Carlisle is well connected by surface routes to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham
Depending upon your definition of "well connected" - relatively direct but distant (personally I love how the Newcastle-Carlisle train slows down to shoo the sheep off the track and the A69 is a source of constant personal joy...)
It has a small population and no major, international class, employer - not even a large University.
Love all the comments about housing estates - so where's the demand, any lack of available housing land?