There’s no denying that Leeds is already an exciting place to live. But you know what? Things can only get better – and they are getting better by the day. There are a number of developments and initiatives going on at the moment that paint a very good picture of the future of this great northern city. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why we’re not planning to live anywhere else but Leeds any time soon:

It could be European Capital of Culture in 2023

It seems like a long time away now, but cities are required to put their names in the hat in 2016, so preparation starts now. If we win the coveted title in 2023, it’ll mean that we’ve developed the whole city into a continent-wide tourist destination of choice. That’s worth sticking around for, in our book.

It will attract bigger names to a world-famous arena

The First Direct Arena opened its doors in 2013 with an electrifying performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Since then, it’s attracted the likes of The Who, Pearl Jam and Michael Bublé on the music front and Michael McIntyre, Lee Evans and Russell Howard on the comedy front, so it’s continuing to go from strength to strength.

It will host one of the best city centre music festivals in the country

Live at Leeds has just celebrated its 10^th anniversary with the likes of Jess Glynne, Circa Waves and Corinne Bailey Rae on the bill. It also teamed up with the Leeds Digital Festival this year and was a big success, so great things are in the pipeline for one of the hottest, cross-city festivals in the country.

It will have one of the biggest and best international beer festivals in the country

At half the age of Live at Leeds, the Leeds International Beer Festival has got just as much character and looooaaads more beer for the people of Leeds. It’s held in the majestic Town Hall in early September (8^th-11^th in 2016) and sells separate afternoon and evening tickets to keep things, you know, at least a little bit civilised. This festival is one of the best things about Leeds and it’s growing fast.

It will be one of the best places to shop in the country

With a reputation to rival London in terms of shopping, Leeds is already attracting bargain hunters and afternoon tea-lovers in the masses every weekend, but the development of Victoria Gate on the Headrow, due to open later this year, is about to take things to another level. It’s already confirmed that it’ll have the city’s first John Lewis store and promises to bring some of the biggest fashion brands in the world to Leeds, too. We can’t wait for it.

It will be a key part of the High-Speed Rail (HS2) improvements to the UK

The ongoing development of the high-speed rail network that will connect the UK to the continent will stretch up to Leeds in its second phase. The first phase is a cross-channel operation, but the second phase will come up from London Euston and will fork off in two directions after Birmingham: one to Manchester and one to Leeds. This means a tonne of new business opportunities for the city, not to mention the developments in infrastructure and tourist attractions. Leeds will be going from strength to strength over the next few years and beyond, so we’ll certainly be sticking around to revel in the glory of this great, great city.