The battle of two cities
People always love a good rivalry. HKU Vs. NUS. Cafe de Coral Vs. Fairwood.
…Birmingham Vs. Manchester?
The two cities have been fighting for ‘UK’s Second City’ status for years (Although Manchester sometimes claims the title ‘The Capital of the North’, neither city can really challenge London yet). It’s always been quite clear who has the better known football club, so far it’s been a close race in other areas.
Population: Birmingham has a population of about 1.14 million people, while Manchester has about 576,500 people. One for Birmingham. Both cities have relatively young populations with the median ages of between 30-33.
Universities: Manchester strikes back. The University of Manchester is ranked 27th in the world by QS, while The University of Birmingham is ranked 90th. The University of Manchester has more international students as well at 16,000, while the University of Birmingham has 10,500.
Location: Birmingham is (much) closer to London, so another point for Birmingham. But soon this difference might not matter very much with the opening of the HS2 railway, which will cut travel time from Manchester to London down to 1 hour 11 mins.
Property prices: The average property goes for GBP 233,353 in Birmingham, and GBP 246,976 in Manchester.
Hongkongers have chosen
Not surprisingly, Manchester and Birmingham are the two top destinations for Hongkongers who are considering moving to the UK outside of London, and there’s a clear favorite. According to a report by Hongkongers in Britain surveying Hongkongers who have recently moved or plan to move to the UK, 22.3% prefer Greater London, 8.2% prefer Manchester, and only 4.8% prefer Birmingham.
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