Looming to move to Cambridge

[Samara26]

I am considering a move to Cambridge, due to its lively bar scene, cheaper housing and well-paid tech jobs.

My only concern is I've heard the city is very congested and parking is difficult. If I was to live in one of the surrounding areas, how would I get in and out of the city, as I've heard it's always busy? I'm not a cyclist and will be too far out to walk (probably up to 5 miles out).

Also is commuting by train to other places very convenient, and are there any areas to avoid?

My budget is 350-370k n for a 3 bed semi.

I'm also considering Bicester and Didcot for their proximity to Oxford.

Cambridge is great but I don't think of it having a lovely bar scene and you would have to be a long way out to get a 3 bed semi for 370. A quick look on RM showed a couple for 375 in Caldecot or Comberton.

Where are you now? Do you need to commute for work?

Cheaper housing? Cambridge is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, second only to London these days.

Parking in the city is difficult and expensive. There is a huge cycling culture but also a park and ride scheme which if I remember rightly you park for free and just pay for the bus which is a 15-ish minute journey into the centre of the city. Also if you're happy to commute by train look at Waterbeach and Great Shelford as they have rail connections also if you are happy to go a bit further out then also Soham or Ely

Your budget is not going to get you a 3 bed in Cambridge you're either going to have to move as far out as Peterborough or raise your budget a bit

Caldecot is more than 8 miles from the city centre. There is a bus that takes about half an hour so that would work.

@CambridgeLightBlue

Cambridge is great but I don't think of it having a lovely bar scene and you would have to be a long way out to get a 3 bed semi for 370. A quick look on RM showed a couple for 375 in Caldecot or Comberton.

Where are you now? Do you need to commute for work?

I'm in Reading hun, but it's too expensive here. I've seen a few semis and detached in Saffron Waldon and upper Camborne and Field View?

@MK19590

Cheaper housing? Cambridge is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, second only to London these days.

Parking in the city is difficult and expensive. There is a huge cycling culture but also a park and ride scheme which if I remember rightly you park for free and just pay for the bus which is a 15-ish minute journey into the centre of the city. Also if you're happy to commute by train look at Waterbeach and Great Shelford as they have rail connections also if you are happy to go a bit further out then also Soham or Ely

Your budget is not going to get you a 3 bed in Cambridge you're either going to have to move as far out as Peterborough or raise your budget a bit

I've had a look on Rightmove and seen some lovely semis and detached houses in Saffron Waldon and upper Camborne and Field View?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117496334

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/115004969

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90442396

I work at home as a contractor but may end up having to go to an office 2 days a week at some point, but I'll look for work that's commutable, just need good transport links.

Cambridge isn't cheaper than Reading unfortunately. Saffron Walden is way out. I've never heard of Field View. Cambourne might work if you don't mind new estates although it's more than 10 miles out. I'm wondering if you would be better off looking at cheaper cities. Depends what you need really - do you have kids, need a school or job?

@CambridgeLightBlue

Cambridge is great but I don't think of it having a lovely bar scene and you would have to be a long way out to get a 3 bed semi for 370. A quick look on RM showed a couple for 375 in Caldecot or Comberton.

Where are you now? Do you need to commute for work?

I thought there were lots of pubs and bars for a night out- how would you describe it then? I guess if you compare it to London, it's fairly humble but I have grown up in small suburbs so to me a city is very exciting!

@CambridgeLightBlue

Cambridge isn't cheaper than Reading unfortunately. Saffron Walden is way out. I've never heard of Field View. Cambourne might work if you don't mind new estates although it's more than 10 miles out. I'm wondering if you would be better off looking at cheaper cities. Depends what you need really - do you have kids, need a school or job?

I love newer builds, estates are fine. I have no children, and work as an IT contractor at home, though when normality returns I may have to go into an office twice a week but I'd have to find somewhere commutable from where I live.

Well Cambridge is a very small city. There are a few bars around Regent Street which is right by the bus station so that's handy if you want to bus in for a night out.

As PP have said, you will be much much further than 5 miles out with your budget. 3 bed semis in the surrounding commuter areas are more like 550-600k

@TicTacHoh

As PP have said, you will be much much further than 5 miles out with your budget. 3 bed semis in the surrounding commuter areas are more like 550-600k

Yes upper Camborne cos 11 miles or 20 mins but that's not too bad to be near a great city?

@CambridgeLightBlue

Well Cambridge is a very small city. There are a few bars around Regent Street which is right by the bus station so that's handy if you want to bus in for a night out.

How does it compare with Cheltenham?

It would take more than 20 min by car unless you do it in the middle of the night. Maybe worth doing air BnB for a few days and giving it a go?

Cambridge isn't great for nights out either sadly. Most of the surviving clubs are very student-centric and any of the pubs that had any character have closed down now. All very very expensive too.

Public transport isn't great if you're staying out into the night either- with a lot of the longer distance bus routes the last one has gone by 8pm. Cambridge night life is pretty much non-existent.

Not trying to put you off, just that I have lived here since I was a teenager and wouldn't want you to be disappointed

Saffron Walden is quite fair from Cambridge. It’s a small market town and is very popular with Londoners now moving out. I didn’t find Cambridge especially lively. The most you’d get for your money in Cambridge would be in CB4 which is okay. We used to live in that postcode and it was alright no issues but not the nicest of areas. There’s a place in Impington which is not far by you’d probably want to cycle.

Saffron Walden is a lovely town but it is a couple of miles from the nearest station at Audley End. The buses are infrequent so it would either be a bike or taxi job if you didn’t drive (but maybe you do?). The rail links to Cambridge and London from Saffron Walden are good, though may be reduced temporarily due to Covid.

If you don’t need to commute every day then Saffron Walden is a good option but it’s a way from Cambridge.

Bishops Stortford is further down the line to London and has better transport connections. Not sure how the house prices compare with Saffron Walden. It is a popular commuter town and is halfway between Cambridge and London.

If budget doesn’t stretch that far, look at smaller places on the line like Elsenham, Newport and Stansted Mountfitchet.

But if you actually want to live in somewhere like Cambridge itself, that is a low budget. Are you committed to the south-east? Would you consider cities like Bristol or Sheffield?

I’d say if you’re looking for a family life Saffron Walden would work but not if you’re looking for something else. Personally I’d live in a city. Are you looking for something in tech?

I live south cambridge, not as far out as saffron Walden (but my 1 bed house was 250k), but it does feel like the country life. There are no ubers here. I can walk to the train station (20 mins away) but last train back means leaving the pub at just after eleven. Saffron walden is lovely but mostly older people and families with very little going on socially, nice cycling cafe that does evening events (e.g. steak nights) sometimes.

If you wfh I'd say places like cambourne are fine just obviously the cheap areas so have a bit of a reputation for being rough. Cheaper areas in cambridge, e.g. kings hedges, have a bit of a reputation for being being regularly stabbed or getting into fights, friend of mine once dragged off his bike! Close to cambridge when not busy, but do expect it to take about 30 mins just to get from in cambridge to a car park during busy times, like any time in December and nice days in the summer, because it will be traffic jam all way and big car parks likely to be full (and £30 for parking anyway).

Issue is commute gets awful, mine is 14 mins atm but before covid was 45 since traffic so awful. Think it's worse north cambs since more people but a14 works finished now so may be better? I'd have a look at northstowe if you like new build estates since it's a brand new fake town they're still throwing up and close enough to cambridge to get in. Also more likely to be younger demographic vs people in their 50s who bought decades ago since nobody younger could afford to buy.

@MK19590

Cambridge isn't great for nights out either sadly. Most of the surviving clubs are very student-centric and any of the pubs that had any character have closed down now. All very very expensive too.

Public transport isn't great if you're staying out into the night either- with a lot of the longer distance bus routes the last one has gone by 8pm. Cambridge night life is pretty much non-existent.

Not trying to put you off, just that I have lived here since I was a teenager and wouldn't want you to be disappointed

That's for the real world insight, I'm at a loss where to move to now lol! I just want somewhere near to go out with a good social scene (not bothered about nightclubs), good shopping, gyms, amenities. I'm not after culture, but do like modern housing.

Surely any big city then? Most of which are reasonably affordable, far more do than Cambridge anyway, and have more going on in terms of pubs/bars/meetups etc.

Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol.

@MyCatHatesPCRTests

Saffron Walden is a lovely town but it is a couple of miles from the nearest station at Audley End. The buses are infrequent so it would either be a bike or taxi job if you didn’t drive (but maybe you do?). The rail links to Cambridge and London from Saffron Walden are good, though may be reduced temporarily due to Covid.

If you don’t need to commute every day then Saffron Walden is a good option but it’s a way from Cambridge.

Bishops Stortford is further down the line to London and has better transport connections. Not sure how the house prices compare with Saffron Walden. It is a popular commuter town and is halfway between Cambridge and London.

If budget doesn’t stretch that far, look at smaller places on the line like Elsenham, Newport and Stansted Mountfitchet.

But if you actually want to live in somewhere like Cambridge itself, that is a low budget. Are you committed to the south-east? Would you consider cities like Bristol or Sheffield?

Hi - I do drive but there's no point if it's at snail pace. Funnily enough everyone said that Reading was terribly congested but I've driven through in rush hour and not found it that bad and I always drive into town, even though I could walk it in 15 minutes. It's too cold to walk right now!

I'm looking for somewhere that's commutable for tech jobs. Commuting to london I'll only do at a push as I dislike it.

I'm also looking at didcot and Bicester for their proximity to Oxford or Reading by train. There seem to be lots of lovely houses in Cheltenham within my budget but it's about an hours drive to Bristol or Swindon.

I also have Chelmsford, and Basingstoke on my list. Sheffield is too far and Bristol im told is a bit studenty and way out of my budget unless I live in a dire area

@Mundra

Surely any big city then? Most of which are reasonably affordable, far more do than Cambridge anyway, and have more going on in terms of pubs/bars/meetups etc.

Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol.

Yes I'd like to stay South, I've looked at Bristol but I've been told on here that my budget will only get a place really far out in a rough area?

Well, tbf, the places you've looked at "in Cambridge" aren't in Cambridge at all!

I have a relative that works on the Science Park in Cambridge, and walks to work from Milton.

Milton is a nice village, has a park and ride direct into the city centre. Also has some great pubs and regular street food vendors.

Your budget might get you something but there isn’t anything for sale at the moment

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107405165

Sorry that one is over budget, but gives you an idea. Things sell quickly and for over asking price so you might be better renting somewhere so you are in a good position to buy
Another one but with best and final offers, sounds like it went for over asking price
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113896511