British family moving to Boston - where to live? (Cambridge: real estate, rental market)

[teelondon]

Hi
My husband's been offered a job in Newton, Boston and we're probably moving to the city next spring (pending visa application). I've not been to the city so have lots of questions.

Hopefully i'll get over there before we move, but i may not, so in the first instance would love some advice on where to live (we'll rent to start with). I have a son who'll be one year old by the time we go so would like to be somewhere green, with a nice town centre/shops nearby and things for us to do, good pre-school stuff, ways for me to meet people (as i probably won't be working), etc. We'll need to be near (or in?) Newton, and preferably not too far from Boston downtown. Ideally we'd only have one car, but not sure how feasible that will be? We currently live in London (UK), in a nice leafy suburb with good parks, shops and plenty on our doorstep but only 25 minutes tube ride to the centre of town. Something like that in Boston would be great. Ideally we'd like a three-bed house with garden - i'm not sure what our budget is yet, so if you could give indications of price with any recommendations that would be brilliant.

Sorry for loads of questions. I'm in very early stages of research (as you can tell) and there seems to be heaps of good advice on this site!

Thanks

PS if there are any Brits out there who've moved over, or anyone who has lived in London and Boston and can let me know how the cities compare that would be really interesting too!

[smarty]

Not a Brit...

But... Newton has all you are looking for... close to public transportation.

[teelondon]

Thanks!

What is Newton like? I've looked through the other posts and places like Lexington and Arlington seem to be recommended a lot but I've not found many mentions of Newton.

[septimus]

Newton sounds like what you are looking for. There are a lot of Brits in Cambridge. Our old street was 1/2 Brits including my husband.

[smarty]

Newton...a nice leafy suburb with good parks, shops and plenty on our doorstep but only 25 minutes tube ride to the centre of Boston.

You can do google earth or map... to see satellite images.

[bostonfoodie]

As others have said, it sounds like Newton is what you're looking for. Nice, leafy suburb with good access to the city and a convenient commute for your husband's work. Good schools, good library, etc.

Instead of having one central town center, it is divided into 13 villages, e.g. Newton Highlands, West Newton, Newton Center. Each of these villages has its own town center. I haven't been to all of the villages, but from what I've seen, it looks like Newton Center has the most to offer in terms of shopping and convenient public transport to the city.

When you're looking for a place, you probably want to look for something near the Green D "T" line (equivalent to the tube). Sometimes in real estate listings you'll see references made to the T "Purple" Line. This is the commuter rail line and is less convenient than the T, especially during non-commute hours.

Newton's big drawback for most people is that it is expensive by American standards. But it is probably cheaper than an equivalent London suburb.

I'm not too familiar with house rental market, but a quick search on the Boston Globe real estate page turned up 3 bed/2 bath house with garden in Newton Center for $2500 a month. For buying, I would think you'd be looking at something like 750k, but this is going to vary dramatically with lot size, house condition, location, etc.