another "moving to Oxford, if you were me..." thread

[TaurielTest]

I have read the other threads about this, but would still be eternally grateful for your wisdom in my particular situation, thank you. Which bits of the city would you be looking at, what would you watch out for, any pitfalls...

Briefly put, we are contemplating a move in a year or so.
It's me, DP, and two DSs, 3 and 1 (so schools are an issue).
Access to OUP/academic libraries needed for our work.
Happy and keen to cycle and bus around.
Budget is small, 2-3 bedrooms and not in e.g. Summertown (!).
We lived there for 5 years (as postgraduates - in college and then St Clements) so know the city, but this was 10 years ago.

Much appreciated.

How about Osney or the few streets just west? Near the centre, decent primary (West Oxford), not quite as expensive as Summertown.

Osney's very expensive IMHO. Botley is more reasonably priced for houses though I don't know about schools.

East Oxford is great in many ways and has cheaper and more expensive spots. Schools aren't necessarily great, but seem to do a good job from a lower starting point. The Donnington Bridge area is a lot cheaper than others and can be very friendly / family friendly. There's a lot of good shopping on Cowley Rd: good butchers, international foodstuffs, ethical & whole food shopping, and a very good farmers market on a Sat.

I'm a big fan of Headington but for access to city centre by bike you can't be Marston. It may be boring as heck but the schools are good and there's the Mesopotamia path which takes you practically to the OUP's doorstep. Also think about Grandpont (expensive, good school but not as much as N Oxford but don't go too far South down Abingdon Rd) and Florence Park (lovely area not sure about schools), botley rd school very good but not Botley itself, I think.

thank you already! I had been thinking East Oxford probably, maybe Florence Park - I think Osney is too costly (and possibly too "floody") for us... I always felt at home in Cowley. Marston also worth a look, I did not know about the Mesopotamia path, I will definitely check that out, thank you.

Marston end of things might also work well with one of DS1's nursery possibilities (University nursery on Jack Straw Lane).

True re Osney prices - but Donny Bridge and Cowley are miles from OUP and a bit of a trek from the Bodleian too.

This it'll come down to what the OP can afford (2-3 beds inside the ring road range from £625k on Staverton Rd down to £120k o 13th floor of tower block in Wood Farm).

Yes, of course. Haven't done the headscratching about precise budget yet, but a bit more than the latter and a lot less than the former! DP self employed so mortgage tricky. >£200k? (but

I work at OUP and used to cycle from Florence Park without any problems. Donny Bridge isn't much further and you could probably use the cycle path to come & go. The buses into town on the Cowley Rd end of things are good, and not bad on the Iffley Rd end either, though slightly less frequent. Marston is great for access to the university areas and to OUP, as well as to town, but isn't exciting in terms of pubs and shops (depending on where you exactly are).

It comes down to how good/confident/strong a cyclist you are. Headington hill isn't for the faint of heart, but it's also not that far from the city centre. :)

Marston less pricey than Headington (and no hill to negotiate, except for the university nursery at the top of Jack Straw's lane), but might still come in over budget. I have friends who cycle in from Kidlington to city centre, it is much further but has the virtue of being flat. Schools under a bit less pressure there, I think. Abingdon only cycleable for the ridiculously fit (but again, I know people who do)
I cycle up daily from Marston to Headington with 5 yr old and it's doable (though cursed by me in weather like today's!)

only prob with donnington brdige area is can end up with peers as a secondary which aint too great.

I think the Florence Park area could be a good bet - you can cycle to OUP from there in only around 20 minutes, believe it or not and the bus service into town is very good. It's a very family friendly area and we have friends with dc at both Larkrise and St Mary and St John who are all very happy with both. There's a lot going on in the area for families with young children, including good family centres in Florence Park and Rose Hill and, of course, a great park. The new head at Oxford Spires is apparently improving the school greatly, and there is also a proposal for a free school in the area (Oxford New School) which is gaining momentum rapidly.

And how about West Oxford? Cheaper than all the other areas, good schools, good buses, great for the open air. I live in Botley and can access 3 good primary schools and the best secondary state school in Oxford, cycle to work in the city centre, access a local library/butcher/post office. Having moved from East Oxford (we got twice as much space for less money), I won't be looking to move again!

Whichever area of Oxford you decide on, don't forget to check the flood risk with the Environment Agency first ....

I can recommend Abingdon. Have been in Oxford since 96 and lived in East Ox - various places off the Cowley Road, then Florence Park and then Greater Leys. Finally moved to Abingdon about two years ago. I alternate between cycling to work in Cowley (about 7 miles - 28mins) and driving. But bus to Ox centre is only 15-20m. When I lived in Cowley and the Leys the bus could take double this and more as the traffic is so bad and there?s so many stops.Cycling from Florence Park to centre about 20mins. Actually quicker to get to town centre from Abingdon on the bus. Abingdon primary schools are also very good and the town itself is great.

Wow, Scarytom - cycling from Abingdon to Oxford city centre in 28 min is impressive. It takes me almost as long as that to cycle from where I live near the ring road to the centre, but then I'm not very fit I guess . What are the secondary schools like in Abingdon?

Nah, Sinking, I cycle only to Cowley not to the city centre, I think that would take a bit longer... although it would be a different route, so maybe only 8-9 miles (30-40mins?). I go a lovely back countryside way to Cowley, it's such a nicer cycle (and takes the same amount of time) than Greater Leys to the town centre that I did for over 4 years. The ring road to the city centre is probably as long a cycle as it's not as clear a route - use to take me about 25 mins to the centre from the Leys.
Don't know much about the secondary schools but think they're all OK from what I've heard - my little boy is only coming up to primary school age and we live opposite a school, so I'm hoping he'll go there.

Scarytom.
Whereabouts are you in Abingdon? And which route do you cycle to Cowley on?

We are just house hunting and at the moment are stuck on Wallingford as the x39/40 is so good up to Oxford. Only have one car with no intention of buying another but I think DH would cycle in to work. He also works in Cowley but may soon be at the science park.

I went to Peers in the good old days and I turned out all right (I think). I was born in Oxford but don't live there now but I lived in Cowley, right near the Cowley Centre and loved it. However my sister lives there still and says it's gone downhill in the last fifteen years or so round the area where we lived and I must say when I last visited the road I lived on looked pretty scruffy. It was extremely handy for town centre though.

I used to cycle to OUP from East Oxford - Temple Cowley area - it's quite do-able.
I'd suggest on that budget though to consider Abingdon; you get more house for your money there.

another vote here for west oxford - osney island itself is expensive but some of the roads further out along the botley road less so. North Hinksey also well linked to town. Further north, wolvercote isn't quite as pricy as the rest of n oxford, but check the catchment areas - they may have gone double form entry now to cope with intake requests.

neenewps - i'm in northish abingdon and go via radley and then cross the river in kennington. it's very pretty - a lot of people commute that way by bike. i can really recommend abingdon, have been very impressed since moving here. it would be a pain to use the bus from abingdon to cowley, needing the city centre change - but driving is only 15-20ms (even in rush hour now) and cycling 25-30mins.

We are looking to move to Kennington - only 2 miles from Oxford carfax and 3 miels from Abingdon, I would guess 3 miles from OUP, buses every 10 minutes down the Abingdon road into Oxford and very easy to cycle into the city - 10/15 mins max on cycle track which runs from Kennington down back of Grandpont or you can cycle along the river which in spring/summer is lovely. We have just looked at the primary school there (St Swithuns) and it is really good (all the parents I spoke to really happy), plus secondary catchment is Matthew Arnold which has aparently been top Oxford state school for last few years. House prices/rent also much cheaper than city despite fact it is only a stones throw away -we could get really nice 3 bed with big garden and garage for same price as our pokey 2 bed flat. Worth having a look. Good luck!