On Birmingham

I grew up near Big Town. I’ve lived in bigger and better cities since, but one way or another I’m back.

There’s a vibe. A vibe I’ve seen gestured at but never quite identified. People here are, in general, incredibly negative about the city and the life within it. I once met a man who said the city has a vibrant drinking culture. It was a very memorable meeting because it was possibly the first, and only, time I’ve heard a local say something positive about the place. The negativity leads to apathy. When everything is shit, why reach for more shit?

But there’s another side to that coin.

Everyone in London wants to get rich. Everyone in Tokyo wants to achieve mastery of their vocation. Everyone in Berlin wants to be a tortured artist. No one is in Birmingham to make it big. They want to deal with their problems and face another day.

When everything is shit, may as well roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. No one is too important. Egos are small. The working class culture is strong. Wealth begets disdain. The people that have stayed here rather than looking to more economically prosperous cities are here because something is keeping them, and everyone has that mutual knowledge.

The flip side of the apathy is humility. Everyone here is in the same boat. Birmingham is a city too real for pretense, and too tired for ambition.

- omegastick