r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	the_phet
Comment	I am from Barcelona, a city that many people in Scotland seem to like. I am much happier in Glasgow, and Barcelona has gone down the toilet in the last 10 years or so. You said what's wrong with Glasgow, I will tell you what's wrong with Barcelona: The source of all its problems is tourism. Rent is going absolutely crazy with AirBNBs and people from other parts of the world wanting to live in a "cool city". Local business that give character to a city are gone, and are being replaced by "fake local business" or directly big coporation places. Eateries also went down the toilet. Food in Barcelona was amazing, now you either eat in a chinese place that tries to replicate spanish food, in a shitty place that serves frozen-to-microwave spanish food, or in a big corporation place. The city is also crammed, with a much higher density than Glasgow. The airport is good, but it's not like London, but big trips you still need to go to Amsterdam, London, Madrid,... (unless you want to spend a lot). Weather is good, but summer can be very hot and humid, I fucking hate it, I prefer a rainy day in Glasgow over a summer day in Barcelona, here I can still exist, in Barcelona I would be in the sofa, AC on, with all the limbs extended like a starfish. Warm weather is cool for a week, it's terrible during all your life, including working days. People in Barcelona were not amazing, we were a grumpy city, but it had its character and its sense of camaraderie, now it is just bullshit tourists and european foreigners and it just feels like any other city. I used to live in 1 street below sagrada familia, meaning that to take the subway I had to walk through a horde of tourists, I hated it. Every time I go back (3 or 4 times a year to see friends a family), it feels like a cheap theme park for tourists. Salary to cost ratio is much worse than in Glasgow. Something like a 80m2 OK flat in a OK area will go for 300K, at least. Flats in general are shoeboxes with thin walls and a lot of noise. I didn't realize how noisy it was until I went back. The only thing I can still say that it is amazing is public transport. I lived in Copenhagen for 3 years, and I could go on a similar rant. What I mean is that there's no perfect city. Every city has good and bad stuff. I am happy in Glasgow.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/bwutea/dear_green_place_my_arse_selfhating_glaswegian/eq2aeds/
Created	Wed 5th Jun 2019 12:00pm
Status	()

I am from Barcelona, a city that many people in Scotland seem to like. I am much happier in Glasgow, and Barcelona has gone down the toilet in the last 10 years or so.

You said what's wrong with Glasgow, I will tell you what's wrong with Barcelona:

The source of all its problems is tourism. Rent is going absolutely crazy with AirBNBs and people from other parts of the world wanting to live in a "cool city". Local business that give character to a city are gone, and are being replaced by "fake local business" or directly big coporation places. Eateries also went down the toilet. Food in Barcelona was amazing, now you either eat in a chinese place that tries to replicate spanish food, in a shitty place that serves frozen-to-microwave spanish food, or in a big corporation place. The city is also crammed, with a much higher density than Glasgow. The airport is good, but it's not like London, but big trips you still need to go to Amsterdam, London, Madrid,... (unless you want to spend a lot). Weather is good, but summer can be very hot and humid, I fucking hate it, I prefer a rainy day in Glasgow over a summer day in Barcelona, here I can still exist, in Barcelona I would be in the sofa, AC on, with all the limbs extended like a starfish. Warm weather is cool for a week, it's terrible during all your life, including working days. People in Barcelona were not amazing, we were a grumpy city, but it had its character and its sense of camaraderie, now it is just bullshit tourists and european foreigners and it just feels like any other city. I used to live in 1 street below sagrada familia, meaning that to take the subway I had to walk through a horde of tourists, I hated it. Every time I go back (3 or 4 times a year to see friends a family), it feels like a cheap theme park for tourists. Salary to cost ratio is much worse than in Glasgow. Something like a 80m2 OK flat in a OK area will go for 300K, at least. Flats in general are shoeboxes with thin walls and a lot of noise. I didn't realize how noisy it was until I went back. The only thing I can still say that it is amazing is public transport.

I lived in Copenhagen for 3 years, and I could go on a similar rant.

What I mean is that there's no perfect city. Every city has good and bad stuff. I am happy in Glasgow.