Recommendations for areas to live in and around Cambridge?

[MissAnthrope]

Hi,

I am looking to move to Cambridge in the summer and was wondering whether anyone could give me any insiders info as to nice areas to live and/or places to avoid?

Mill Road has been recommended as a possible location if I were to move inner city - does anyone have any other input?

The other possibility is to move to one of the outer villages. North of the city would probably be more convenient for Monday to Friday access but I'd consider anywhere that wasn't going to break the bank and has a good primary school.

Any info that you can give me would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

The different KU nruseries have different reputations. Ours out on the science park was pretty good - some rooms worked out better than others. Dd is very shy though and is much more settled with a childminder.

One of the university nurseries was really not so good - I had a friend with dcs there and it failed its ofsted and she did have problems. I'll probably see her on Monday and then I'll ask her about that.

I also loved the santon wood nursery...it is attached to a school.. but it is sooo nice.

dd3 goes to JCN at the mo, but i am looking to move her when there is space.

I live in Cambridge City Centre, and love it here, but personally I don't think Chesterton is great, although parts of it are nice (especially closer to the river), parts of it seem quite rough for Cambridge, like Arbury, where I would absolutely hate to live (but as someone else already said, it is all relative and everywhere in Cambridge is pretty nice compared to some places in the UK!).

Cycling is not a problem in Cambridge, you can cycle to the city centre from anywhere in Cambridge itself, and last year I worked in Oakington and cycled to and from work everyday (I lived in the city centre).

Brunswick nursery was good when DS went there (two yers ago now).

Acinonyx - I think that I discounted all the KU nurseries after reading a bad review of one of them actually. The University nurseries (outside og G&C) didn't have very good Ofsted reports IIRC, so they were also discounted early on.

Cazzybabs - Sancton Wood looks lovely and I'm not surprised that there's a waiting list! The school looks very nice too... shame that it's not an option.

We shall have to wait and see what dd and I think after visiting on Wednesday.

I used to work in an office overlooking Sancton Wood nursery...looked lovely

I think you do have to do a lot of due diligence on the KU nurseries. I've interviewed a good few nursery workers from the Science Park one for nannying jobs and they were mostly leaving because they felt they didn't have enough time to have fun with the kids, which suggests understaffing to me. Mind you, that was two years ago now, so it may be a problem that they have addressed.

My 2 go to the KU nursery at Addenbrooke's - not much help since it is the staff one but I have heard mixed things about the others too. My 2 seem very happy and settled there - the staff seem to have settled down a bit (i say this as when we first moved here, DS1 went there and hated it, so we moved him to a childminder, then I got pg again, she got pg, time passed and we ended up sending both to KU. I think the reason he didn't like it there was because there was always a different member of staff looking after him, whereas now they seem much more settled)

Pointless waffle there. Sorry.

I really only popped back to say that I am terribly jealous of your course! I would love to do something like that, but suspect I like brains and funds!

I "like" brains??!? What on earth am I talking about. I meant to say I LACK brains and funds!

I do of course like brains and funds too.

we are not looking for santon wood school, only the nursery bit.

millington road is also lovely but the hours aren't great

Thought of you today MissAnthrope...managed to get your weather sorted out I see.

A friend's ds was at Sancton Wood and they raved about it.

Overmydeadbody - we must have cross posted. I'll have to check out Brunswick, thanks.

thegrowlygus -

cazzybabs - I hope you don't have to wait too long for a place at Sancton Wood. I think I might start looking at a nursery school/childminder combo if we fail to get into a day nursery.

Gizmo - yes, it was lovely weather. Thanks to whoever sorted that one out for me

Acinonyx - Sancton Wood looks lovely, but as we're having trouble finding a place at the larger nurseries I think we'll have missed the boat on that one (they take nine children).

Quick update: our visit on Wednesday went OK. Didn't manage to get quite as much done as I'd hoped after losing an hour due to traffic at our end, having to be at nursery appointments at specific times, dd's insistence on walking, and trips to the Zoology Museum & the Museum of Earth Sciences.

I've put dd onto the waiting list for Harvey Road, and should hear in 8 weeks or so whether there will be a space. Failing that I think it will have to be a childminder/nursery school combo, although that will obviously have to wait until I know exactly where we'll be living.

I'm back in Cam for an open day in March so I'll have a better explore of the area then. Thanks to everyone for the help thus far

missanthrope - i used tolive n of cam. (until 3 months ago). my neighbour (a deputy head) was drafted in to chesterton to help a primary out of special measures, and i know she was hoping there'll be a big shke up, it will be a couple of years before it applies to you, so may be water under the brige, but perhaps worth knowing. alos, everyone i know who lived there was single, young couple party people, so maybe not as family friendly as you'd like?

Thanks kickassangel, that's very handy to know. Single young party types would make me very envious not be a great environment for a family, I agree.

As someone else said the streets in that enclave just off Victoria Road are good. There is a great little park very very close at Alexandra Gardens and then just a hop over the footbridge and your in Jesus Green - its a lovely 10 min walk to market square so very central. Very easy to get out north either to the A14 or M11.

The houses are all victorian terraces and while usually a bit pricier than Mill Road they are less pricey than the semi-detached victorian villa type houses in de Freville. Possible streets to look at:

Alpha Rd
Hertford St
Magrath Avenue
Searle St
Fisher St
Holland St

For primary schools these are all in the St Luke's catchment I think, although lots of the children from our street (one of the above) actually go to Park St Primary just by Jesus Greeg (because the latter's official catchment area is mostly made up of student housing so few kids).

The catchment area secondary is Chesterton Comm College which isn't ideal, but you are a long way off secondary schools at this stage!

For definitive info about catchments, click here to see every street and its catchment school listed.

If money is no object, then the Kite area (Grafton St, City Road, Victoria Street, Earl Street, Eden Street, New Square) would be a good bet for secondary age children, as this area is in the catchment for Parkside Community College which gets outstanding OFSTEDs each year.

MisAnthrope

Just another thought - surely your college will provide you with family friendly accommodation - especially as you are going to be an undergraduate rather than a graduate?

My college housed all undergrads and the vast majority of grads - with special houses and flats for families.

Bumps

Ah Bumpsadaisie, a RL collision..I live in one of the streets on your list.

You are quite correct, many of the kids in that part of Castle Hill go to Park Street, although they are in the St Luke's catchment. Do you have school age DC?

If you are still looking at places to live I havethree things to say:

1. When people say Mill Road they mean the roads directly off Mill Road are nice, rather than Mill Road itself. This is sometimes described as 'Romsey town' area on estate agents' websites.

2. Cherry Hinton hasn't been mentioned, it is a village that has basically merged into Cambridge (to the South/Eastish) and it is quite nice.

3. The University Accommodation Service could be useful for putting you in contact with private landlords.

Why has no one mentioned Milton Road Primary school?

There are houses within the catchement area which are smaller and more affordable than the De freville area but are equally as nice.

Also King Street Pre-school is good if you go down the child minder route

Thanks for all the replies - the thread dropped off my list during the changeover so I assumed it had died

Bumpsadaisie - Thanks for the info, that catchment list in particular is wonderful.
My chosen college have no family accommodation so we're having to go down the private route which I don't mind tbh.

TrillainAstra - It's very useful to know that the Mill Road suggestion (of which I've had several here and elsewhere) don't actually mean Mill Road!
Cherry Hinton is on the top of my list of areas to visit next month. It's the required distance out of town and there seems to be a fair amount of affordable properties in the area.

IloveBrucie - I'll have a look at Milton Road Primary and the surrounding area, thanks for the tip.
Kings Street Pre-school will also be added to the list of possibles.

Hi there. I’d like to step into this thread. I am currently negotiating salaries for a job position in Cambridge. Im italian and would move with wife and 5 y.o daughter. Good primary school is my priority. The office is located in Waterbeach. I don’t plan to use a car to go to work. Can you please help me? I’m lost. I’m considering a 3k net income for the whole family.

@malu2k Best to start a new thread with title about Cambridge salaries. Use the "Add thread" button.

Regarding parks and green spaces in Mill Road area and Chesterton.

Chesterton does have some park playground facilities but both the notable locations - at the edge of Stourbridge Common and on Kings Hedges Road - are not especially good. Of course, there is the river and the commons so a good sense of open space.

Petersfield - ie the city end of Mill Road - has a few cute little green spaces and playgrounds and it’s not too far from Midsummer Common.

Romsey Town - ie the other end of Mill Road ‘over the bridge’ - has a lot of green space. 2 very big parks - Romsey Rec and Coleridge Park. There is also Coldham’s Common which has a playground which is newly refurbished and nice walks linking up to Stourbridge Common.

If you are a student or staff member of Cambridge Univ there is the U bus run by Whippet bus company. All journeys £1 on production of your University Card. It can come in very handy for getting around.

Terraced houses in the Mill Road area have been described as small. Be advised that most 2 bed Victorian houses are likely to be nicer to live in than a modern 2 bed. The latter may have more bathrooms but will have less living space inside and out. Over the bridge there are many semi detached Victorian houses with a bit more space than the average Petersfield Victorian house.

MasterTomsMum this thread is 10 years old so I guess the OP has been and gone 😂😂

Anyone on here living in Bedford area, which areas are decent. What’s put or like to live in.good n bad comments. Please be honest asking for friend

Sorry should read what is PUTNOE like to live in