Ramblings of Ru

I have had a shocking realisation Birmingham is not the centre of the universe :( I know it has dragged itself up by its boot straps over the last few years, but I believed it had progressed further than elsewhere, I believed that the rest of the country had stood still. Well I have been a fool. A few years ago I went and visited Bournemouth and came away thinking what a dump, so it was with some reluctance that I accepted an invite to go back there yesterday for a conference. Bournemouth, it seems, has also reinvented it's self and has done so in a way that is much more appealing than Birmingham. It has stepped out from the cheesy seaside town where the elderly go for their last few years and has now become a vibrant city that celebrates its proximity to the sea, regenerating its seafront so it now attracts the "surf" set, no mean feat for a bay that picks up very little swell. The city centre is multi cultural, independent coffee shops, deli's and restaurants abound. Now here is my point, Bournemouth was busy, as you would expect a seaside town to be in peak season, but not as busy as Birmingham is on a normal working day. So why is it that Birmingham struggles to deliver a regeneration that encourages pride in its manufacturing heritage, its multiculturalism and why is it that we only seem to have chain restaurants in the city centre (Chez Jule and Michelle’s apart)? No deli's, no independent coffee shops? Just chain shops, chain restaurants and chain coffee shops?

The fact is, that whilst being a busy place and full of busy people, we are not an international city!
We are a city without identity.