When people think of Rochdale, it usually includes comments about cobbled streets, shut down mills and unemployment following recent reports. But having lived in Rochdale for all of my 23 years of my life I feel I am in a better position than london journalist to paint a picture of my northern town.
They are right that unemployment is higher than the national averae but that is just one downside to the many upsides (no pennine hills pun intended!) that Rochdale has.
Rochdale is a large borough that consists of a few different villages that have been swollowed up by the borough during expansion, some of these being Littleborough, Smithy Bridge, Shawclough, Norden and Castleton.
The toen centre in Rochdale leaves a lot to be considered. Traditionally a market the new tram link is set to revitalise the town centre, currently large scale plans are being put into place, that is quickly losing some of the more main street shops that people are more familiar with.

The location of Rochdale is a large benefit with major cities within easy reach, manchester 20 mins by trains, leeds / bradfor 1 hour by train. Liverpool 45 mins drive. You can easily get the best of both with Rochdale, as mentioned manchester is on your doorstep, but so is the countryside and the pennines to be more precise which can offer lots of different activities for everyone's tastes.

I know Rochdale isn't exactly a cosmopolitan city but to me it is home and I wouldn't have it any other way.