ABC Wednesday: "U" is for urban living's ups...

Urban living has its undoubted ups but also some undesirable downs.

Among the ups of living in or near Manchester’s city centre are the array of cultural benefits: theatre, galleries, art house cinema, mainstream and off-beat festivals, pop-ups, the variety of quality places to eat and drink, the thriving independent businesses and creative types that give a real buzz to certain quarters. A good public transport network of tram, train and buses, and free city centre shuttle buses. The city's radical roots and multicultural and demographic diversity add further layers of depth and the feelings of being part of something special.

Unwanted side effects are the fast food litter, the smokers who consider it acceptable to drop cigarette butts everywhere and anywhere, the people who spit, the tens of thousands of pieces of chewed gum which plaster the pavements in a shameful way as in no other city I have ever seen, and the people who take part in far worse crimes than those.

The plethora of free newspapers and magazines is another side of metropolitan life. While some are undoubtedly better than others, far too many are printed unnecessarily. The photo shows discarded copies of Urban Life laying on the 300 year old steps of St. Ann’s Church. 14,000 copies of it are printed weekly.

So, urban living unravels many unavoidable quandaries.

Linked to ABC Wednesday .