The city of Cambridge resides in East Anglia, within the county of Cambridgeshire. It is the home of the prestigious University of Cambridge which attracts many visitors to the city each year. Cambridge enjoys the convenience of being relatively near to London for those who wish to commute into the capital for jobs. Cambridge has beautiful historical buildings and streets that line the city and boasts many attractions for those living and working within the city and punting on the river is a very popular pastime in the summer months.
Cambridge is most famous for being the home of the University of Cambridge, one of the most highly regarded universities within the UK and the world. Cambridge University is the fourth oldest in the world. It is one of prestige and traditional values. Cambridge continues to enjoy success as one of the top 5 ranked universities in the world for its academic standards. The university has 31 colleges in total. The University of Cambridge is not the only university within the city; it is also home to the Anglia Ruskin University, which was given university status in 1992.
Cambridge was not awarded city status until 1951, and does not have the traditional features of a city, as it does not have a cathedral. However, despite this Cambridge is a city full of culture and tradition. The skyline is filled with beautiful buildings of the different colleges belonging to the University of Cambridge. The narrow streets that wind through the city centre are mainly pedestrianised with many people choosing to bike around the city. Statistics of the 2001 census showed that ¼ of residents travelled to work by bicycle. Cambridge has one of the highest cycle usages in the UK, as many prefer this method of transport, which is more suited to the road types within the centre.
Cambridge has good transport links to London and the surrounding areas, with direct trains to London Kings Cross. It has been suggested that there are plans to develop the Cambridge to London line with the addition of high speed trains- enabling commuters to travel more efficiently to the capital. These plans are estimated to be put into place by 2013. Although Cambridge does have an airport, the Marshall Airport Cambridge UK, but it takes no commercial passenger services. The London airports of Luton and Stansted are the closest airports to the residents of Cambridge.
According to the 2001 census, jobs in Cambridge has a high number of people employed within higher paid professions, with 32.6% of people employed within the highest paid professional jobs bracket, a number distinctly higher than average within the UK. There is also a lower than average proportion of manual workers in Cambridge compared with other destinations within the UK. Cambridge is the home to a high population of technology based businesses and these provide high employment opportunities within the city. For more information about the city of Cambridge, you can visit the Cambridge City Council Website.