Cenon is a municipality on the right bank of the Garonne, within Bordeaux Métropole, facing Bordeaux and set between Lormont to the north and Floirac to the south. Once a village of hillsides and vineyards overlooking the river, it became urbanised with the industrialisation of the right bank and the growth of the Bordeaux conurbation. With around 25 000 inhabitants, it is one of the towns of the inner ring around Bordeaux.
The municipality is split between a lower town, Bas Cenon, close to the Garonne and the railway station, crossed by the shopping avenues, and a residential plateau overlooking the river, with its suburban housing areas and its large housing estates. Palmer park and its contemporary music venue, Le Rocher de Palmer, the Loret estate and its green spaces, and the Buttinière interchange, one of the busiest in the metropolitan area, shape daily life in the town.
The arrival of tram line A brought Cenon closer to the centre of Bordeaux and accompanied a marked urban renewal, as part of the major right-bank project run jointly with Lormont and Floirac. The property market carries the trace of it: Bas Cenon and the areas around the tram are gaining value, while the plateau areas and the large estates in the south remain more affordable. Demand rests on the closeness of Bordeaux, the tram service and prices well below those of the left bank.
