I love Milton Keynes.
Now, I may be biased after living here for most of my life but it’s a pretty amazing place to work, play and raise a family.
Often maligned by those who’ve never visited as being a place of concrete cows and roundabouts, MK is so much more than that.
It currently plays host to a number of huge businesses with the head offices of Network Rail, Santander, and Formula One World Champions – Red Bull (to name but a few.)
It also has a thriving cultural set-up with fantastic performances taking place at MK Theatre, The Stables and The Bowl. Foo Fighters, Eminem, Queen, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Swedish House Mafia are amongst the biggest names to have played at The Bowl.
For me, Milton Keynes represents home. I went to school here; my family has a long history here and my parents live here. No matter where I live in the future it will always be my happy place and my source of comfort. It will be the place I lived when I got engaged, married, and had my two children and where most of my friends and family live – and seeing as family is incredibly important to me you can see why that means a lot.
Up until fairly recently, I’ve had to deal with a lot of people asking not only where MK is (about an hour North of London was the most common answer,) but the tired trope of it being home to nothing more than concrete, roads and not a lot of green space.
I can tell you this, with two small children I am often craving some green spaces for them to explore and run around in, and Milton Keynes has those in abundance with the likes of Campbell Park, Willen Lake and Lodge Lake amongst some of our favourites (although there are so many more.)
Bow Brickhill Woods, Furzton Lake, and Linford Wood are all great for exploring and offer us endless walks, both with and without the kids.
When I was a kid, I didn’t know any of this existed, although I knew where to find some space to kick a football around with my friends
In years gone by, when the ‘new bit’ wasn’t even a bit, we would go ‘up city’ and buy the latest single on a tape, not even a CD.
Nowadays, we’re seeing incredible technological advancements being trialled here like driverless cars, shopping-delivering robots, electric bikes and scooters and electric public buses.
MK is also home to a thriving independent food scene with a Facebook group – Eat & Explore – which has 15,000 active members, including hundreds of business owners.
Today is Love MK Day and I find myself lucky to say that this is my home. I know others reading this may think their hometown is better, or that they moved away from MK because they disagree with my points, and that’s OK.
It may not be my home forever, but today, and any other day I Love MK.
