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Cambridge is not huge. In fact, it's very small, and there's not a lot there that's not the university. It's also not that well connected; that said, it's under an hour from London on the train (one every half hour at LEAST). It's very nice to live in, though, and it's a pleasant way to spend a year or two.
Nightlife: not a lot. Nasty nightclubs, and the last few good gig venues were closing with alarming regularity. Some quite good stuff going on in the student colleges if you can get in. And, of course, it's possible to pop up to London (last train back is about half eleven, but if you're going clubbing, there's stuff from about 6am).
Daylife: quite good; there's a nice variety of shops, some darn good cafes, and the kind of odd speciality places that go with student towns. Nice market bang in the middle of town. There's a Forbidden Planet, which at least will sell you comics. Don't go on a Saturday afternoon, it's swarming with kids.
Cost: pricey. Not a cheap place to live by UK standards; accomodation is not cheap BUT you might be able to get married/partnered lodging through your partner's college. Pints come in above £2 everywhere bar in college bars, where they come in at an average of £1.50. It's not as expensive as London, and transport within the city will cost you fuck all because you can bike the length of (most of) it in about half an hour.
Jobs: well, you might be in luck. The areas v near Cambridge are known as Silicon Fen; there's lots of tech firms out there - ARM for a start. If you're a programmer, you might well find somewhere to work.
The centre of town is basically all pedestrian. The fastest method of transport in Cam is a bike. Get one. Get a cheap one and an expensive lock. You will be very swift. It's incredibly flat, too, which is kind of nice in the town but boring in the countryside. At the same time, the fastest way out of Cambridge is car - the station isn't as big as in some larger cities.
It's a very nice place, but it's quite small and gets insular. As long as you remember to get out of there once in a while - trips to London, to the seaside, to anywhere - it's a very pleasant place to make your base. If you have any further questions, just PM me - I lived there for three years during my degree and managed to see enough of the non-university life to possibly help you. |
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