I spent a lovely weekend in York a couple of weeks ago, enjoying the beautiful architecture, idyllic natural scenery and fresh air – perfection. I returned to Birmingham to be faced with the over-crowded, over-polluted New Street train station, the bizarre architecture (to which I mainly refer to Birmingham’s crowning glory – the Selfridges ‘bubble wrap’ building), and that unattractive bit of waste-land in front of Millenium Point – what a difference.
Don’t get me wrong, I love living in Birmingham and I think there are aspects of it which are fantastic, however the differences in environmental factors between the two cities are shocking. You can even feel a difference in the air, I felt like I was finally breathing comfortably in York, without industrial fumes blocking up my nose and lungs. The York city centre has little to no traffic, whereas buses and taxis thunder up and down Birmingham’s Corporation Street at all hours.
Then there is the litter; the streets of York are kept clean and tidy, whereas the plastic bags, crisp packets and drinks cans are unavoidable on the streets of Birmingham. I asked my York-residing friend about this and she suggested that perhaps the fact that York is such a pretty city helps. People who live there feel proud of the aesthetic features of the city and therefore don’t want to ruin it by leaving their rubbish lying around. In contrast, there isn’t an awful lot to feel proud of about the way an industrial city like Birmingham looks, so what difference will a bit more ugliness make?
I understand that Birmingham is a much bigger city than York and that is probably what really makes the difference, London is just as bad, but the industrial side of Birmingham seems to dominate the city and I think it’s time to find some beauty here and be proud enough in our environment to want to look after it properly.
