I lived in the North (NE to be precise), where I HE-ed DD2 for a while. I'd moved from Cambridgeshire and returned south about 2 years ago. I found the LA in the NE appalling, prone to bullying HE parents to jump through hoops which they had no legal right to insist upon, such as demanding I sent them a "proposal" to HE, which they would put before their panel, insisting on seeing work and so on. I struggled too to find a HE group in my area, being some distance from the city and even those in the city seemed to me to have limited support from like-minded parents.
When I returned south I had found places for both DDs in what I thought was an excellent school and was relieved as my earlier experience of Cambs hadn't been encouraging either. The HE support groups were excellent and there were plenty of HE families, unlike my NE experience, but the LA had also been pretty dire and unhelpful.
That seems to have changed, luckily for me as I am likely to be HE-ing DD2 again by September. A look on the Cambs website sees a completely different approach to their previous one, with parents assured that the LA recognises that they do not have to answer to them and telling parents that they may, but do not have to inform the LA if they intend to HE a child who has neverattended school in the county or if he is below the statutory school age. This is a far cry from their previous stance, where they sent forms with the instruction that "you should" fill this in and an EWO "will" arrange to visit you etc.
Chances are I'll be letting you all know if it's as good as it sounds in a couple of months! I think with this in mind and Cambridge being a town with a lot of people who are more open to HE (dare I say middle class... though I'm not!), together with the opportunities for learning such as museums, galleries, sports facilities and soforth, Cambridge or it's surrounds might just be worth your consideration.