Southampton has been listed among the top ten best cities in the UK as part of a new global quality index.
According to Oxford Economics’ new Global Cities Index, Southampton ranked 126th out of the 1,000 largest cities in the world. This makes it the eighth-highest ranked UK city on the list.
Living in Woolston for her entire life, Lyn Booth, a 72-year-old resident, said it was ‘brilliant’ news.
“I like the green spaces," she told the Echo. "We kept green spaces in the park. I like May Fair Theatre and I like the fact that I’m living by the sea, I can walk along by the sea.”
Similar to Lyn, Jean Garrod, 70, based in Sholing, believes Southampton is worth living in. She added: “We like bowling. We do lawn bowling here on grass.”
Magno Antonio, 44, a Portuguese engineer who arrived in Southampton nearly 20 years ago, told the Echo: “The reason I like Southampton is because it has got the perfect density in terms of population.
"It’s not London, it’s not too rural. It’s a perfect balance.
“I would recommend it to everyone. It’s good for immigrants to come because there are a lot of jobs.”
Moving from Poland, Joanna Kostrzewa, a 39-year-old test technician in Bitterne, said: “For me, I like the quiet atmosphere. It’s not busy and most of the people are nice.”
However, each city has its own problems. While agreeing that Southampton is a nice place in some ways, Phillip Lane, 41, an operations supervisor at Amazon, said he was "shocked" by the news.
“It’s just getting worse," he said.
"There seems to be a lot of crime lately. The cost of living is not affordable because most of the jobs are minimum wage jobs.
“I'm quite fortunate that I've been in the same job for like the last 10 years. But a lot of young people nowadays, struggle to get a job.”
Sher Hajizda, 31, who is originally from Afghanistan but has been living in Southampton for three years, said the city is nice, but whether it’s worth living in depends on the individual.
“The government here is good and not good. It’s lovely but depends on the people.”
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