Cathays as they came to meet prostitutes. Of more than 8570 wards in the 2011 census across England and Wales, Cathays ranked 8th lowest in number of retired people and second in Wales behind Menai, a ward associated with Bangor University. The electoral ward of Cathays includes both the Cathays and Castle communities and elects four city councillors to Cardiff City Council. From 1840, the Taff Vale Railway company developed a railway line through Cathays, where they also developed the Cathays railway works. A major carriage and wagon construction and maintenance facility, it and the associated locomotive depot were taken over
Cathays under the Freedom of Information Act show that over 70% of the houses in Cathays are now HMOs. The buy-to-let market has deterred young couples, families and first time buyers from setting up home in the area. Cathays High School is an 11-18 mixed comprehensive school that started as a boys Grammar school in 1903 and became a comprehensive high school in 1973. Despite the urbanisation of Cathays there is extensive parkland around the civic centre, including Gorsedd Gardens, Queen Alexandra Gardens, Bute Park and Blackweir. The area is served by Cathays railway station in the east of the area