5 Reasons why Hyde Park is better than Headingley

It’s the age-old question at the end of first year, which is better?

Well, the answer’s pretty straightforward. Here’s 5 Reasons why Hyde Park wins the battle of the Leeds suburbs.

Culture

As everyone knows, Hyde Park is just cooler than Headingley. The superb Brudenell Social Club attracts both locals and students with a well-stocked bar, pool table and reasonably priced gigs. And the Hyde Park Picture House offers films to suit all tastes (or pretensions) at competitive prices. Watching films at this individual, cutesy establishment marks you out as both cool and indie – something incredibly important in the world of Hyde Park hipsters.

Sorry Headingley – you’re just too mainstream.

Location

You may not always be able to roll out of bed and into a lecture, but it certainly beats the trek of a lifetime down Otley Road. Though this walk means having to actually view the eyesore which is Hyde Park itself, you can always think of the Headingley people stuck on over-priced buses in rush-hour traffic and laugh. Hyde Park’s proximity to Campus, and by extension Leeds City centre, makes it an easy winner in this department.

Amenities

The famous 24 hour Sainsbury’s Local is ideal for purchasing the most expensive takeaways, using ineffective self-serve checkouts and meeting the random people who seem to have nothing better to do than to loiter around the cash machine. However there’s also a solid Co-Op for people who find Sainsbury’s too pricey, and the row of takeaways opposite the Library Pub are a godsend for those returning home after a night out. You’ve got everything from the cheap and cheerful Simpsons to Milano’s, which definitely borders on “all right”.

People

Many claim Headingley is more “studenty” than Hyde Park, but who says that’s a good thing? I’ve met students, and loads of them are idiots, including myself. Admittedly having J.R.R Tolkein and Alan Bennett as former residents is cooler than having Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs, but that just means Tolkein had to make up fantasy worlds to escape the boredom of Headingley life.

‘Reputation’

There’s no getting away from the fact that Hyde Park does have a pretty bad reputation, but although it might appear to be a bit of a dump – that’s a good thing. Headingley is just too nice for its own good – it has a cricket ground for goodness’ sake.  You can’t be a proper student unless you live in somewhere quite rough where you’re likely to have all your stuff nicked. The fact Hyde Park has a perception as a bit of a shithole is very much to it’s advantage.

Wish you were here, Headingley students.