anyone from Cambridge?

[gloworm]

We are living in Ireland at the moment, I'm Irish and DH is English, and we have 2 toddlers.
We are thinking about moving to Cambridge next year or year after.
It has been about 8 or 9 years years since we last lived there and I'm sure Cambridge (and us) has changed loads.
I'm looking for as much info as possible:
renting house
or buying house
good/bad areas
schools
good local websites
anything and everything!

Thanks in advance

bump

hello gloworm. where will you/dh be working? roads around cambridge can be a right pain during rush hours and it would be easier if you are living on the right side of cambridge.

hi gloworm, i can say with certainty that you should avoid buying or renting in Arbury, not a great area imo.
Histon is a fab little villiage and not far out of cambridge either.
I'm in Cherry Hinton which is probably middle of the road with good and bad areas. We paid £180,000 for a 3 bed semi detached here.
Cambridge itself (if you were thinking of buying in the centre) is VERY, VERY expensive.
Schools i'm not sure about i'm afraid (dd is only 17 months)
Let us know if/when you move!

check out property at
property.cambridge-news.co.uk

how much money do you want to spend/ how big a house?

state or private school?

where will you work/what will you do?

Hi gloworm, I would recommend not living in the MIll Road area - it's full of drunks, druggies and students. And the parking is terrible. If you've lived in big cities, Arbury is rather tame.
An almost random selection of websites:

general info
Cambridge NCT
schools
pictures of Cambridge
property database

HTH

lol nome. it does however have its good bits like arjuna, the cherry tree, the italian deli, the toy shop and the cafes. but you are right about the wierd people that seem to gather round mill road.

I used to live in Mill Road. And you are right I was a student, drunk and on drugs

thanks everyone. I will probably end up working at addenbrokes or near cherry hinton, and DH will work from home. I used to live in Mill rd about 10 or 11 years ago and loved it, but it is probably not ideal for kids. DH is from Histon and his family still live there, but it is on the wrong side of town from where (hopefully) i will get a job!
Have lived in arbury as well and will probably definatly not be moving there.
We will probably rent to begin with, until we decide where we want to live. It is so long since I lived there that everywhere has probably changed (memories of the Cambridge Arms in the early 90's spring to mind ).
The house we are in at the moment (in Ireland) is pretty big and cost equivalant of about £100,000....i know we wouldn't get a shoe box in Cambridge for that

thanks for all the info, will look at the websites later when dd is not climbing a0ll over me!

cherry hinton or fulbourn are nice places to be. close to addenbrookes and easy to get into town too. in cherry hinton, for about £200-£230k you could get say, a 3 bed detached in a cul-de-sac or a 5 bed terrace on the high street. so prices really do vary. how old is dd?

oh, you may also wish to check out cambourne . it's a new "village" on the west side of cambridge just off the A428. takes you about 25-30 minutes drive into addenbrookes during rush hour (have a friend who lives there and works at addenbrookes). plenty of new housing and more affordable than central cambridge since they are trying to develop the whole area. currently one primary school but another one due to open next september i believe. quite a nice community feeling there although it is kind of odd as it is really new.

cambourne sounds promising pricewise, although i prefer the idea of a more traditional village like cherry hinton.

csa-dd has just turned 2, and ds is 3and half.

South Cambridge villages are nice, but pretty expensive.

This is one of the biggest Cambridge estate agents:

Tucker Gardner

just bumping for more info as we will definatly be moving to Cambridge next year, getting all excited just thinking about it

bupm

def second carribeanqueen on south cambs villages. although can be pricey.

oh and Hauxton, Coton, Comberton, great shelford, Gt wilbraham are all villages within striking distance of Cambridge and the city centre.

bottisham too! i live in newmarket about 13 miles away. prices are a bit more reasonable.
try www.cheffins.co.uk

sorry forgot to mention bottisham!!!
I live near Ely but I guess thats the wrong side of cambridge

not far then. wouldn't fancy the a10 to work though!

the a10 is a nightmare at the best of times, as they have been doing improvements on the milton road roundabout.

it is really dangerous along there.. used to work on cowley road, and friend from aldreth was always stuck on there

aldreth is attatched to my village!

gosh its going to be hard deciding where to live, we'll have to go over for a few short visits over the next year and do some exploring.
Thanks for all the tips so far.
Its also nice to see which mumsnetters are from Cambridge, maybe I'll be able to go to one of the famous meet-ups one day!

it's lovely there spacecadet. she has the most gorgeous house.