Towns (good community, kind) near City Centre?

[annakdangelo]

We are moving from the states next year (we have a three month old daughter and four year old son) and are looking for a London commuter town with friendly people (and ideally, a yarn shop, as I'm an avid knitter.) :)

We had been set on Cambridge (Morley primary looked great for us!) but are open to surrounding towns and villages.

We will only be in the UK for a few years, so primary schools are most important to us. Although we are coming from the very high pressure Silicon Valley in California, we are a very low-pressure family- we just want a school where a child can be a child, is known and loved, and learns a lot! :)

Nature, museums, and good food are important to us, but we are willing to travel for these things. Sell me your town! :)

Commuting wise Cambridge is prob best. Surrounding Cambridge is mostly villages not towns. Next best town for commuting would be Royston or maybe Ely (actually a city but tiny!). You will most likely find a community around your child's school- if you get involved in it and put yourself out there. Morley is a transient school with lots of academics children staying for a few years. Cambridge has 2 train stations, Cambridge and Cambridge north. There's a fab cafe in Cambridge north - stir which has knitting clubs I believe

Agree with pp... for what you describe, you want Cambridge itself. Have a good look at your budget for rent/mortgage and see what fits.

Morley Mem is a bit different in that it is one of v few schools that has no uniform and the general style is more relaxed. That can also come across as undisciplined and chaotic at times though.

Yarn shops in Cambridge - there's Sew Creative on King Street

and the absolutely gorgeous Cambridge Fabric Shop not knitting/ yarn but they do great dressmaking/sewing workshops thecambridgefabriccompany.com

I wouldn’t describe Morley as undisciplined and chaotic! The kids are well behaved in that they know right from wrong, are respectful of teachers and peers and are very accepting of one another. The older children look out for the younger ones and encourage them to join in games when their break times cross over. Building work this year may have given an air of chaos I guess but the work should be finished by Sept.

Lots of museums in Cambridge OP. And easy access to countryside. Traffic is awful. Calculate your journey time and double it if going by car.

Where abouts in London are you commuting to? The line splits just south of Cambridge so places like Saffron Walden are on the Liverpool Street line (handy for jobs in the 'City' ie banking/financial services, also nearer to Shoreditch, Silicon Roundabout area if you're looking at tech sector); Royston is on the Kings Cross line (better for 'central' London). If you are looking at market towns out of Cambridge then these are factors to consider.

When looking at commute time to London don't underestimate time from the mainline station to wherever the office is (including walking from tube station etc). What looks like 55 mins by train can easily become 1h45 mins door to door when you factoring in travel time either side of the mainline stations.