this is truly an excellent list. Covered way more than I know/can remember. I only lived there for a year but still go back half a dozen times a year. Gonna check out some of the places i’m not familiar with.
One thing I hate about Birmingham is the Christmas market, absolute hell. Although I can appreciate it brings lots of people into the city.
Thank you. I will look into this stuff when I go next. I think you sum it up best in your first point. It’s not obvious where all this stuff is, there’s no signage or maps anywhere. Plus, is it always really dead?
You’re probably right, but I think with most cities you can fill a couple of hours quite easily without doing any research, but I really struggled yesterday
It’s not always really dead, when did you go?
*best Alan Partridge voice
That’s a town, that’s a town, that’s a county, that’s a hot sauce.
The East Midlands was an odd place to grow up.
Yesterday from about noon to seven. I’m don’t want to compare it to London, but there was nobody rushing around or workers on lunch. We went to a Wetherspoons at lunchtime and it was like a ghost town.
The market was hell. I used to work just off broad street, and getting anywhere on the other side of town from mid-Nov to Jan was impossible. Heard rumours some of it isn’t happening this year due to budget cuts, but reckon that’s more likely to be the stuff in the squad outside the library than the main market.
It’s not like London no, we’ve all got proper jobs 
Big Beat m9
also you massive homophobe
The market is a right pain, part of it isn’t happening this year because of the construction work around the old library so its impossible to fill that space from the new library down towards the council house.
It’s kind of the problem with the city yeah; as @Huggy_Bear says it’s basically not immediately geared towards those coming for a day trip. So barely any advertising to tourists takes place in the city itself, it’s more geared to getting people to go there in the first place.
I can’t remember what blogs etc I used to follow, more canals than Venice was one but it doesn’t get updated much anymore.
It’s such a weird place.
The suburbs in the south are generally lovely. Lots of green areas, interesting shops and pubs etc. The city centre is absolutely godawful by contrast. Was there on a Bank Holiday Sunday in May and it was dead. Most of the bars and restaurants seemed closed. Absolutely bizarre for a bank holiday.
Can’t get my head around a city that size with so little going on. People just live there and…exist. They don’t do anything.
reckon it’s pretty good. my housemate lived there and loved it and he’s proper arts. just one of those good cities with a run down centre isnt it. town hall and history museum are grand though
Was devastated when I saw the videos of them tearing down the old library last year, such a shame they couldn’t do anything to save it.
Brilliant list and I agree with most of this. Birmingham is a great city to live in if you get to know it and know where the good places are. There’s a really great art community around Digbeth at the moment with loads of great events on, and I love living in Moseley. The pub scene here is far better than any other city, I’ll stick my neck out there.
I always will defend this city as its such an easy target for people to slate it.
I think its one of the biggest architectural errors this city will make. It was a fantastic building that wasn’t used correctly or given any kind of love and maintenance.
I go to Birmingham pretty regularly with work - different parts. I was in Dorridge the other week and that truly was bleak as fuck.
The city centre leaves me pretty cold. There are some nice buildings dotted around, but then New Street Station is a rotten eyesore, It feels like a much larger version of Kingston-upon-Thames or somewhere equally non-descript. Horrible, ugly new developments springing up everywhere, huge areas of derelict ground and buildings and plenty of concrete.
The one haven of utter beauty is Moor Street Station. Just a wonderful hark back to a bygone age.
Dorridge is a small suburb of Solihull, its like any other middle class out of town village. Not sure why its so bad?
Also, I love the New Street station spaceship!