Buckingham reads as market-town England at its most settled: red-brick terraces giving way to detached houses on quiet closes, a university tucked into the mix without dominating it, and a high street that feels built for errands rather than spectacle. This is not a commuter dormitory with a veneer of history bolted on — it's a town that was here first, and the newer estates have grown around that fact. The practical picture is a good news story with one asterisk. Schools carry real weight here: Royal Latin School posts a progress 8 score that would turn heads anywhere, Maids Moreton Church of England School holds an Outstanding rating, and with seven schools serving a population of just over eight thousand, most families are within a school run of somewhere decent. What Buckingham doesn't offer is a rail station, so this is a driving town, or one for people who've made peace with a bus and a longer journey — the local transport grade reflects that trade-off honestly, sitting a notch below the marks for schools, environment and safety. Housing here is dominated by detached freehold homes, and at a median of £365,000 you're paying close to the regional norm but sitting comfortably below the Buckinghamshire county figure — this is one of the more affordable corners of the county, not the cheapest place in Britain. Green space is genuinely abundant for the size of the place — forty-four separate spaces adding up to over fifty hectares gives you somewhere to walk the dog without planning an expedition. Day-to-day life leans on the University of Buckingham for a bit of youthful energy alongside the more traditional market-town rhythm, and the overall character grades — environment, health, nightlife, safety all sitting at the top of the scale — tell you this is a place people are generally glad to be in. The crime figures carry the one honest caveat: violence and sexual offences account for over four in ten recorded incidents, and the overall crime rate runs noticeably higher than the county average. Set against a total of 512 incidents across a town this size, and against grades that are otherwise uniformly strong, it reads less as a danger sign and more as the kind of number worth asking a local about before you commit — town centres with pubs and late buses often carry this pattern without it defining daily life. This suits people who want the mechanics of a good life sorted first — decent schools, plenty of green space, a manageable commute by car — and who are happy to trade a mainline station for that trade-off. Families relocating for Royal Latin's results, or for the quieter margins around Maids Moreton, will find the numbers back up the reputation. Anyone whose daily life depends on rail will feel the gap immediately.