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09th Sep 2021

Manchester ranked 3rd best city in the world

Kieran Galpin

Print Works

Sorry London, Manchester got you beat

Manchester has been ranked the third best city in the world to live.

The city was only beaten by San Francisco and Amsterdam, in the annual list of the 37 best cities, compiled by TimeOut. London was 13th.

Using tens of thousands of opinions, the list allows TimeOut readers to have their say on the best places to live around the globe.

The Top ten

  1. San Francisco
  2. Amsterdam
  3. Manchester
  4. Copenhagen
  5. New York
  6. Montreal
  7. Prague
  8. Tel Aviv
  9. Porto
  10. Tokyo

With London ranking thirteenth, Manchester is the only British city to break the top ten.

TimeOut’s description of Manchester reads: “Manchester sure is a resilient place. All things considered, it’s thrived over the past year – with communities really banding together through the toughest of times.

“Mancunians are a very proud people, and so it’s no wonder 71 per cent described the city as ‘creative’ in this year’s Index. This is the home of Factory Records, the Fall and the Smiths, after all, and in 2021 the likes of Manchester International Festival (MIF) and Grayson’s Art Club have continued to show this city really punches when it comes to big, splashy cultural events.

“On a more local level, small firms like Result CIC offered free mental health support to frontline workers, while the Eagle and Child pub gave away 4,500 meals to vulnerable locals.”

San Francisco won the top spot largely due to its Covid response.

Among the many reasons the city tops the charts is its “Progressive politics”, which 73 per cent of respondents agreeing that the city leads the way with its “accepting” ideals.

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