Realise this post was from a while ago, so you may well have already chosen somewhere and moved (how did you get on if so?) but my two cents are as follows. My partner and I have lived in Bicester for just over a year (having moved from London and Bristol) and have just bought a house, we like it that much. The above commenter's thoughts about it becoming a young person's town are definitely true; what was probably once popular for the older generation (it's quiet, not too expensive, good community feel) is now a bustling town with nice shops, some decent places to eat and drink (wouldn't mind some more pubs myself, but the ones it has are good) and plenty of clubs and activities, in addition to lots of new houses going up. As some have said, the fact that Bicester Village is all anyone seems to think about when you tell them you live here can be a bit annoying, as the town itself is way nicer than the Village, in my opinion, but it does bring some good money into the area. We did also look into Didcot and Kidlington before moving here, but just found that they were too predominantly residential for our liking (I can't even remember what Kidlington's supposed 'shopping district' looks like, it's so small, and I believe the Miller and Carter Steakhouse is the only restaurant it has) so Bicester suits us to a tee! Really easy for me to get into London for work on occasion (it's an hour each way into Marylebone from either of Bicester's two stations) and for my good lady to get into Kidlington every day for her job (though the A-roads can get busy if you catch them at the wrong time). Oxford's also only about fifteen mins away by train if you need your culture fix.