Developments around cambridge & where to live

[SingaporeLah]

We are moving to Cambridge soon. Would love views on areas to initially rent and where to consider buying.
Kids will go to school in the city (not far from the train station.
I’ll work in Cambridge north.
Kids are horse mad - looking for nearby stables and busy pony club (will also post this in the tack room!)
Bit wary of a town with its own village college /Secondary school, in case the kids are picked on for going to a different school. Is that a fair concern?
Happy to drive in to Cambridge early but hear the traffic is horrible. Also for buying, is there a list of proposed/ planned new developments? Don’t want to buy a rural property and end up in a construction site/new town.

Where should we consider living?

Depends a bit on what sort of house you want and your budget OP. Villages to the west on the Train line might be a good option, would give your kids independence and help you avoid the traffic. Shepreth and Barrington are cute and I've heard good things about Foxton. Alternatively you could go out East and get a bit more for your money. There are some beautiful villages around Newmarket (Dullingham, Stetchworth, Woodditton) and its very horsey, Again there is a train. Though quite busy in the mornings. A bit more for your money again as you go North of Newmarket - Burwell for example. Out east your commute to Cambridge North would be relatively straightforward on the roads and the the kids could train or cycle into the centre.

The big developments are around Cambourne/ Bourn and Northstowe which is betwee Longstanton and Willingham. Also Trumpington which is really part of Cambridge.

How far are you wanting to live away from Cambridge? If you are willing to live a little further out then go up the train line, Waterbeach, Ely, Littleport. Lots of trains to Cambridge takes about 20-30 minutes on the train and cheaper housing than Cambridge.

What's your budget? Anywhere along the busway would work really well for Cambridge north. If you're into modern there's some exciting houses about to be built in northstowe although as a new town in phase 1 st going to be a building site for a long time.

I grew up near St Ives and went to sixth form near Cambridge station.

Lovely town, good schools in the town and now with the bus way a much easier commute.

Now the new A14 is open the drive from there to Cambridge feels much easier, but I've not don't it in rush hour yet.

Hi, thanks so much everyone really appreciate it. I am glued to rightmove at the moment and your comments really help.

Erring towards countryside and driving the kids to the nearest bus stop, so we can have a garden big enough for chickens. The fact that we both need to work full time seems to have slipped my mind now we are all working from home.

Sorry I read your previous post as wanting to be near development. If you want to avoid the new town then Willingham, longstanton and Oakington will eventually be linked to Northstowe although I think they'll remain quite village-y.

Girton, Milton and Histon are basically part of Cambridge but do have a rural feel.

If you don't mind a bit of a drive to get places then there's villages close to all the above with varying degrees of links to Cambridge. Waterbeach, Cottenham, Over, Swavesey, Fen Drayton, Hemingford Grey.

If you're looking for more of a horsey scene you can't go far wrong with the area between Newmarket and Cambridge. Still near the A14. And obviously with the races there's a ton of pony clubs. You get a mix of big villages, Burwell, Bottisham. To tiny ones like Reach or the Wilbrahams.

Although I will say there's not much going on for teens even in larger villages so you'll probably want to check out transport to the local town and/or Cambridge because busses can be patchy and when you have teens you'll be constantly ferrying them around.

Thanks modest/sexy (love your username!) that’s really helpful. We are looking west towards Newmarket. DH keen on a village with a pub and I’ll definitely look out for good transport links. It’s time consuming but I’m enjoying the research

@CambridgeLah one thing to bear in mind is that for villages to the west but south of the A14 most of the bus services are to Newmarket not Cambridge so being near the train is probably key. Very pretty though, nice rolling landscape. North of the A14 it's the start of the fens so quite flat...

Sorry I meant east of Cambridge... which is where Newmarket is...