residential parking off Mill Rd

[perestroika]

Mumsnetters, I need your collective wisdom!

We are relatively new to Cambridge and shopping for a house close to the station. Currently considering a little place off Gwydir street. It suits us in almost every way. But the lack of off-street parking worries me. We have a minivan which we use about once a week. Will it be difficult to find a spot to park it? We drove around the area and even though parking requires a resident's sticker, it still seems full. Is it a serious problem? Should I let this issue put me off this house?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Sorry, no direct help, but maybe when the current owners leave, you can have their spot?

Again no direct help I'm afraid, but most of the Cambridge drivers I know use Zipcar and hire cars rather than owning their own (primarily for reasons of economy, although it does address parking issues as well, and might be no good if it has to be a van, although there is a Zipcar van in one of their bays at the station). Obviously zillions of people DO own cars, or it wouldn't be crowded... our lot have been here since university and never got out of the habit of walking and cycling everywhere, or into the habit of paying to run a car, and most don't have kids.

If you end up looking elsewhere, much of Coleridge ward, where we live, is 20 minutes' walk or less to the station (via the foot/cycle bridge which takes you to the station car park; Google maps doesn't know that you can access the station via the car park). Petersfield tends to feel closer as it's on the same side of the line as the station, but really it isn't necessarily. Parking is much easier here and many houses have off-road parking, and you're still only three to ten minutes' walk from Mill Road. But it's less pretty than Petersfield and Romsey -- former '50s council semis and that kind of thing rather than Victorian brick terraces. Also, you should bear in mind that I am firmly of the opinion that this is the best place in Cambridge to live, and tend to evangelise accordingly.

Good luck with house-buying and moving, anyway!

We lived on Hemingford road and parking was ok, not so much of a headache as you'd think and certainly not a deal-breaker. We got very good at reverse parking.

You will need to be/get good at reverse parking and not mind walking a way to the car.

Zipcar???? what is this??

We were the other side of the Mill Road bridge, where it's not permit parking, and could usually find a place somewhere on our street. Gwydir St is tricky because a) it's only got parking on one side, and b) people use it cheekily to pop to the shops. I think the council regularly issues something like 1.2 permits for each available place, as they assume not everyone will always be parked at home. The permits will cover quite a wide number of streets in the area but you could end up going quite a way away to find a spot.

I am the other side of Mill Road (broadly the Tenison Road area) and have a car which I usually park outside my house. Occasionally I park it a bit further away, but have never actually had a problem with finding a space. However this is in this area. Before living here I lived in the Kite parking area and there was never a space to park my car in one of the residents bays so in the end I found somewhere else to park it. So it really does depend.

I think it helps that I am rarely back very late at night, and that my part of the street has some off street parking for some houses. Also that most people have 1 car not 2 or 3. Have you asked what the current owners do? Also look around when you might be looking for a space.

Also how good are you at parking, it really can make a difference.

Finally if there isn't a space do you have a fall back option, a garage you can rent, a parking space you can rent, would you put it in the pay and display if nothing else suited, could you afford it?

Hi there,
It's not a terribly car friendly area to be sure! If you're only planning to use the van about once a week you could plan to park it somewhere a bit further away, you'll be sure to find a space somewhere just probably not outside your house. Then use a bike for daily trips. We've never needed a car in Cambrigde but live in a residents parking area, permits are quite expensive and as JumpJockey says there are more permits than actual spaces.

Please will someone tell me what a zipcar is and ignored... I have lived in Cambridge all my life and never heard of them!

sairygamp it's this lot: zipcar.co.uk. They used to be called Streetcar till recently. They rent out parking spaces in cities and keep cars (and the odd van) in them for their members to use with some sort of key card as and when they need them, assuming someone else hasn't got there first. It might be possible to reserve them in advance, I'm not sure.

Ah Streetcar! Now I understand Thank you!!

I'd park the van semi-permanently in the little carpark over the railway bridge on Great Eastern Street. But it would be easier to have a Zipcar and a bike, I should think. The whole point about living off Mill Road is that you don't have to go driving places!