Whether you’re a brand new sparkling Fresher or a wiser Third Year, you can track down everything you may need from Cityvisitor in Hull – from letting agents to cheap furniture stores, book shops to sporting equipment.

It’s also a great place to find fancy dress outfits, for all those nights where you can’t believe you really have to look that ridiculous, not forgetting takeaways when you get a bit peckish later on in the evening…

Yet again another good reason to visit Hull appears on the horizon; the Global Food Festival (22^nd – 24^th August).

As the hosts, the centre of Hull is set to be transformed for the giant food extravaganza, which judging by last year’s event, could pull in more than 100,000 extra visitors to the city.

The festivals website promises the line up will be “just as impressive” as last year too. They’ve organised cookery demonstrations on the big screen by Yorkshire-born celebrity chef, James Martin, and Celebrity chef and host of BBC2’s Ready Steady Cook, Ainsley Harriott, will be the taking to the main stage on the Saturday of the festival.

So, along with the success of Hull’s Business Week, which attracted the likes of Elle MacPherson, Gordon Ramsay and Sir Bob Geldof, Hull is proving yet again to be pulling out all the stops.

You can find out more about the festival here. Even if it’s not quite your cup of tea, the free samples alone should make the trip worthwhile…

It’s official. We’ve all got to move out of Hull and head down South.

The Yorkshire press has reported widely the new Policy Exchange Think Tank findings about the state of living in the North;

“Cities across Northern England - including Leeds, Bradford and Hull - are “beyond revival” and residents should consider moving south.

The controversial report by Policy Exchange said the regeneration of many towns and cities in the north was doomed to fail and residents should consider relocation as a way to avoid becoming “trapped” in poorer areas.”

The whole report is bizarre and even one of the authors of the report has said it may seem “barmy”. Shall we all up sticks and move? I think not….

From the Hull Daily Mail:

“Latest figures suggest up to 30,000 people in Hull need to become more physically active if the city is to close the gap on the healthiest places in Yorkshire. 

 

The statistics also show 61.4 per cent of people in Hull are overweight or obese, while binge drinking is over twice the national average for men and women.”

Another glowing reference for Hull. But the report hits the nail on the head when it says that with our three top-flight clubs, we are in a great position to improve health and fitness. Hull’s sporting success has been front page news thanks to Hull City FC, Hull FC and Hull KR. What more inspiration do we need?

Keen to jump on the healthy bandwagon? You can find a list of gyms in Hull here

Putting Hull on the map of headline acts

I’ve often heard people complain that Hull doesn’t attract the sort of headline music acts compared to the bigger cities, especially with the Birmingham NIA, Sheffield Arena and even Leeds Festival all drawing in the crowds.

They couldn’t be more wrong. Hull Arena constantly turns out quality bands and shows, and has had its fair share of headline acts; The Kaiser Chiefs, Faithless, Keane and Robbie Williams to name but a few. Now the Bridlington Spa has been refurbished, we’re also gearing up for the likes of the Sugababes (28^th Aug 08), The Kooks and Scouting for Girls (both November 2008).

No doubt these will all sell out. All we need now is something like Radio 1’s Big Weekend to choose Hull as their next venue and suddenly we’ll be on the map.

Don’t forget you can leave a comment to tell us all about it if you’re going to any of these events, or if you are visiting Hull and need somewhere to stay or eat, you can visit our directory, Cityvistor.

There is no doubt about it, Hull doesn’t have the best of reputations and has even been voted the worst place to live in recent years.

(Slightly better news last year though – we were second from bottom)

We constantly appear at the bottom of education league tables, Humberside police struggles to climb up the ranks and the national coverage of the horrific flooding of Hull won’t have exactly drawn in the tourists.

So is it true? Is Hull the worst place to live?

We have all heard the complaints (you’ll hear some in this blog), but I genuinely think Hull is one of the best cities in Yorkshire and is on the rise. We have an historic old town centre, beautiful buildings and old pubs, fantastic sporting facilities and an excellent University that really puts Hull on the map.

We have a new £160m St Stephen’s Shopping Centre, The Deep (which has already attracted over 2 million visitors), and what’s more, property that is cheap as chips – just as well with all that fish.

In our defence - unlike most cities - we don’t have the wealthier suburbs to prop up our results, which can partly explain our league table performance, and I also think the flooding showed just how resilient and community-minded our residents are.

So, with a £1.5million cash injection in the last five years, Hull has gone from strength to strength. It really gets unfair press when dubbed one of the worst places to visit, and try as you might, I doubt you’ll be able to persuade me otherwise.

There’s been an interesting article in the Hull Daily Mail this week about a survey that has been launched to find out the effects of Humber Bridge tolls on local firms.

The benefits of the Humber Bridge for transport in the region are undeniable but have the bridge tolls ever affected your decision to use the bridge? Or even prevented you from taking jobs across the River?

We face one of the highest tolls in the UK, £2.70 for a single car crossing, and the Humber Bridge Board has construction costs debt of over £330M.

Although it’s anticipated that the costs will be paid off by 2032, there have been so many calls over the years for the Government to write off the debt.

(You can read their response here, but to save you time, it’s a “no”)

So, in the meantime, the drum beats on and this latest survey should give us all yet again another indication of whether we think the tolls deter investment in the area.

I can’t help but think it must do, but I’m also very aware that it’s not just businesses who are affected. Let’s not forget that the tolls also hit the most vulnerable the hardest – such as those who travel across the Bridge to hospital appointments.

The findings of the survey are due to be released in September this year so stay tuned.

The lack of broadband choice has always been a good topic to grumble about in Hull, especially when everyone can point the blame squarely at one company -  KCOM and its Karoo service.

An incredible amount of people seem to quote the “KC monopoly” argument and over 3,000 signatures were collected on the online petition to Government (You can read the Government’s response here)

Yet the fact of the matter is, the local broadband market is open to competition and there are no reasons preventing other ISPs (internet service providers) from setting up camp here. KCOM does not actually have any “monopoly” on the provision of services and the industry regulator, Ofcom, has said that KCOM are breaking no laws.

So where are all the other providers then?

Up until now, other ISPs have claimed it’s simply not been commercially viable for them because of the costs involved with operators using KCOM’s network, but in March, KCOM cut the cost of its network charges. They’ve even said that their new charges not only match, but are even more competitive than some of the charges BT makes for others to tap into their telephone network in different parts of the country.

I’m not seeing the flood of competitors yet but I think it is worth remembering Hull City Council’s point about KCOM’s “role in Hull as a major investor, large-scale employer and a significant local business”. It can’t be denied. What’s more, I wonder how many of those 3,000 signing the petition are grateful for Karoo’s support of the Tigers this season?

Traffic management in Hull. Not my favourite topic of conversation at the moment following my attempts to make it across the City in rush hour. Not the best time to try either, admittedly, but it’s a pretty common complaint amongst those who sit in a pool of frustration and boredom in the gridlock day after day.

So, what is the general opinion on Hull City Council’s ideas, and the numerous suggestions which have been flying around, for solving the problem?

One of the ideas I’ve heard of is a car-free City Centre, where cars and commercial traffic will be banned from going into an “environmental zone”. Other than deliveries to shops and offices during restricted hours, only buses and cyclists will be able to whiz though the centre, dodging pedestrians as they happily breeze through.

Widening the main roads into the City and creating more bus lanes is another idea that has been thrown into the hat of tricks, along with upgrading the existing gridlocked ring road route. You may be sensing my scepticism.

I am, however, delighted to see that Council officials have ruled out a London-style congestion charge, which surely would have been a death sentence for our vibrant City. I’m also pleased to see that Council’s are taking positive steps towards developing park-and-ride schemes.

Even so, there can be no doubt that every single driver is dreading the looming £200m upgrade of Castle Street, which will see Hull’s busiest road restricted to a single lane in each direction for up to four years. Don’t worry though, if you get caught stuck in traffic and are unable to make it across the city, you can always use Cityvisitor to find the nearest B&B or pub to pass away the time.

With the Tigers clinching promotion, having a Premiership side will be fantastic news for the City, adding to the already long list of sporting entertainment that locals can relish - derbies between Hull FC and Hull KR, Ice Hockey at Hull Arena, even the Darts Winmau World Masters at Bridlington, to name but a few.

Yet despite the dedicated fan base, I can’t help the slight nagging feeling that the Tigers’ rocketing rise in the football world might be too much, too soon. Will Hull have finally met their match now they have secured another promotion?

Life in the Premiership looks pretty brutal – ask any Derby fan. Could our fans cope with a season like Derby have had last year? With packed out games in the KC Stadium , the Club is pretty confident of wooing the fans throughout all of next season. Even with huge investment though, or loans from bigger clubs, many are reluctant to believe that a dedicated and solid fan base, or a fantastic KC Stadium, will be enough to see them through. Having made the year-on-year progress, consolidation may have been the name of the game rather than challenging the record for the worst number of points in the Premiership.

Then again, I remember when Wigan came up a few years back – most people were writing them off before they could say “Transfer Fee” and then predicting they would go straight back down. After three years in the Premiership, they may be battling hard but they have certainly proved their worth.

Can Hull follow in their footsteps? The general consensus is not, but wouldn’t it be great if they were all wrong. Here’s hoping the Tigers get straight on the warpath and have a roaring season ahead of them next year.