Biggar and Lanark have been crowned as the top two “happiest places to live” in Lanarkshire, according to a survey by an online furniture retailer.
The pair of South Lanarkshire locations achieved high ratings in the poll by Furniturebox after being ranked for availability of good schools, affordable housing, quality pubs, restaurants, shops and cultural attractions plus the beauty and green spaces of the areas.
Biggar even made it into the overall UK-wide top 50 and was the fourth-highest listed location in Scotland, behind Aboyne, Newton Mearns and Kinross.
It was praised as “a popular market town with a vibrant arts community”, including its annual Biggar Little Festival and Hogmanay bonfire, and was described as “South Lanarkshire’s gateway to the Borders”.
Lanark was rated second in Lanarkshire in the Furniturebox poll of 5000 people plus judging panels “in each big city and county including Lanarkshire” – and the towns were then followed in the rankings by Hamilton, East Kilbride and Blantyre.
A Furniturebox spokesperson said: “All 70 places on the list would have been worthy winners and show why the UK is such a wonderful place to live, loved by visitors from all over the world; the survey shows that the happiest places are defined by the quality of life within them.”
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