My first impression of Birmingham is that it’s a lively city full of a diverse and young population. Everywhere you look there is a pub, dance club, university building, or something offered to the public to increase the quality of daily life. We walked around the city a little later in the afternoon/night and it’s clear that the residents of the city love to be out and about. These public spaces are filled to the brim with people ranging from as young as 18 to older and everyone is able to happily coexist within the same space and have a good time together. Even though it’s a Sunday and many people have work to do the next day it still seems like a large crowd is out for the night. People of all races, religions, sexualities, and everything all seem to be respected amongst their peers and exist kindly with each other.

I personally love how scenic little pockets of the city are. There are little canals that are home to boats that move people and goods through them, there are large amounts of businesses that have taken the liberty of decorating their spaces beautifully, and more. There have been lots of opportunities to take beautiful photos and admire the views the city boasts. There are also some very beautiful buildings in the city. Things like government buildings, churches, and school have taken over old historic buildings and have repurposed them into something new. This has preserved them and allowed the city to create a super unique look with their old style architecture. On the flip side there are some very eye catching and notorious buildings that I would consider to be more modern. They’re unlike anything that I had really seen before, and I thought it was super cool how the city has managed to blend together modern and historic architecture to create a city vibe I haven’t seen before. 

After spending a lot of time exploring Pittsburgh this year and taking a nice walk through Birmingham, the two cities definitely have a bit in common. For example, both cities appear to be very diverse. Pittsburgh is filled to the brim with lots of college and its students, making it very diverse. Birmingham is surrounded by many other cities and places that allows for a steady flow of people in and out of it. It’s a young, upcoming city with growing families. Both cities are also filled with education and job opportunities BCU, University of Birmingham, and more take up residence here. University of Pittsburgh, CMU, and more sit close together in and around Oakland. There are also lots of companies and corporations in both cities. Getting a job and internship experience appears to be very doable in both cities. This allows for a thriving university aged community to take up residence in both cities. 

One thing I noticed in Birmingham that is different from home is how much public transport and alternate types of transport are pushed. On the road there aren’t massive 8 person cars and things like busses and trains are pushed to be used. Also, the city is very walkable offers things like bikes and scooters to be utilized, I also noticed a difference in the going out scene. Obviously in the UK its more common to see younger people out as the legal drinking age is 18. This gives the city a different vibe from Pittsburgh. In Pitt Oakland gives off a very college down feel while other parts of the city give off a much different vibe. 

I’m personally really looking forward to lots of things about this trip. Sitting through a lecture at BCU, going out with my new friends, seeing the botanical gardens, and going to the children’s hospital. There’s so many cool things coming up in these next two weeks and I can’t wait to get started!