Where to live (young married couple, infant, limited budget)? (Boston: apartments, rental)

[jackson105]

We're considering moving to the Boston area and to see if it's possible, we need some help identifying possible areas/suburbs to live based on the following:

• Young married couple with infant
• Commute of up to an hour or a little bit over. Prefer mass transit, but willing to drive too. Willing to commute longer if it's mass transit especially.
• Prefer areas to the west and south of Boston to be closer to family in RI/CT and due to job being closer to south station (but will consider other areas that make sense)
• Short-term, looking to rent 2 or 3 br townhouse or ideally, a small home for $1,400-$1,600
• In two or three years, would look to purchase home in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.

I've searched a bit on the forums, but wondering what people think based on our specific situation.

Thanks!

[jlyang]

Hi,
Norwood has a couple commuter rail stops and is about 35 minutes on the train to South Station. It's about 15 miles South/Southwest of Boston and would be about 35 minutes to Providence. They have a lot of rental housing there.

Canton also has a lot of rental housing and many commuter rail lines with a ride of about 20-30 minutes into Boston.

Importantly, both towns have a lot of housing with walking distance to the commuter rail (save parking $$$), and their commuter rail lots usually don't fill up early like in some towns.

Dedham also has some nice apartments within walking distance to the commuter rail but I think those are close to $2000 for a 2-br. In either Canton or Norwood, you may be stuck with a 2-br condo rather than townhouse, and would have to push $1600.

Driving into Boston is nearly impossible since rush-hour traffic is a crawl, and parking downtown is $300/month.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by jackson105

We're considering moving to the Boston area and to see if it's possible, we need some help identifying possible areas/suburbs to live based on the following:

• Young married couple with infant
• Commute of up to an hour or a little bit over. Prefer mass transit, but willing to drive too. Willing to commute longer if it's mass transit especially.
• Prefer areas to the west and south of Boston to be closer to family in RI/CT and due to job being closer to south station (but will consider other areas that make sense)
• Short-term, looking to rent 2 or 3 br townhouse or ideally, a small home for $1,400-$1,600
• In two or three years, would look to purchase home in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.

I've searched a bit on the forums, but wondering what people think based on our specific situation.

Thanks!

[jackson105]

Originally Posted by jlyang

Hi,
Norwood has a couple commuter rail stops and is about 35 minutes on the train to South Station. It's about 15 miles South/Southwest of Boston and would be about 35 minutes to Providence. They have a lot of rental housing there.

Canton also has a lot of rental housing and many commuter rail lines with a ride of about 20-30 minutes into Boston.

Importantly, both towns have a lot of housing with walking distance to the commuter rail (save parking $$$), and their commuter rail lots usually don't fill up early like in some towns.

Dedham also has some nice apartments within walking distance to the commuter rail but I think those are close to $2000 for a 2-br. In either Canton or Norwood, you may be stuck with a 2-br condo rather than townhouse, and would have to push $1600.

Driving into Boston is nearly impossible since rush-hour traffic is a crawl, and parking downtown is $300/month.

Good luck!

Someone else had suggested Norwood to me as a possibility too. Any areas farther out you'd recommend?

[wivenhoe]

On the Attleboro-Providence train line:

Foxborough - not on the train line but close to Sharon and Mansfield MBTA train stations. I think you'd find housing within your budget but you'd near a car.

Mansfield - I know there are apartments near train station and center; North Attleboro is not on MBTA train but close to Mansfield or Attleboro depending on where you live. You'd need a car.

On the Franklin-Boston train line:
Franklin; Walpole; in addition to Norwood and Dedham

West of Boston and on Worcester-Boston train line:
Natick

[lz1982]

Metro West tends to be more expensive than the South Shore and other areas south of Boston. Maynard is a good western suburb for affordable housing and a walkable downtown, but you'd need to drive to the commuter rail.

[jackson105]

Originally Posted by lz1982

Metro West tends to be more expensive than the South Shore and other areas south of Boston. Maynard is a good western suburb for affordable housing and a walkable downtown, but you'd need to drive to the commuter rail.

Driving to the commuter rail is fine. Thanks for the suggestion!

[jackson105]

Originally Posted by wivenhoe

On the Attleboro-Providence train line:

Foxborough - not on the train line but close to Sharon and Mansfield MBTA train stations. I think you'd find housing within your budget but you'd near a car.

Mansfield - I know there are apartments near train station and center; North Attleboro is not on MBTA train but close to Mansfield or Attleboro depending on where you live. You'd need a car.

On the Franklin-Boston train line:
Franklin; Walpole; in addition to Norwood and Dedham

West of Boston and on Worcester-Boston train line:
Natick

Thank you so much!