Where to live in Cambridge: young family

[Sunway769]

Hello,

I am really interested to hear anyone’s thoughts/ experience on living in Cambridge with a young family…

in particular, are there certain areas that stand out as more family oriented?

I’d also love to hear what the community is like? Areas for good state primary and secondary catchment? Activities to do with children?

My partner, our two under 5s and I are looking to move from a leafy part of London zone two. We’ve been living in London for the past 15 years and are very nervous about leaving, but we want to buy and have been totally priced out.

We both lived in Cambridge a long time ago, but as students, so have no idea about what the city might be like for families.

We are looking at small 3 beds with a garden around 6-800K.

We have been looking around Mill Road and the station, but are open to other areas.

We will both be working in London two days a week to start, but I imagine would look for jobs locally if we were there long term. We are currently really keen to have a situation where we could go down to London as a family fairly regularly as we’re very used to the galleries, museums, theatre etc that London has to offer. Although I imagine with time this might seem less important and we might feel more settled locally.

Ooh, no we hadn’t! We looked at Walthamstow but found it a bit urban and didn’t look further north.

We don’t really ever do soft play/ play cafes etc… we’re basically after somewhere quiet and green but with excellent arts cinema, parks, bookshops, art galleries, theatre etc. we’ve been very spoilt with these things on our local high street and DP in particular is terrified of moving away.

Cambridge is on our radar as it’s so culturally rich, and very green, and accessible to London but quieter, cleaner and marginally more affordable for family homes with gardens than where we are now.

But we are really open to similar places and I’m sure there are loads we haven’t thought of. We look at the map of Greater London and feel confused!

We were looking along the Thames for a long time but DP didn’t like the vibe (?!!)

Fine.
The De Freville area north of the river bounded by Elizabeth Way and Chesterton Road used to be known as the Muesli Belt in the 1980’s. There will be plenty of people living there with similar interests to yours.

Easy walk or cycle into town. Probably 15 minutes by bike to the main railway station or Cambridge North.

Anywhere else on the south side of the river near Midsummer Common may be even closer to town and I think would also be OK although more densely populated.

Very close to other large green spaces eg Jesus Green (with children’s playground, tennis courts and open air lido), Christs Pieces and Parker’s Piece. There are free-range cows for part of the year on Midsummer Common but not the others.

Sounds lovely. Thank you! ☺️

Selwyn Road houses back onto playing fields and most of the gardens have gates which give direct access. I grew up near there and all the kids played out on the fields all the time - it was a wonderful space for them.

I loved Jesus Green pool as a kid.
I think your husband would like Cambridge it's more urban and vibey than outer London in my opinion. I grew up in a village near Cambridge and went to sixth form at Long Road, which is nearly part of the Addenbrookes campus now. How weird that Papworth Hospital is there too. But omg that guided bus is so much fun. Its like a roller coaster.
Friends from sixth form, the posho Cambridge ones lived up Chesterton Road, but the cool kids and teachers lived off Mill Road. Cambridge is small enough to get around where ever you live of course. I am envious of you and your kids going to live there. That Heffers bookshop is truly an awesome place to hang out.

If I could afford it I would live in Newnham or De Freville.
not keen on mill road area or cherry Hinton.
slightly outside of Cambridge but excellent is Histon. You could be 15 mins cycle to Cambridge north and the city centre.

Yes same re Walthamstow.

Interesting, I never think of Cambridge as a cultural centre! Bristol yes, and Bath too to some extent.

Good luck with your search, I hope you don’t miss London too much!

I forgot, Lammas Land in Newnham is a very large grassed area with a large play park, large paddling pool and tiny free swimming pool which is only open in the summer. People swim in the river from there, but I wouldn’t. It’s next to a nature reserve, called Paradise. There are others in and near Cambridge.

We moved to Cambridge about four years ago without knowing mich of what various local areas are like so we could have ended up anywhere. But we chose Chesterton and love it here. We also love the city in general, it's vibrant, diverse and seems quite safe.
Chesterton is just north side of the river, still very central, the No.2 bus gets you into the centre of town in 10 minutes or so (and cycling would probably take even less, along tow paths and cycleways etc)
We have a smallish 3br/2ba house with garage, driveway and small garden.(Parking is a problem in Cambridge, I wouldn't buy a house with just on-street parking without checking it out very carefully indeed.) It's valued at just under 700k.
It's about a 10 minute walk to the Cam with lovely riverside paths amid a generally very leafy and tranquil vibe.
We live in a small close which is very safe for kids and over the four years we've been here we've had Spanish, Korean, German and Turkish neighbours. One house is rented out to visiting academics who seem to be on one-year exchange contracts here. They have been, and are, lovely.
Schools seem to be good but we don't have yoing children so can't really recommend. There are a couple of good primaries close by, though.
Anyway, it might be worth checking out. Among our criteria when house hunting were proximity to a good café, pub and small shops. We have all that, plus an Independent bakery, ethnic food shop and several excellent restaurants.

You've got Eddington with the University of Cambridge primary school which is rated outstanding and I've heard very good things about. For secondary in South Cambs you have Comberton Village College also has a great reputation. Bit further out.

Cambridge has two stations, soon to be three. I wouldn’t want to raise a family in central Cambridge myself. Check out housing by Cambridge North and the soon to open Cambridge South on the Addenbrookes medical campus.

There are also other nearby towns that have direct links by train to London in about the same time as from Cambridge to Kings X

• Ely
• Huntingdon

I would absolutely love to live in Cambridge. City of my dreams! I wouldn't hesitate OP.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160524569#/?channel=
I know this won’t be deliberately obvious, but would be worth a look if you are prepared for some work.

There are drug issues in a few areas. It was very open at Jesus Green when I lived in the city. May still be the case: https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/23582549.cambridge-children-seeing-drug-dealing-way-school/

Plenty of lovely spots too.

@MargoChanellingBarbarathat house is in a good area if you need to be near the hospital, but the house itself is quite awful. Would need a lot of money spent on it.