Possible move to Oxford

[YummyVictoriaSandwich]

Hi all

There's a job in Oxford (Headington) that I'm interested in. We live in London.

I know nothing about Oxford but have always wanted the right opportunity to leave London.

I don't particularly like the city but from my googling, Headington sounds similar to London in terms of traffic, pollution, crowding etc. Is this the case?

Have primary aged children so school choice is very important (particularly secondary school)...somewhere academic with good behaviour etc. would be nice.

Any nice quiet and clean areas surrounding Headington that are easily commutable (e.g. less than 4 miles) by car?

Affordability....ideally 3-4 bed semi for under 600k.

Essentially I don't want to move to a mini-London!

Please can anyone pls help with areas and schools etc?

Thanks so much!

Agree with everyone else about the awful traffic & it being sensible to live within cycling distance of your work, or on a good bus route directly to it.

Oxford is nothing like London suburbs: even the suburban bits have more going on plus it's a small city so you're not far from the historic centre wherever you are.

Someone mentioned the Oxford Tube. I guess if you really want villagey you could live in Lewknor or Watlington and pick up the bus from its M40 Jn6 stop.

Although I disagree with the council's proposed traffic measures, it is a very liveable small city with a good bus network, park and ride, fast and frequent coaches to London.

If the job is at the hospitals, Marston is a good call. If it's at Brookes that opens up Cowley Road and Iffley Road corridors. You would have to cycle up the hill but it's not too bad.

Basically either live closer in to the city and commute outwards, or pick a village and drive in, if parking is available.

Watlington! That’s what I meant. Not Wallingford.

Agree that Oxford is absolutely nothing like London, other than it has the Thames running through it.

We all have different opinions of course, as shown on here. Some people like Oxford, others don’t. I am in the camp of don’t. I have lived in here 20 years and wish I could move. I live in ‘North Oxford’ and a 4 bed house with tiny garden is around 1 million. You’d struggle to find a 3-4 bed house in a ‘nice’ area with a budget of 600k. Rougher places are Blackbird Leys, Barton and Rosehill and cowley. In my opinion Headington is looking a bit run down- mostly charity shops and eating places. And lots of student accommodation.
I’ve already moaned about the shops in city centre on another thread! Only good thing is there are plenty of buses- infact too many on some routes!

Also, as well as driving in to Headington which is a bloody nightmare at the best of times, the parking is diabolical! So if you want to be able to commute in easily, a bike is the way to go!

If the job is at Brookes, the person I know who works there gets in to work at 7.00am to ensure that they have parking.

Wow, thank you all. Some really useful insight.
We might take a little trip there to explore... but from the feedback so far, I think we are better off in London for now!
Job is less hours, so less pay (and no London weighting). As much as we want to leave London eventually, Oxford might not be the best place in terms of what we're after.

Maybe move here temporarily first and see how you go? It's a big change and at least that way you'll keep your current job and essentially get to try Oxford out before committing completely x

There's another way to look at this, to find out what bus routes work to get to the office, in the first place, rather than base your plan on driving. Lots of people cycle, take the bus or walk to work or a combination thereof is used.

I love living in Headington OP, also moved from london a few years back. I now live within short walks of several parks, a forest, lots of off-road paths. Great jobs walking distance if you’re in health/research. Very good primary schools and a lovely coffee shop called New Ground. I love wondering around and don’t think Headington is down and out like others have described but each to their own! If you don’t need to drive into town during peaks hours then it’s fine, otherwise there’s good bus service. Most of all I love not having to get the tube and not getting a nose full of black dust everyday (if you’ve ever blown your nose after a tube trip you’ll understand)

Tbh if you pick your location carefully you can have what you want. Headington is outside the city centre on the East so it would be sensible to go further east or perhaps southeast. I would 100% avoid Abingdon, Eynsham and other villages to the south/west as crossing the city is a pain. I'd look at Old Marston, Garsington, Wheatley, perhaps Thame and above all Wallingford which is a bit further and a town not a village, but in my view a lovely place with a great secondary school.

You could also consider Kidlington, Yarnton, Forest Hill, Cassington x

Traffic in from that side of oxford to Headington is even worse. I travel from Yarnton to Headington most days and the journey takes at least an hour whether by bus or car.

There are also 5000 new houses plus potentially the OUFC stadium proposed out to the north so the traffic is likely to get much much worse. Hopefully they'll reopen Water Eaton park and ride properly at some point.

Wish that was an option but children are settled in school so can't really afford to uproot them unless we're sure it's longterm.

@greenbackers is that because you use the ring road? I can get from mine to my parents in Headington in 15/20 minutes (30 tops) regardless of the time of day x

Whichever. I can't get to Headington for 8.30am on a weekday in less than an hour whether through Summertown and down MFR, through town or along the bypass. When I take the bus I either have to wait for the hourly 700 and have a long walk or change in town - which isn't less than 90 minutes.

You'll have to tell me your secret route!

I work in Headington and live near Thame. I start at 8am and on a bad day the journey takes 31 minutes, 25 on a good day. Always longer if it’s freezing or raining as the cyclists seem to get in their cars. It’s do-able and I love where I live (and my work place!)

@greenbackers go out through Islip and down past the Crem. Getting off Barton is a bit of a nightmare but still whole lot quicker than the way you are going! X