As well as being a tourist destination, York is a transport hub, an educational and commercial centre. It is a major railway transfer station and is the meeting point of the Pennines and the east coast of England.
York is also the main venue for horse racing. York Racecourse is located in the Nevis Maier region.
York has two large chocolate factories, Ross Rinelstell and Terry, although the other is a sugar refinery. York is the home of Fancy Kat, Smart and Terry’s orange chocolate, as well as York Sticks. In April 2004, Teri announced its intention to discontinue its chocolate operations in York.
York is home to one of the UK’s top universities, the University of York (ranked 2 by the Telegraph in 2001), a higher education college, York St John’s University, and a branch of the Law School. York’s football team is a member of the English Football League, and York’s rugby team is known as the York Rangers. In York there is a local newspaper, the York Evening Post.
York is also home to a large number of pubs. York has so many pubs that it is said you can go to one in a day and not repeat it in a year, though that is a bit of an exaggeration. Presumably because of the poetic license, at any point on the wall you can see at least one pub and one church.
The flooding of the River Ouse keeps York under constant threat of flooding, and York has a vast, if not always effective, network of flood defences. Including walls built along the River Oss, and embankments across the River Forth (see River Forth), large areas of open space were reserved for flooding. It is for this reason that there are large areas of green space that are not available elsewhere. There are flood-fed meadows along the river Oss, and marshes surround the lowlands around the city. Another similar place is called Rascal’s Pool. In summer, when they dry up, the land is turned into a playground for recreation, and cattle graze on it.