is compiled by Resonance, a leading advisor in tourism, real estate and economic development, and its World’s Best Cities rankings quantify and benchmark the relative quality of place, reputation and competitive identity for the planet’s urban centres. You can find out more about it in our story here: Birmingham named in World’s Best Cities Report 2024.

Here are our the best reasons why Birmingham is the best city to live in:

Birmingham has hosted one of the best ever Commonwealth Games - the biggest sports event in the UK in the last decade. The city welcomed top athletes from the 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth who competed in 286 sessions of sport across 19 different sports over 11 days of competition. The a Commonwealth Games Festival saw some jawdropping performances too, including the world premiere of the Peaky Blinders ballet, The Redemption of Thomas Shelby with Ramber Dance at Birmingham Hippodrome. More tickets were sold across the West Midlands than any other Commonwealth Games host area and nearly half of all the adults in the UK adults watched, followed online or were involved in the magnificent event.

5. Commonwealth Games

Birmingham has hosted one of the best ever Commonwealth Games - the biggest sports event in the UK in the last decade. The city welcomed top athletes from the 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth who competed in 286 sessions of sport across 19 different sports over 11 days of competition. The a Commonwealth Games Festival saw some jawdropping performances too, including the world premiere of the Peaky Blinders ballet, The Redemption of Thomas Shelby with Ramber Dance at Birmingham Hippodrome. More tickets were sold across the West Midlands than any other Commonwealth Games host area and nearly half of all the adults in the UK adults watched, followed online or were involved in the magnificent event. | Getty Images

Digbeth is known as the Creative Quarter and has been hailed as one of the coolest places to live in Britain. From colourful street art to some of the best nightlife in Birmingham, Digbeth has it all. The Custard Factory oozes inspiration with rich industrial heritage and present-day collection of independent shops, creative and digital businesses and events spaces. There’s always something going on. There’s some brilliant hospitality venues including some exciting competitive socialising opportunities at Ghetto Golf and Roxy Ball Room. Hollywood hero Steven Spielberg chose Digbeth to film his sci-fi action-adventure blockbuster Ready Player One. Joe Lycett’s Channel 4 late night chat show is filmed live from The Bond. And Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s film studios are due to open soon. The BBC are also moving to Digbeth, with a whole new outfit in the former Typhoo factory.

6. Shout out to Digbeth

Digbeth is known as the Creative Quarter and has been hailed as one of the coolest places to live in Britain. From colourful street art to some of the best nightlife in Birmingham, Digbeth has it all. The Custard Factory oozes inspiration with rich industrial heritage and present-day collection of independent shops, creative and digital businesses and events spaces. There’s always something going on. There’s some brilliant hospitality venues including some exciting competitive socialising opportunities at Ghetto Golf and Roxy Ball Room. Hollywood hero Steven Spielberg chose Digbeth to film his sci-fi action-adventure blockbuster Ready Player One. Joe Lycett’s Channel 4 late night chat show is filmed live from The Bond. And Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s film studios are due to open soon. The BBC are also moving to Digbeth, with a whole new outfit in the former Typhoo factory. | Getty Images

It isn’t just Steven Spielberg who chose to film in the city. Birmingham has inspired many renowned film and TV series. Peaky Blinders flies the flag for the city and has won a legion of fans for the show and the city around the world. Birmnigham is also the inspiration for one of the most famous film franchises in the world as JRR Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings - which was turned into an Oscar-winning film trilogy - grew up in Birmingham. During 1895 to 1911, Tolkien lived in nine homes in the south of the city, including King’s Heath. He also spent a lot of time in Hall Green, where Moseley Bog and Sarehole Mill would go on to provide the inspiration for the iconic series. Line of Duty was also filmed here along with The Gadget Show and you may have heard that Tom Cruise came to town to film seventh instalment of the Mission: Impossible franchise. More recently an ITVX camera crews have been out and about in the city to film a series about a 1980s jewel thief with Sophie Turner.

7. Birmingham inspired iconic films and TV

It isn’t just Steven Spielberg who chose to film in the city. Birmingham has inspired many renowned film and TV series. Peaky Blinders flies the flag for the city and has won a legion of fans for the show and the city around the world. Birmnigham is also the inspiration for one of the most famous film franchises in the world as JRR Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings - which was turned into an Oscar-winning film trilogy - grew up in Birmingham. During 1895 to 1911, Tolkien lived in nine homes in the south of the city, including King’s Heath. He also spent a lot of time in Hall Green, where Moseley Bog and Sarehole Mill would go on to provide the inspiration for the iconic series. Line of Duty was also filmed here along with The Gadget Show and you may have heard that Tom Cruise came to town to film seventh instalment of the Mission: Impossible franchise. More recently an ITVX camera crews have been out and about in the city to film a series about a 1980s jewel thief with Sophie Turner. | BBC

This one sounds pretty ludicrous, but yes, Birmingham does in fact have more canals running through it than the prestigious Italian town. Venice has 26 miles of canal while Birmingham has 35 miles. According to the city council, most of these canals were built in the 1700s and 1800s and at its height, the Birmingham Canal Navigation had more than 170 miles of them. As the industry declined, over the years canals fell into disrepair. However, many have since been restored and their surroundings improved with modern developments for the locals and tourists to enjoy.

8. More canals than Venice

This one sounds pretty ludicrous, but yes, Birmingham does in fact have more canals running through it than the prestigious Italian town. Venice has 26 miles of canal while Birmingham has 35 miles. According to the city council, most of these canals were built in the 1700s and 1800s and at its height, the Birmingham Canal Navigation had more than 170 miles of them. As the industry declined, over the years canals fell into disrepair. However, many have since been restored and their surroundings improved with modern developments for the locals and tourists to enjoy. | Marius Igas - stock.adobe.com

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