Tell me all about Manchester

[HMS Priapus]

It appears, my esteemed gentlemen and miscreants, that I may have some future and somewhat frequent business in Manchester. I know very little of the city other than Man United, as it's an area of the UK which I haven't visited.

What should I know of this exotic locale before I venture forth from the former colonies?

[FreddBloggs]

It rains, and man U are not manchester, you are confusing them with man city. And it produced oasis.

[Purple]

The good raves have gone.
It’s raining.

[Jeremy]

I live here. I like it. The city is crap, but the surrounds are quite beautiful. And you’re pretty central for just about everywhere.

[Jeremy]

And yes it rains. A lot.

[goat major]

To offer an alternative view of the city centre. I lived in central Manchester for 18 months for my last contract. I really enjoyed the city, it’s got a real metropolitan big city feel. The culture is very vibrant - the northern quarter has a host of independent bars, restaurants and cafes - from the interesting (an excellent jazz pub) to the downright odd(the cafe for cats or the hip hop chip shop). There is some amazing Victorian architecture and some fantastic proper pubs (my favourites, Peverill of the Peak and The Britons Protection). There are some good museums and if you like music well there’s a large variety of venues. On the downside it’s all side by side with a sense seediness and a lot of (a lot!) of begging and homeless. And there’s nothing wargaming related though there is a great RPG shop. And element games in Stockport. And you’ll be close to Jeremy.

[goat major]

And yes it rains a lot.

[Purple]

Informative and useful post.
Are you on the right forum?

I to liked Manchester centre. Hairy though, been in some hairy situations. But that will happen doing raves in Salford industrial estate.

[levied troop]

I worked out of Manchester off and on and lived not a million miles away for several years and agree with Simon, there’s quite a bit of culture, music and entertainment of all sorts. I particularly recommend Canal Street, at least for one visit. Good shopping as well,except for wargamers sadly

There’s certainly seediness and begging, but that’s common to all large cities and the seediness encouraged the club and rave scene to a large extent.

[Jeremy]

I work in the city centre. It is seedy. I don’t notice the homeless people because Manchester literally has less than 5% of the homeless of a city like Joburg. But it is vibrant, and the pubs are good. We aren’t really city folk, so only tend to go in when absolutely necessary for social purposes. The tram system is cheap and excellent. Did I mention it rains a lot?