Eh it may just be my personal growing up experience. When I was a kid/teen there was nothing to do in town, especially in the winter. So many people turned to drugs and alcohol seemingly out of boredom. I’m not a “country” outdoorsy type of person and never felt like I fit in there. Also it seemed that the city council over the years had cared more about things like random art on the sidewalks than fixing the town proper. However, I will say Belfast has seen quite a lot of development in recent years with the new shipyard and other community projects, so there’s that.

Sorry I took so long to respond, didnt even see that I got a reply to this 😳

Also grew up in Belfast in the early 90s. It was pretty bleak then, it’s changed a lot but still wouldn’t move back.