If you come to #edinburgh ... get walking!
Last time I was in London, I decided to walk from Kings Cross to the BT Tower (where I was giving an invited talk), and it was such an enjoyable experience, especially in not having to take the Underground. I could really feel the buzz in the city, in a way that I could never feel in the cramped conditions of the Tube. "On the ground" you can feel innovation happening, and in a city that is growing as fast as it visionaries can grow it. My respect in #london increased many fold when I recently discovered that they had adopted the e-Red Book for every child in the city [here].
A great environment for learning, innovation and business
I adore my city (Edinburgh), especially as it is one of the most cultured, educated and beautiful places on the planet. It has also helped us in so many ways in our research, teaching and innovation, and supported us in growing three amazingly successful (and high impact) spin-out companies.
The city has supported all this with a blink of an eye, and where we have never struggled to get funding for our work and in setting up strong collaborations ... our problem has never being attracting funding within the city, but to attract (and keep) smart people (as they are in high demand by others).
But, it's a great place to walk, and I like nothing better than to walk to a meeting in town. A short bus trip and then it's a walk through the city, and where you can observe the ever changing landscape of the city.
Today it was a meeting with Interface Online at Potterrow ... so it was a 10 min bus trip and then a lovely walk through a bustling University of Edinburgh Potterrow area, and then back through the Meadows and Bruntsfield Link to the Merchiston Campus. I highly recommend the walk to anyone coming to the city, and visiting our campus.
On the way you pass as many nationalities as you can ever imagine to live in the city, and hear so many different dialects and languages. For me it is a city which has welcomed, and continues to welcome, people from around the world, and to come and make the city their home. So, as the dumper trucks compete with students for space around Potterrow, you feel that the future is being built right now, and it's an ambitious one and where the city wants to take its rightful place on a world stage. It is a much more confident city than it was when I first arrived here.
In the city, we've never had any problems in working with others, and there's a real feeling just now, that the city can achieve so much, especially with the human resources it has (and its natural assets).
Walkable
In all the years I've lived here I've always found Edinburgh to be one of the safest places to walk, and it's reflected in a recent poll which puts Edinburgh at the top of being the most walkable city in the UK:
It has the level of safety of all the cities surveyed, along with having great places to walk. I've you've taken an hour's walk around the Botanical Gardens, you'll see that there's often places where you can go and get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Whatever you want ... a quiet beach ... a beautiful beach ... trees ... ponds ... a hill ... a quiet castle ... a loch .. you'll find it someone in the city.
If you're looking to base your business anywhere in the world ... please consider #edinburgh ... it is brimming with smart and cultured people who want to make a difference.