Having grown up in both London and Cambridge, I decided to look at both cities and compare their differences. Here’s how growing up in London is completely different than Cambridge!<\/p>\n
If you actually live in the city, it was essential to have to a bike. Everyone cycles everywhere. Anyone growing up in Cambridge has had the pleasure of cycling to and from a night out on a bike.<\/p>\n
Yeah it sucks having to catch the tube to get to your mates. But it\u2019s even worse when your friend lives in a small village in Suffolk with super limited train lines and no buses. Cambridge catchment areas being so large, your friends would never actually live in Cambridge, but maybe St. Ives, or Bury St. Edmunds, or Ely.<\/p>\n
Either you\u2019ll meet on the Grafton side or the Grand Arcade side, but by the end of the day you will have crossed Christ\u2019s Pieces to the other side. In London, if you go to one of the malls, you\u2019ll be there all day. This is another sign you were used to growing up in London.<\/p>\n
Sixth Form College was a time when all of your friends who didn\u2019t live immediately in Cambridge city were learning to drive. Gone were the days of having to ask your mum for a lift. Your parties were now graced with crap Peugeot 106s and Citroen Saxos from 2002. In London, congestion charges and the ease of the tube means young people are a lot less likely to pick up the keys.<\/p>\n
From my own experiences of going to secondary schools in both Cambridge and London. The school uniform really stuck out. In London, the uniform was very strict and involved a blazer, tie, knee length skirt and proper polished shoes. In Cambridge, all that was required was a polo shirt and sweatshirt. They asked you not to wear jeans; everyone wore jeans.\u00a0This is another sign you were used to growing up in London.<\/p>\n
Going to school in London often involved avoiding fights, passing through metal detectors and random weapon checks during the school day. In Cambridge, this would be unheard of, in my time in a Cambridge secondary school there was only one incident where the police were called to school. In London, the school I went to had a community officer at all times.<\/p>\n
The River Cam is an integral part of every person from Cambridge\u2019s life. The city is built around the river and spending a day swimming or punting down the river is so normal, it\u2019s almost surprising when people raise eyebrows about it. Rowing, canoeing and punting are so normal in Cambridge that not seeing people doing them would be strange. The Thames is a bit different, although there is rowing and boat tours they don\u2019t happen five minutes from each other.<\/p>\n
When you live in Cambridge, you quickly learn how easy it is to find yourself no longer in the city. You just walk a little too far and you\u2019ll be in a field with cattle. Cambridge is full of common land, so grazing cattle are expected. In London, at least where I grew up, there used to be grazing cattle but no longer. Those fields have been re-purposed. If you\u2019re in London, it will take you a little longer to hit the countryside.\u00a0This is another sign you were used to growing up in London.<\/p>\n
If you live in Cambridge, or a 20-mile radius you will tell people you\u2019re from Cambridge. This is because Cambridge is a hub city, you likely went to school in Cambridge or go shopping in Cambridge. In London, you know if you live in London and going into the city centre is a day out. You\u2019re not leaving your city, but generally you won\u2019t need to go to Oxford Street for your nearest Topshop.<\/p>\n
If you live in Cambridge, you will have surely noticed how the city closes at 11 pm. All convenience shops shut, most of the pubs stop serving, and the clubs aren\u2019t always open. This isn\u2019t an issue in London, if you\u2019re willing to look for it you will find a 24 hr shop to fill that crave for beans on toast. Or a pub that will keep serving until 3 am. The night doesn\u2019t end at 11 pm, it\u2019s barely begun, but in Cambridge the night will end in a park with a pack of tinnies. This is another sign you were used to growing up in London.<\/p>\n
Having grown up in both London and Cambridge, I decided to look at both cities and compare their differences. Here’s how growing up in London is completely different than Cambridge! In London a Young Person\u2019s Oyster Card is a goldmine, in Cambridge \u2013 it\u2019s a bike. If you actually live in the city, it was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24509,"featured_media":134457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8522],"tags":[9641,8897],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-134456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-life","tag-city-london","tag-england"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n