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Original poster

Am I too posh for Cambridge?

114 replies

BeAmberWasp · 09/08/2025 13:17

Leave my house and my odds of being harassed by a male seem to be almost 100%. Chances of passing someone stinking of weed/human shit/body odor are also 100%. Chances of being sworn at by a vagrant: 100%. Chances of having my bike stolen 0% because it's worthless and has 5 locks on it but if there was one less lock it would be 100%. There is no sense of community here. Everyone seem to be extremely rude to each other and there's a stabbing every week.

I am trying so hard to be less judgemental and stuck up but I don't have the fight in me anymore.

What the hell am I paying SO much MONEY for?

Can someone recommend somewhere better that isn't too far. What is Norwich like? Ely? Seems to have lower crime. Is moving to Southwold my only hope? I can't do this anymore. Cambridge is sold as a salubrious area but is extremely uncivilised.

OP posts:
Wolfpinkola · 09/08/2025 23:23

Are you sure you’re not in Hackney !?

Sausagescanfly · 09/08/2025 23:21

Maybe you're not too posh, but too poor. Maybe you need to live in a nicer bit of Cambridge, but obviously that comes at a cost.

We usually go into Cambridge, as our nearest city, but recently visited Norwich. I really liked it, though we mostly saw the city centre.

JudgeJ · 09/08/2025 23:15

MrsArcher23 · 09/08/2025 14:23

Wondering if one is ‘too posh’ for anywhere or anything is usually a sign that one definitely isn’t!

Do only 'posh' people have high expectations of behaviour or do your expectations make you posh?

JudgeJ · 09/08/2025 23:11

TheAmusedQuail · 09/08/2025 13:21

Ely is just as dodgy. And Norwich also has dodgy areas. Search up The Larkman estate.

Southwold IS posh. As is Holt.

Holt is being ruined by lots of tacky yet expensive housing.

CeaselesslyIntoThePast · 09/08/2025 23:09

Up near Sainsbury’s end

IAmQuiteNiceActually · 09/08/2025 23:08

CeaselesslyIntoThePast · 09/08/2025 22:48

Do you live up the dodgy end of Mill road by any chance

Which is the dodgy end?

CeaselesslyIntoThePast · 09/08/2025 22:48

Do you live up the dodgy end of Mill road by any chance

Chick981 · 09/08/2025 22:27

Where In Cambridge do you live OP? As I used to live in one of the rougher parts and don’t recognise this at all. But, I moved to a Cambridgeshire town instead of the city itself a couple of years ago now and I love it, feel super safe, lovely area, never any issues.

Tretweet · 09/08/2025 22:18

We’re outside Cambridge now but still go in for shopping, I definitely think it has more eccentrics than the average city but not scary ones. My friend saw a man swigging cold tomato soup out of the tin on a picnic the other day, it’s that sort of odd. Does anyone remember the singing bin? And the naked cyclist with the boom box?

I do think it’s quite unfriendly though, more like London than such a small place should be in terms of politeness on the streets etc.

There is poverty but also merrily bombed about on my bike at all hours for several years which I didn’t in bigger cities I’ve lived in.

DeafLeppard · 09/08/2025 22:02

I do recognise a bit of what the OP says. The place stinks of weed, and a foreign exchange student was stabbed to death by the station last week. There are scores of dodgy/illegal eSkuta bikes being ridden by men with masks over their faces.

And on a completely unrelated note, why do we fetishise Jesus Green Lido so much? I mean, has no one in Cambridge been to a decent European outdoor pool? It’s literally some shacks around a pool, and it’s hideously unclean because there are no footbaths and no-one enforces a no outdoor shoe rule. It’s also surrounded by overgrown trees (the tree lovers will be along to object shortly) that dump loads of leaves and crap into the pool, and the grounds are so grotty and nowhere nice to spread your towel out. It should be so much better!

greenmarsupial · 09/08/2025 22:00

I just used the Street Check website mentions by a PP for my area of Ely- it’s the place to be if you want to keep your bike safe 😂

Am I too posh for Cambridge?
Blessthismess2 · 09/08/2025 21:56

lol I live in Cambridge and this is nothing like my experience. Apart from the weed smell which is very strong in my garden- but it doesn’t bother me. 😛

SixtySomething · 09/08/2025 21:55

So none of the people who replied and live in Cambridge understand what the OP is talking about.
How strange.
I don't live in Cambridge, but I still don't know what the OP is on about.

Praying4Peace · 09/08/2025 21:50

You are exaggerating /misrepresenting "facts" OP
You come across as being very judgemental

OneNeatBlueOrca · 09/08/2025 21:46

MrsArcher23 · 09/08/2025 14:23

Wondering if one is ‘too posh’ for anywhere or anything is usually a sign that one definitely isn’t!

People who really are posh would never describe themselves as posh.

Scarylett · 09/08/2025 21:45

I live in Cambridge. I don’t recognise your descriptions of the town.

Marylou2 · 09/08/2025 21:43

Did the OP not come back? Obviously too Posh for this thread as well as for Cambridge Grin

chiffontalks · 09/08/2025 20:04

I've lived in Cambridge and raised my children there. Never experienced anything like it.
Cambridge is a city but does not feel like a big city. It's more like a big town. I lived near the city centre, walked alone, daily, and never experienced any harassment. You do get some colourful characters, there aren't many. Once you live here, you sort of recognise them. Most are harmless. We lived near a homeless shelter. There were some shady characters. But have never felt unsafe as I do in other major cities.

Borborygmus · 09/08/2025 19:48

Having lived in Cambridge for getting on for 70 years, I don't recognise that description at all. The Mill Road area is somewhat dodgier than the rest, but in general Cambridge feels very safe to me.

Octavia64 · 09/08/2025 19:47

Bike theft is common anywhere in Cambridge. Always has been. I’ve moved north and it’s a lot less posh but feels less feral in parts.

I used to teach teens who lived on the Arbury and I remember a few stabbings. One kid I taught was stabbed a few years after leaving school (to be fair he was one of the most unpleasant teens I ever had the misfortune of knowing and frankly I’m n surprised it took that long).

HeddaGarbled · 09/08/2025 19:37

A couple of passages from the Times article today:

Am I too posh for Cambridge?
Am I too posh for Cambridge?
Potterwatch89 · 09/08/2025 18:21

Not the Cambridge I know and love. I echo PP, look at any of the villages surrounding the city, beautiful and a great sense of community!

Whatareyoutalkingaboutnow · 09/08/2025 18:05

Posh people don't live in Southwold, they have their holiday homes there. See also, Aldeburgh and Walberswick.

waitingforthehallmarkedman · 09/08/2025 18:04

Goady nonsense and I'm from the Arbury 🤣

MinnieMountain · 09/08/2025 17:56

I was joking about Peterborough. It’s popular to rubbish it but I’ve lived there happily for 20 years.

Feel free to PM me @AxMxPfan . It depends on how close to the train station you want to be and whether or not schools are a factor.

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