Moving to Cambridge with family

[Krimgold]

Hi, everyone! I have been made a very good offer to move to Cambridge from Prague (Czech Republic). But as I have never been there and I will have to move with my child (4 y.o.) and wife it would be great if you could share your experience and help me to make the right choice. So it seems that we should be ok financially (the annual salary expected is 80000). Considering my rule of thumb - 1/3 of net salary can be spent on apartment rent, I have a budget of 1500 pounds per month on 2-bedroom apartment. Is it possible to find a good apartment in this range? And what is also very important which Cambridge districts you could recommend for living with a child - good schools etc.? I will be working at the Cambridge science park. But not necessarily look for the apartment near it. A 30-40 commute time will be fine. Any other information would be very-very appreciated! My wife still has some doubts about the move as we've been living in a big city - more than a 1 million, and Cambridge is much smaller - about 130000. So she is afraid it will lack the good infrastructure - supermarkets, shopping centers, good public transport etc. If you have anything to add about this, also will be highly appreciated. Thanks everyone in advance and sorry for the English. It's not my native language so mistakes do occur.

[Tingalingle]

At that salary you should be fine!

I would look on rightmove.co.uk for rental properties and put in Chesterton, Cambridge as a starting point (very good secondary school and walking distance from the science park).

[joan12]

Hello! If you could look and see some central areas that are commutable from the science park I might be able to advise. You might aim for cycling/busing/guided busway if possible as traffic is a problem.

There is a huge Sainsbury's supermarket, a huge Waitrose and a huge Tesco's all easily reached on foot/bike/bus from central neighbourhoods. In the Mill Road area plenty of independent shops, grocers, delis etc Nearly all the state primary schools are good. As you'd expect in a university town there's more theatre, concerts etc than you could ever manage to attend!

I would suggest starting by looking at your commute and go from there. A lot of people who move here from London choose the streets off Mill Road as they are bustling, busy, lots of shops, good community feel etc but there are quieter areas too.

Oh..your wife asked about shopping centres. The Grand Arcade in the centre of town is the main one and is very busy and I suppose more high end (Apple store and Tesla store amongst others). Grafton Centre just slightly less central is OK. We only go there for the cinema and Decathlon. Then there is the whole Beehive Centre/Newmarket Road nightmare which is a bit like a US style shopping centre with huge home stores, pet stores, more supermarkets, sporting goods stores, gym etc etc All easily reachable by bike/bus or on foot.

If all that isn't enough London is 50 minutes on a direct train 😄

[joan12]

Chesterton is a good idea! The neighbourhoods are quiet, nice sense of community and easy walk into town too.

[whoaherewego]

Yes, I'd agree on Chesterton - in between the centre and science park. There's an apartment on the river up for £1500 at the moment that I'd love! www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/86749919

Infrastructure and general 'stuff' is pretty good - most big shops are in Cambridge now and big versions of all the supermarkets. Lots of really good places to eat too. The city is very walk/cycle able and there are lots of buses. Also frequent trains to London - maybe 6 an hour taking between 50 mins and 1hr 15 so it's really easy to pop into London whenever you want to.

Driving in rush hour can be a nightmare if you need to cross the city, but outside that you're near some main roads to get around (M11 motorway) and also very close to Stansted airport.

[Tingalingle]

I misread your 4year old as 14 year old, sorry, so the very good secondary school isn’t relevant (yet!).