Swanky waterside apartments are replacing once-derelict warehouses; companies are moving into the spanking-new industrial parks; and city-centre retail sites are getting snapped up and reopened as trendy bars and restaurants.
Where is this city? Leeds? Manchester? Or could it be Newcastle? The truth is that it could be any one of these places, as just about anywhere you go in the North of England these days you find cities that are reinventing themselves.
The continued regeneration of Manchester, for instance, was spurred by its hosting of last year's Commonwealth Games. Liverpool's newly granted status as European Capital of Culture for 2008 is expected to pull in £2b of investment over the next five years with £220m to be spent on tourism, creating another 3,000 jobs throughout the North-west.
Other cities, such as Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle, continue to pump in investment to improve living and working environments - with a knock-on effect on the hospitality business. The more wealth in the area, the greater the disposable income and the restaurants, bars and hotels are moving in to mop it all up.
"We have seen a lot of high-profile companies moving North," says Angela Morris, senior accounts director of Action Recruitment in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Radisson Edwardian, for instance, is due to open its first hotel outside London next year - a five-star-standard hotel in Manchester. Park Plaza, another big name, opened its first hotel in the North this summer in Leeds.
"There has been a big increase in job openings this year and a lot more movement of management and deputy management positions," Morris says. "On the hotels side, a lot of the four- and five-star hotels like people with a London background, so those looking to move from a job in London would be ideal."
Simon Baldwin is operations director for Alias Hotels, which is to open its fifth hotel in Liverpool next year and is considering Sheffield for a further hotel. He believes that the opportunities being presented in the North of England are meeting a demand for those seeking an escape from London and a better work-life balance.
"London is still a big pull because there is a bigger concentration of four- and five-star properties, but it's desperately congested and expensive to live there. People like to be in a familiar city which is close to where they grew up, and if the right opportunities present themselves to work in these cities, people are happy to go."
Morris agrees. "People are finding that they are better off because of the cost of living. It's not just because of cheaper housing; it's transport as well. Instead of paying for Tube fares and commuting costs you can live a lot nearer to the city centre and just hop in the car to get to work," she says.
A diverse range of restaurants and bars are also springing up in cities, an indication of an affluent workforce with a healthy disposable income to spend on going out. This is helping to create more movement among the workforce and make working in the North a more viable option for a long-lasting career.
Lancashire restaurateur Paul Heathcote, who is opening three new restaurants in the next five months, recognises huge changes in the opportunities available in the past few years.
"When I first opened in Manchester I noticed that I couldn't get anyone to move from the South. That was mainly because there wasn't a good career path in the North, there just weren't many other quality restaurants they could go to and the pay wasn't as good. This has changed enormously."
And it's not just the top end of the restaurant market that is expanding. Branded operations moving North are crying out for people to come and work for them - and as they grow, so do the opportunities.
Says Morris: "We're seeing big names in branded restaurants moving North, such as Ask restaurants, and they are looking for people at all levels."
MOVING TO MANCHESTER
Alison McCallum, 28, UK training manager for Rocco Forte Hotels, moved to Manchester three years ago from her native Scotland. She is based at the Lowry hotel.
"I was living in Edinburgh before and I just found Manchester a lot younger and trendier. When I was offered a job here, I just thought, 'fantastic, I'm there'."
Alison, whose job carries a salary range of £20,000-£28,000, rents a city-centre apartment for £600 per month, and has a 10-minute walk to work.
"It's easy to make friends in Manchester because your colleagues become your friends." says Alison.
But three years on, has the appeal of Manchester waned a little?
"No, I love living here, it's such a vibrant place. I have the city right on my doorstep. From a work point of view, I wouldn't go back to Scotland."
HOME TO LIVERPOOL
Suzy Jones, 28, quit her job at the Hilton London Metropole to move back home and join the team at Liverpool's first designer hotel, the Hope Street Hotel, which opened earlier this month in the city's most famous street and cultural centre.
"I've only been back three weeks and I'm noticing how much the city has changed. Every corner I turn there's a new building. There's a real buzz and there are all sorts of new restaurants and bars."
"I read about Liverpool's first designer hotel and thought it would be a good opportunity," says Jones, who is front-of-house manager at the Hope Street Hotel.
Another reason for moving back was to invest in a property, although the rise in house prices in Liverpool came as quite a shock. "You can get something in the city centre for about £130,000, but I thought it would be cheaper. Overall it's not as expensive as London - and that goes for travel, going out and buying clothes."
Fortunately, moving back to Liverpool didn't mean a huge drop in salary for Jones, who earns about £25,000 - just a small "dip", which has meant she hasn't had to curb her social life and there are plenty of new places to choose for a night out.
Favourite haunts include the Living Room on Victoria Street and beneath it a nightclub, Mosquito. She also enjoys after-work drinks at 60 Hope Street.
"People here make much more of an effort with their appearance when they go out than they do in London. It's really noticeable, it's nice."