Once at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and also the cotton industry, Manchester's sporting pedigree is well documented, being home to two Premiership football teams and a leading county cricket team (Lancashire).
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The City of Manchester is certainly hip and happening with fantastic shopping, nightlife and culture. But sadly there's one thing that just never goes out of fashion - its crime. High rates of burglary, robbery and gun crime puts this city in our bottom 20, so it's not just the grim weather that puts the mank in Manchester.
It hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games, which was widely lauded for its organisation and overall success. It is also a hub of art and culture, with a splendid array of galleries and museums, including the Museum of Science and Industry, which is based in one of the world's oldest railway stations and recreates the sights and smells of bygone eras, as visitors walk through the Victorian sewer system. At the other end of the spectrum, the Manchester International Festival presents some of the most cutting-edge cultural works on offer.
Believed to have been dubbed 'Cottonopolis' during the 19th Century, Manchester - at 10th in this list in 2006 - was an economic hotspot at this time. Indeed, St Peter's Field was the location of the 'Peterloo' massacre in 1819, where working class speakers had gathered; just one example of rebellion against the tidal wave of capitalism. Certainly, it's no surprise then that Manchester was historically a major power base for the Labour Party and the Trade Unions.
Obviously, their work was not in vain, as the earnings of people at workplaces in Manchester are higher than the national average. However, the rate of unemployment here is two per cent higher than the national average, suggesting that Friedrich Engels' communist ideals still haven’t been realised.
For a city which has the fifth lowest life expectancy amongst men in the UK (at 72.5 years), it nevertheless has a resolutely young population, 28 per cent of which are aged between 20 and 34 years - this is likely to be a product of the fact that Manchester counts two major universities among its many educational institutions.
Although the percentage of the population which holds NVQ level four qualifications or above is higher than the national average, Manchester also has the fourth worst success rate in England for pupils achieving five GCSEs at grades A to C, including Maths and English, chalking up a lowly 29 per cent on the blackboard.
<< Go back to the index to learn about more places in the top and bottom 20
Have your say and see what other people are saying about Manchester and the other 433 UK boroughs >>
Find out which borough came in at 16th in our Worst 20 >>
Local area info on Manchester from upmystreet.com >>
Manchester City Council >>
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