Aberdeen: not Scotland’s most dismal place
Aberdeen is known for many things: its oil economy, granite grandeur and a football team that is currently doing fairly well.
However, despite all that it has going for it, Aberdeen has been named Plook on the Plinth at the recent Carbuncle Awards.
The award looks to highlight towns and cities which need to make improvements, with the failed 2017 City of Culture bid and the Union Terrace Garden planning permission issues being named as the reasons that Aberdeen scooped this year’s prize.
However, although it may have had some recent issues – what city hasn’t – here at ASPC we don’t think that this should hold us back as a city.
At the end of 2012, research from PricewaterhouseCoopers found that Aberdeen is the happiest place in Scotland, with the quality of life offered in the area one of the main reasons cited. There are many reasons to love the Granite City, from the beautiful architecture of Marischal College and Town House to the fact that it has won Britain in Bloom a record breaking 10 times.
In the past decade, Aberdeen has been named the 56th most livable city in the world by Mercer and one of eight 'super cities' spearheading the UK's economy by HSBC.
This is reflected in the average price of houses sold in the area: there was a 9.2 per cent increase in Aberdeen in 2014, compared to 2013, data from ASPC found. Both years have shown a return to levels of activity not seen since before the banking crisis: surely a sign that Aberdeen is a thriving city.
With over 90 per cent of properties being sold in Aberdeen and the North East advertised on the ASPC website, we can tell that there are a lot of fantastic houses in the area, making Aberdeen not only a great place to live, but to raise a family.