That’s really interesting. I would say that about Newcastle or Manchester or Birmingham or Leeds or, say Dublin, in terms of friendly, welcoming people, but not Liverpool (or probably London!).Friendly, welcoming people with more than their fair share of eccentrics. Big nightlife/student culture, incredibly left leaning. A lot of it just down to the vibe I got though I guess which is hard to pin down.
Large chunks of the south are basically London-lite but without any real personality and I see Brighton as a lot closer to Liverpool than a lot of other Northern towns or cities. Obviously I haven’t visited everywhere but it’s one of the places I’ve felt most “at home”