[timthorn]

I work in London but couldn't imagine living there - not because of the cost but because it feels so claustrophobic. I live in the Suffolk countryside, and am grateful every evening when on the train that I can escape. Cambridge is close enough to provide most of the amenities of London but on a human scale.

[porker]

I'm glad you can afford it. We'd like to move to Cambridge but the house prices are even more than where we are in the South of England. We're having to think of somewhere further north or less sexy...

[gjm11]

I'm pretty sure timthorn means he's living (not in Cambridge, but) somewhere in Suffolk, and can go to Cambridge for shopping, cultural events, etc., in the same sort of way as someone nearer London might go to London.

Cambridge itself has really expensive housing, not as bad as London but still very bad; think San Francisco as opposed to New York. But there are plenty of places within reasonable reach of Cambridge that are much more affordable. I live in a nice village about 7 miles from the centre of Cambridge, and prices there are 2-3 times cheaper than in the centre; move further out to somewhere that's not so much "one of the villages around Cambridge" and prices go down by another 1.5-2x.

[timthorn]

That's exactly it. I'm in not-so-much-one-of-the-villages-around-Cambridge.