Living near the train station

[afong838]

Hello there,

As my husband is moving to Cambridge for work, we are looking for a place which is safe and good for living with my son. As my husband has to travel from time to time, we decided to look for somewhere near the train station. I have looked at Glenalmond avenue, but not sure why it is more expensive than the east side on Rustat road. Any idea? Also, I am surprised that only very few flats are selling, and I am not willing to buy those new homes which are far from completion and very expensive. Is it normal in Cambridge? And any other suggestion on the areas which is safe and mostly lived by professional?

Cheers,

I would say anywhere in Cambridge is safe. Newbuilds are generally very expensive in Cambridge. You could also look around Chesterton where the new train station will be located.

Glenalmond avenue lies west of the train station which is closer to the centre and more expensive.

I think the area where Glenalmond Ave is, near the Botanic Garden and Shaftesbury Avenue, is just seen as a posher part of town; and as rosemarie04 says, it's that little bit closer to the centre of town, which makes a big difference to prices. I think possibly the ex-council houses on Rustat Road just seem like an unfashionable option to some buyers too, although I'm pretty sure they're more practical for most families than most new-ish flats are.

I live near Rustat Road and I'd much rather be here than there. It's just as quick to walk to the train station, it's handy being near Mill Road which has useful shops and nice cafes, and as someone has mentioned on your other thread, Coleridge Recreation Ground is great (last year they improved the shallow swimming/paddling pool and made it into a water play area that's loads of fun, and this year they're just finishing refurbishing the playground with new equipment that our kids are enjoying).

Anywhere in Cambridge is safe except maybe the Kingsway flats (nowhere near the station). Unless your husband has to travel a lot for work, there's no reason to be by the station - Cambridge is so small that the station isn't that far from anywhere.

If the local rag, the Cambridge News, is to be believed, there are some noise problems in the flats near the station - some areas are apparently dominated by flats rented out to language school students/Anglia Ruskin Uni students and the permanent residents are being disturbed by lots of loud parties. But the News is normally full of scaremongering crap so this may not be an issue.

I live near the station and it's fine. There can be noise occasionally because of the young transient population (students etc) who may have the occasional party but those episodes are few and far between. There are lots of young families here (in Warren Close and Mill Park certainly), and it's really close to amenities we find useful. It's also great for access if you don't cycle or own a car (although lots of zipcars locally)

I have to move out of mine and looked at Rustat avenue but I am not keen on it as I would find the walk through the bike bridge scary to on a dark winter afternoon.

I would certainly buy here if I was looking to.

Just wondering if I can reassure you at all about the bike bridge, jacklyn444 - I guess you mean Carter Bridge, the cycle/pedestrian bridge over the railway line that my kids call the "tunnel bridge". It's lit after dark, and cyclists and pedestrians each have a side to themselves, and I've never seen a cyclist on the pedestrian side. Over the past approx five years I've walked, cycled and run over it at all times of day, late at night and in the wee small hours of the morning, usually on my own, often when I was pregnant and also often with babies/small children, and I've never seen any scary behaviour there. In the afternoon and evening there's so much traffic from people going to and from work/school/evening activities that you'd rarely be out of sight of other passers-by, plus there are CCTV cameras. Of course everyone has things they're just not comfortable with, and it's certainly a bit shabby and perhaps it's just never going to be the sort of route you feel happy with. But I think it's pretty safe really.

Everywhere in Cambridge is safe and lovely!

There are more council houses around rustat avenue, but honestly nothing to worry about at all. I would recommend you go and visit the areas and see a few houses for yourself.

Anywhere you move to in Cambridge, honestly it will be lovely!

There is a new area being built in trumpington (probably completed now) that has a very fast guided bus way straight into the train station. You could look there too. It's right next to the addenbrookes hospital and very convenient for the private schools.

How old is your son btw?
Parking is a nightmare in Cambridge, so if your son is a baby or toddler, I would ideally want to be living very close to botanic gardens and a children's centre.