HOW IT RATES

Liverpool holds a third of Merseyside’s population. Celebrating its 800th anniversary this year, the city will be the European Capital of Culture in 2008; the football-mad Scousers, so ruthlessly mocked by Harry Enfield, are a resilient lot; the flourishing music scene and plethora of young artists ensure a bounce back.

ARCHITECTURAL GEMS

Liverpool has the largest number of listed buildings in the UK after London. The grander streets come largely from the early 19th century, when 40 per cent of the world’s trade passed through the city. St George’s Hall, opposite Lime Street railway station, is one of Britain’s finest Neo-Classical buildings; the William Brown Library, Walker Art Gallery and the World Museum Liverpool are also in this style.

WHAT’S NEW

The Kings Dock buildings are by the rejuvenated canal links with Albert Dock. For details of 429 one or two-bedroom flats launching in October, ring Knight Frank (0151-236 1333). East Float is a large-scale wharf conversion; contact Gregor Shore (0845 6035503).

QUALITY OF LIFE

A city of extremes. There really is plenty to do for those with time and money, but this excludes many residents, still some of the UK’s poorest.

TRAVEL

Liverpool had the first electric overhead railway in the world. Trains to London take 2½ hours. The M62 is the link to Manchester; Liverpool John Lennon Airport is south of the city and there are ferry routes to Ireland and the Isle of Man.

POPULATION

Merseyside is the fifth most populated area in the UK; the city has 447,500 people, many of whom are descended from the Irish families who fled the famines of the 1840s.

SMARTEST STREETS

Woolton is said to be the best district in Liverpool; this part of the L25 postcode is a conservation area, with an old church where an Eleanor Rigby (who may have suggested the name in the Beatles’ song) is buried. The L18 district of Calderstones is one of the most expensive places to buy, with neighbouring Allerton close behind. Grassendale Park and Cressington Park are leafy residential suburbs.

BEST RESTAURANTS

The Hope Street Hotel is pricey but worth it for the palatial setting and fine cooking. 60 Hope Street is in a Georgian house and known for its high-quality European menu. Mei Mei is said to do the best dim sum in town.

TOP NIGHTLIFE

The Everyman Theatre is well regarded and has a good bistro. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performs at the Art Deco Philharmonic Hall, which opened in 1939 and has hosted the Beatles, Blondie and more recently Nitin Sawhney and Sigur Rós.

EDUCATION

The University of Liverpool has about 20,000 students and has popular dentistry and nursing courses. The Belvedere School is a girls’ day school with good results, particularly at GCSE. Beechenhurst School is a coed preprep with only 100 pupils; Atherton House is similar, with half that number. Average earnings are £502 a week, against the £539 national average. The unemployment rate is high at 5.5 per cent, but the jobs market is growing annually by 2 per cent. The public sector is the largest employer, with 40% of the workforce.

UPSIDE

Albert Dock is home to Tate Liverpool, the Merseyside Maritime Museum and Beatles Story. FACT (Foundation for Art & Creative Technology) is a media centre with a cinema, gallery and café. You can get a ferry across the Mersey to the Wirral.

DOWNSIDE

Twenty-five of the city’s 27 wards are in the top 10% of England’s most deprived areas. Speke is the second most deprived area nationally. Liverpool FC’s defeat last week in the European Cup final cast gloom over the city.

£134,000 The average property price in Liverpool
Source: Hometrack

1% The increase in property prices in Liverpool over the past three months
Source: Halifax

158% The increase in property prices in Liverpool over the past ten years
Source: Halifax

42% The percentage of all jobs in the Merseyside area that are based in Liverpool city
Source: Liverpool City Council

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