Where to move to...
 

"Cambridge and Leeds are two of the best places for children to grow up, while Northampton is one of the worst, according to a report out today. Researchers looked at factors such as school results, leisure centre facilities and the number of parks to rank areas for child-friendliness."

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne...224672,00.html

So now you know! :D

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I always knew Cambridge was a great place (home!!!) - would go back in a heartbeat if I could!

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We loved Cambridge....visited a couple of times...my sister-in-law lived in a lovely village.....they moved to be nearer their businesses in London..they now live in Kent..so we get to visit some lovely places....if I remember they had not long discovered an Iron Age settlement in the area.....been to Canberra to (our son played Football...(soccer) for W.A in a tournament there) we had a great time...even went to the snow fields...Perisher Blue...but would still prefer Cambridge...I love the heritage.....
Jackie who is now going to get some much needed beauty sleep...

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Cambridge would be great but think you need to have loads of dosh to get on the housing market there!
Leeds?:confused: Really do NOT understand that one at all!;)

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I often wonder why people would leave such beautiful places as Cambridge to live in oz? I'm afraid I've seen nowhere in oz that can compare with such beautiful places as Cambridge, Chester and York.

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YES!!! i know that, me being a Leeds for life person:D;)

Bring it on:thumbsup:

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Quite right! I guess we didnt make the conscious decision to emigrate like many of you have. I married an Aussie and we lived in PNG and then in Bristol for a few years before he got offered a scholarship at ANU in Canberra. When he finished his study he got a job with the government, I got a job in education and we just sort of drifted on and stayed here. Had I known then what I know now, I am not so sure that I would have suggested taking the direction that we did. In those days we were footloose and fancy free and would have gone wherever the mood took us. Moving to PNG and then back to UK and then on to Aus was just one of those things we did - took it all in our stride really, grabbed the chances when they were available.

I am an only child and my parents have a house in a village just outside Cambridge and (hopefully many years from now) I will inherit that one day. It isnt the village I grew up in and I would dearly love to go back to the place I grew up in but houses, even the tiniest, start at nearly $500,000 so that aint going to happen!

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To marry someone who likes Oz ... to experience something different ... to want more space for your money?

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Would add ... to escape the incessant 365 days a year tourists, to live somewhere where you can park outside your house without it getting towed away, to live somewhere where it's not easier to buy a chic 10 grand modernist sofa than it is a pint of milk. I lived in Bath for 10 years - love the place - but until they tell the tourists to **** off and all the London nonces who jacked house prices up by 500% are sent back to Primrose Hill - I wouldn't live there again.

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Was in Bath 2yrs ago visiting a friend, the traffic there was just like the gold coast. :eek:

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Something different is fine but space for your money I'm not to sure. Suburbs are built one on top of the other these days, you would have to go bush for some space. :D

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I like Northampton. My brother lives in a sweet little village there and we've spent many a w/e in Northant's with him and his wife. Been to some beautiful parks with the children and their 2 dogs, spent time shopping and going out on the town in the evening, so know it quite well. I know there is a shortage of secondary education places, but that's because the huge new housing estates around Northant's weren't exactly planned with any forward thinking I expect.

I'm not keen on outer Cambridge, places like Bar Hill are just horrid, but Cambridge Town itself is nice.

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3 and a half acres within an hour of the CBD for $300,000 bought a year ago sounds like a fair deal to me.

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Except that many of the roads in Bath (and in the other afore-mentioned cities) were originally designed for oxon and cart, not 24 wheel articulated Sainsburys lorries. I know Cambridge well too, being from North Herts, and it's every bit as bad. The traffic planners solution in both cases was a one-way system so complicated that Lord Lucan is still circling inner-Cambridge. Like I say - I think Cambridge and Bath are great cities - but liveable? I think not. :)

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My youngest son lives in Cambridge.

I was brought up in Oxford which is also a lovely place.

G

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Thats a good price, where was that?

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Logan/Beaudesert border ... it's a fair commute for Brisbane but worth it for me :)

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Are there building restrictions on the land?

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I think we could apply for sub-division now but according to rumour that will be tightened-up in the near future.

Not an issue for us, we like the 'elbow-room' and we don't want to cramp our chooks style :)

The house isn't fancy (no pool and a 'patio' that somehow survives each storm) but it's a good base with no prospect of being 'built-out'.

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Agree 100 & 10%..I think we have spent our avings while here in Aus trying to find somewhere that will "satisfy" us the same way as say visiting Chester, York..Oxford...and other places we love around the U.K...and although there are lots of nice places here in Aus they don't come up to scratch!!! we just did not realise just how much we love Ancient/Old & traditional...we always liked to visit these places but we took them for granted.....as you do when they are right on your doorstep....our son has just arrived back from K.Lumpur (playing football with his team from Perth) and he said some amazing buildings,shops etc it was busy,busy,busy...which he loves....but still prefered our visit home this year and still prefers anywhere rather than Perth/Aus (that might change in years to come and who knows he may come back to live one da but that will be his choice..it's his life..when I say hat to him he laughs and says "you've lost your marbles mum.." oh to be young again...!!!.....still talks about York...Chester and even going watching Horse Racing at York...
Jackie

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If we could bottle hindsight we would all be very rich!!! you made your choices and it is easier without children..I know people who plan years in advance and would not move etc because children were in the "pipeline" in years to come!!! now life would be a little bit to "planned" for me like that but..and theres the but!!! some things I would of done sooner...like maybe going back to the U.K a few years ago when our boys were much younger...but fate does play some parts..maybe we were not ready to go...I don't know...but I have learnt life it kind of what you want to make it......it can be hard and not easy choices but you can get to where you want to be one way or another!!!
Good luck on your visit home....we all love going home in the Colder months at home....we love the "frosty" mornings...yes even the ice on the car windows......we don't have that kind of weather here in the suburbs in Perth..I know you do in Canberra....and seeeing Apple Blossom on the trees in Spring is just lovely....although my favorite tree has to be the Jaccaranda? (have I spelt it correctly?) to see a tree thats all blue (well nearly blue) is wonderful and I think we should plant them around the City stadium in EastLands, Manchester......now that would be a wonderful site!!!
Jackie

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We could always share a flat on Salford Precinct (feel free to google the area). Very cosy, close to the shops, on all major bus routes (good for getting crack if you suddenly find you are all out) and we would all pick up Polish in no time :)

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Or even in the stadium. :rofl::p

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So it was him I saw.:D

I like Oxford more than Cambridge. If we ever go 'home', I would like to live in one of the Oxfordshire villages close to the M40.

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Now last year I would of said yes as there would of been more action watching the trees flower but not this season.......
Jackie

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Never keen on Salford....being a Manchester girl might have something to do with it...we have more.....taste for nicer areas.
Jackie

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my dad and grandad were born in Salford it was a bit rough but I hear it's better now not sure,I am from Gorton and moved to Cheshire area it's been a long time since I went to Manchester it used to be great as a kid in the arndale center

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There are bad areas everywhere, even in Manchester.

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And me moving to Cambridge when I return :thumbsup:

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Lived and worked near Cambridge, Sister still lives in Cambridge. Traffic is horrendous, with suicidal cyclists everywhere.

My sister has 2 kids 14 and 17. The 14 year had disabilities,so a different scenario for him. The 17 year old has had limited freedom when playing as growing up, she was never allowed to go and play around the corner where the park is (visible from upstairs window), she was never allowed to go to the local shops on her own or with a buddy until she was around 14. At that age she started to get the bus to school and was allowed into the City centre with friends and to the pictures and stuff - as long as she was dropped off and picked up by a parent, I believe the same rules still apply and of course she has the requisite cell phone.

She did work experience through school and charges were brought to her and her friends 'manager' for innapropriate behaviour.

Aside from that, I love Cambridge, full of history and stuff to do with plenty of surrounding beautiful countryside. If you wish to move to Cambridge take a look at some of the surrounding villages if you have kids to raise.

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OH is opening a office in Ely, and we will be moving to Fordham, I just love it around there, and I agree the history and countryside is fantastic.

So hopefully the children will have that village life I so want them to have, with the added bonus of having their family around them:wub::wub:

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Lived in Stretham nice area several years ago but
like everywhere else it has changed. Soham has a good school friends Daughter attends there far better than Ely College.

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More land a pain in the buttocks, so much more work for what:ohmy: I had 5 acres that was just...well.....5 acres:(

You only need enough space to have a good brie with a few family:thumbsup:

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I tend to prefer a mature Cheddar or a crumbly Wensleydale.

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:rofl:

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It's all about elbow room for us my agoraphobic friend, elbow room.

We are currently horse-sitting and our daughter is enjoying that immensely, she can also wander down to the creek and our dam and enjoy not being cooped-up in psuedo-suburbia.

Just us, the chickens, some horses and a shedload of wildlife ... and no chance of hearing "next-door's" party or television.

If we had a cat then I'd sling it occasionally just for the hell of it :)

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Each to their own...looks like you know what retirement is like already!!! We had a big block wen e firs came to Aus...lived in the hills....it was something we always wanted to try...but not for us we found that we liked being near the countryside but also not far from the City....as our boys got older...they really disliked being so far away from "things" that started to interest them as they got older....
A good Lancashire Cheese with some great "crackers" and freshly made bread (not made by me ofcourse....the local bakery) is just the best!!!
Jackie

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All major cities and towns have traffic problems nowadays...it's the modern way of life...Perth at peak hour times is pretty awful...and it's a fairly new City compaired to older cities in Europe!!! I would hate to see what it's like in 10 years time when the populations is rising at the rate it's supposed to.

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I can see how our daughter may prefer to be closer to 'the action' when she gets older (I'd be surprised if she didn't) but I guess that is what a car and public transport is for, we are only an hour away from the city so that isn't a world away (hopefully quicker in years to come with better transport links) ... hell, she'll probably do the usual thing and want to get the hell away from Brisbane and Australia in general.

But for now she's 2 so I think we'll just enjoy our choice while we can :thumbup:

I've spent a fair amount of time in Lancashire and the Peak District climbing and hiking, nice part of the world.

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Yes, there are some lovely places around the world...we have seen some wonderful things....people etc.....hopefully many more travels/people etc for years to come.....parts of Lancashire/Derbyshire are wonderful....rugged.....as are parts of Wales and Scotland.....and I love parts of Southern England with their "gently" landscapes.....
If your daughter is only 2...you have many more wonderful years to come before the Tennage years........which are just as wonderful but a lot different.