大象传媒

In a special OB live from the Union Square Shopping centre at the heart of the Granite City Louise White asks if life in Aberdeen is all it's cracked up to be.

Aberdeen seems buoyant at the moment. It was recently ranked the best city to live and work in, in Scotland (second in the UK) with the results of the 'Good Growth for Cities Index' showing that it's growing more successfully than almost every other British city, including London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It's also been named as the best place in the UK to buy a house and is experiencing something of a property boom while the oil rich local economy has proved remarkably recession proof. The football team even won their first major trophy in 19 years this season. Yet despite all the positivity not everything is rosy on the banks of the Dee. Along with high housing prices the cost of living is proving prohibitive and it has been a struggle to attract teachers to the area. The City Council has also hit the headlines in recent times with controversial proposals to deal with perceived problems surrounding Gypsy traveller camps and begging.