Glaswegian here.
I would love to support the merry picture this article is painting but most of the examples are happy accidents.
The diet aspect is cultural and will be around for many generations. You can try and "chip" away at it by education and social mobility but it will still be around. In fact I could murder a fish and chip supper right now.
In terms of open spaces and such, Glasgow council is selling land like its going out of fashion to developers. The joke being "oh theres more student accomodation being built". Plus the city's infrastructure is under strain as Glasgow approaches the 1 million mark.
The weather will always be crap.
I lived 5 years in Glasgow to get my engineering diploma, coming from a quiet village from the french countryside. It was a shock when I arrived there, barely speaking english, having never lived in a city before, but my god I loved this city so much.
Weather is depressing as hell, violence is common, the food is the worst I ever tasted and there is still this silly war between catholic and protestant. But glaswegians are so friendly, and the city is so mad that I felt so alive there. Living there was surreal every time of the day, from the morning hangover, the awful food to the mad parties at night.
Having said that, I never saw myself raising a family there, Glasgow is just too much of everything.
Glasgow may be in the words of Frankie Boyle "like Blade Runner without the special effects" but it is worth noting that it is definitely one of the friendliest cities, whereas here in Edinburgh we might have one of the most beautiful cities in the world but the inhabitants tend to be comparatively grim of mood.
> Anna recalls the change. “When we were in the tenements, you’d shout up to the window: ‘Mammy, I want a piece of jam!’ Before you knew it there was a dozen of them being thrown out of the window.” In the tower block, she did not let her own children play unsupervised. Neighbours only spoke if they took the same lift. Her daughter was threatened with a bread knife.
Interesting that this anecdote is the same theme as the children's song we learned at school "You cannae through pieces oot a twenty story flat"
Chicago, USA, had similar urban "renewal" woes, resulting in the construction of high-rise housing projects (called housing estates in Scotland). The Robert Taylor Homes were a particularly egregious example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes
They were demolished in the early 21st century. But, unfortunately, Chicago remains a city where it's a vast dangerous struggle to live in poverty.
'twould be interesting to compare Glasgow's sectarianism with Chicago's racism, to see whether ways of mitigating one could mitigate the other.
If anyone is interested in this type of thing I would recommend reading ‘Seeing Like a State’ by James C. Scott. It is one of those books that makes a point so definitively that many articles on the topic could just be appended as examples.
From Wikipedia:
> The book catalogues schemes which states impose upon populaces that are convenient for the state since they make societies "legible", but are not necessarily good for the people. For example, census data, standardized weights and measures, and uniform languages make it easier to tax and control the population.
I think UK did not get highrise development right. Building residential highrises far away from workplaces,social facilities, and no good transit pretty much defeats the purpose of building highrises.
In other words, UK cities with "depressive" highrise communities unknowingly copied Moscow suburbs.
Used to live in Glasgow and it is my favourite city. I left for a job elsewhere.
The weather and the dark winters are the real issue. Association with violence is outdated - it’s much safer than London, for example.
Association with drinking alcohol entirely accurate. If you like that, Glasgow is a great place to party. It also contributes to a very communal feel around the pubs there. And it brings the downsides you’d expect - increased levels of alcoholism and domestic violence.
The Protestant catholic thing is a regular source of annoyance when the orange marches are on, but you can otherwise ignore it. Some momentum against the marching is developing now, hopefully the council will act.
Now the positives: long beautiful summer evenings, relatively warm winters, incredible arts and music scenes, best pubs and bars in the UK, beautiful parks, stunning architecture (really, really stunning), beautiful tenements you can afford to live in on an average wage like you’re in some kind of Parisian movie, great museums, Loch Lomond about 30 min drive away and lots of other beautiful countryside nearby, great staging post for the highlands. Incredible urban landscape to explore. Two great universities. Very vegan friendly - a bunch of the major venues for music and general hipster things are vegan.
But the biggest plus is the people - the most kind, warm, friendly people you’ll meet in the UK. People shouting out of their windows to invite me in for a drink. Starting conversations with me as I walk down the street. Drinking whisky with strangers you’ve just met at the bar. Community organisations (like the Children’s Wood mentioned in the article) spring up everywhere. This innate sense of fairness. It’s so hard to describe, but go visit and you might be lucky enough to understand why “people make glasgow” is both a council marketing slogan and also perfectly true.
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The weather will always be crap.
Climate change will solve that problem.
For ponds, she says, it might be that the presence of a certain type of newt tells you whether or not the water is healthy. In cities, the newts are children. “If you can see children, it’s probably a healthy and happy city.”
Large [presumably US] Cities With the Lowest Share of Families With Children
https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/top-cities-for-families...