The annual Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide this year has ruled Stirchley as the best place to live in the Midlands. Taking everything into account from amenities, green spaces and community spirit, Stirchley comes out on top, but do the people here agree with their conclusion?
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00:00 I have been a resident of Sturchley since 2004 and when I came I always said
00:06 I always said to people they kind of joked at me and laughed at me it's an
00:09 up-and-coming place it's the place to be you know I could see its potential and
00:11 absolutely it's fulfilled that in the last 10 years you know the rise of
00:15 independence the restaurants the cafes the bars. The accolade bestowed on
00:21 Sturchley by the Sunday Times as the best place to live in the Midlands is
00:25 largely uncontroversial around here the attitude of the town is unpretentious
00:30 yet proud it's home to an eclectic mix of businesses that have become icons
00:35 across the city and the continued development is embraced by those here.
00:40 It's an up-and-coming place as everyone is gathered and it seems to be
00:45 getting a lot of traction through media just through people moving here as it
00:51 used to be pretty run down apparently about 10 years ago I wasn't here at that
00:55 point I've lived here about one and a half years ish and I've really seen it
01:00 grow within that time as well. Well I don't think it's anywhere as good as Dudley
01:04 but apart from that it's pretty special it's a really friendly place to live
01:09 we're surrounded by lots and lots of friendly friendly people and there's
01:14 lots to do lots to eat lots to drink it's a it's a cracking place and all the
01:18 schools are good so I really love I really love living here. There's a lot of
01:23 young families that have moved to the area and who perhaps couldn't afford to
01:28 live in other other places around Birmingham perhaps like Harbour or
01:32 Moseley but there's this a willingness for Sturchley to thrive and do well so
01:38 for me it's community and everybody wanting to support each other. Community
01:43 spirit and camaraderie is at the heart of what makes Sturchley so attractive
01:48 and when asked what their favourite aspect of life here is a common theme
01:52 emerges probably the amount of bars. Definitely if you want to move here and
02:01 the people who already live here you don't have to go to town to have a good
02:05 time you could just walk out your front door walk just round the corner and
02:08 there's loads and loads of like vendors well I suppose eatery you know places to
02:13 eat places to drink like loads of options now that there wasn't before.
02:18 Everybody knows each other all of the business owners support each other and
02:22 I try as much as I can to try and support people as well so you know
02:28 wherever I can I'll help anybody who who lives and works here it's a really good
02:33 example of a community definitely. Life in Sturchley isn't taken for granted by
02:39 those here but there are of course downsides to living in an area with such
02:44 a heavy spotlight cast upon it. Because Sturchley is the place to be there's a
02:49 lot of building work going on the moment so a lot of that you know buildings are
02:54 half finished there's a bit of road work a bit of traffic and all of that kind of
02:57 stuff that's not so great but hopefully that'll be finished soon and then it'll
03:01 be back to being the best place it can be.