I must record Brian’s apparently original theory as to why Glasgow is more friendly than Edinburgh. But first, some background. I have always enthused romantically and vaguely about Glasgow’s atmosphere, usually contrasting it with Edinburgh’s. I will say, whenever the subject arises, that Glasgow is more friendly, that it has an exciting edgy atmosphere, that the women are more attractive (sorry all you Edinburgeresses), that people talk in the street, that people are approachable and open, and so on. But until recently I had come to wonder if it wasn’t just my western bias: I am from the west coast and had come to know Glasgow much better than Edinburgh. I had also come to realise that it was a cliché, with not much analysis behind it. I try to purge myself of the woolly and impressionistic as I go along in life, so I decided to shelve the notion until I worked out if it was true, and what the cultural reasons for it were.
I was still in this phase when Brian told me his theory. I’m worried that I won’t do him justice here so let me just ask: Brian, if you read this, kindly correct me or elaborate on this in a comment. Essentially the idea is that simply because of the configuration of the city, different kinds of people live on top of each other and must be nice to each other to allow the city to run smoothly. Edinburgh, in contrast, has distinct, discrete geographical areas, each inhabited by one or two social classes – Southside students, New Town posh, small-businessmen and tradesmen, and so on. With the possible exception of Leith, there isn’t much mixing going on because the city’s configuration doesn’t enforce it, and there is a certain ghetto mentality. In Glasgow it’s very different, though I’ll leave it to Brian to explain exactly how.
So the upshot is that in Glasgow, because of the close proximity of people from different backgrounds, everyone is forced to get along, otherwise life would be unbearable and awkward, so in the pubs you will find students talking to electricians talking to lawyers talking to cheesemongers talking to professors of computer science. This makes for a wonderful atmosphere.