Need help finding a good area in Oxfordshire

[Lukenjenny]

Hi all,

We will be moving to Oxforshire from Switzerland this July. My husband has a job in South Abingdon and I am trying to find a place for us to live. The more I read about Oxfordshire they more I worry. I keep hearing bad things about local drunk students and local gangs (specifically in Didcot and a few other areas of Oxfordshire). Please give me any help on the good places to live. Here are my requirements:

1. Ideally my husband can be within 30 minutes of S. Abingdon
2. Strong family atmosphere with lots of young kids
3. Safe play to walk/bike
4. Price range around 1,000 for 3 bedroom apartment or townhome
5. Local amenities so I can walk to the store, parks, pub, etc (we will only have one car)

BONUS - Not mandatory. I would like to enroll my son (age 4) in the European School in Culham so ideally we need to be within 15 minutes drive. But we are open to keeping him in a local school as long as they offer french as well.

Thanks for your help!

There's lots of lovely villages around there, and Abingdon itself is, as far as I know, a nice place to live.

I worked for a short while at a nursery in Clifton Hampden, which is right down the road from Culham. A few of the parents worked there are their children were destined for the European School. If you live in one of the villages, you might find your children's classmates are not too far away, then.

My friends who live in Abingdon have nothing but praise for it. I visit often and it seems a lovely place. It seems to tick all of your boxes. I don't know about rental prices.

"But we are open to keeping him in a local school as long as they offer french as well." I think you will find that except for the European School, the standard of French offered in most state primary schools is laughable and not worth bothering with. You'd be better off disregarding the availability of French when choosing a school, and enrolling your son in a separate French programme or playscheme elsewhere if it is important that he learns/keeps his French.

Wallingford is a nice place and lots of the surrounding villages are great but you will need to rely on public transport from the villages.

Steer clear of Berinsfield.

Good luck with your move. It really is a lovely place to live.

Be aware that the European School is closing down and being replaced by an academy, the Europa School. The European School is closing from the bottom up, so already the nursery and year 1 have closed down. It will be fully closed in 2017. The Europa School, its replacement, is currently being set up and (I think) will start taking children in September 2012. It will offer bilingual education. Here is the website for the new school: www.europaschooluk.org/

Also for what it's worth, I live in Didcot and have never had any problems with gangs! As ever, it depends which area you live in I suppose. There are nice areas and less nice ones in every town...

Good luck with your move. HTH

I have lived in East Oxford (off the Iffley Road) for 15 ish years and love it. Great community, schools, parks etc. 5 mins from lovely walls by the river, loads of stuff to do with kids including a theatre round the corner. 10 mins walk from the city centre if you like shopping. East Oxford is close to southbound A34 and I can get to Abingdon in 15 mins by car.

I could witter on incessantly about the area. I we did contemplate moving to get a bigger house some time ago, but didn't because the community here is just priceless.

Oh - and I really don't work for the Oxford Tourist Board ha ha

Good luck with the move!