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FROM THE USA TO MERCHANT CITY
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The very Scottish sounding Gordon Ross Urquhart was born and bred in New York City to a Scots-born father and American mother. He first visited Scotland in 1979 as a Scottish History exchange student in Aberdeen and returned two years later to do volunteer work for the National Trust for Scotland. He arrived in Glasgow in 1988 and has been here ever since.
Why did you move to Glasgow?
I followed my Scottish girlfriend who was then a newly- qualified landscape architect coming to work on the Garden Festival. Having lived in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, Glasgow was the most outward looking (and perhaps even faintly ‘American’) city in Scotland.
What was the biggest culture shock you experienced? Coming from a brash place like New York it’s a pleasure to enjoy the still evident courtesies of queuing for everything, and for the general politeness shown towards strangers.
What has been your reason for staying? As John Lennon said, “life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.” My girlfriend became my wife and we settled into a nice life in the West End. Soon our two little Glaswegian boys were born, and that really anchored us here.
What do you like most about living here? As an architectural historian – I’m Grants Officer for the Glasgow City Heritage Trust in the Merchant City as well as an author – it doesn’t get much better than this. It’s also remarkable how nearby the wilds of the Highlands and Islands are.
How does Glasgow compare to the city of your birth? Glasgow probably has more in common with America’s erstwhile Second City, Chicago. Still, in terms of vibrancy, if New York is the city that never sleeps, then Glasgow would be the city that rarely calms down.
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