Should I move to Natick? (Boston, Newton: foreclosure, renting, houses)

[chazyn]

Family with young kids - ages 1 to 12, looking for decent schools, safe place, affordable, nice people, some Jewish community (doesn't have to be a shtetl) and some culture/recreation. Natick seems to have this - am I missing something? Is there anything wrong with it I don't know about?

[scarletfire]

A mom in my book club just moved from Natick to Sherborn and mentioned to me that there were some issues with the schools. I think they were consolidating some of the smaller schools but I don't honestly recall the details. She wasn't saying the schools were bad or anything, just going through some challenges. If she's at our next book club meeting I'll ask her the specifics.

Have you visited the area before?

[chazyn]

yes, I'm renting in Newton now but can't afford to buy here. I work in Newton, so commuting from Natick seems pretty easy, too. What about Wayland?

[smarty]

Wayland... yes... will meet your criteria...

May be except for housing prices... Median price for Wayland is closer to $500K vs $425K in Natick.

I think they plan to raise tax soon due to new HS being built.

[scarletfire]

You can find smaller homes in Wayland for less than $500K though, and the schools are excellent. My husband lived there for many years and really liked it. What is your budget if I may ask? I know of a few places that are preforeclosure where might be able to get a pretty good deal.

[charolastra00]

Most of my professors have houses and send their kids to public schools in Wayland, if that's any indication of the schools there.

For a Jewish community, I'm always shocked how many people in all of the suburbs of Boston come up to me when I'm wearing my Hebrew Brandeis shirt and can read it. There is probably every form of Judaism you can think of within a 10 minute drive of Natick (or Wayland) so you won't be lacking a community to find. Your next door neighbor might not be Jewish, but its not like your kids will be the only ones in their class that are Jewish by any stretch of the imagination in either community.

[smarty]

The fact that most schools around here have Rosh Hashanah off instead of Chinese New Year indicate the high number of Jewish kids.

Btw... did you guys check out of my profile? Have a great laugh!

[Parsec]

smarty: i'm a chinese jew too ... most of my friends growing up were jewish and i still have a couple yarmulkes lying around also, you're a heavyweight compared to me!

[chazyn]

thanks for your replies -- Taxes seem to be way higher in Wayland. Is there anything wrong with Natick? I have seen 3 or 4 houses there that are great -- easily over 1,000,000 in Newton. What's the catch?

[Parsec]

Hey chazyn -- I'm renting in Newton right now too and currently looking around Natick to buy a house also. I've noticed that even though the median house price in Natick is lower than the surrounding towns (besides Framingham), the typical house is also much smaller w/a smaller lot. Once you start comparing apples to apples (say, a 2400 s.f. house on a 1/2 acre lot), the price is actually similar to a more "desirable" town like Sudbury. The location is more convenient though, and the taxes are also much lower. In my eyes, the catch is traffic is always heavy and you're not buying in a "status" town.