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My husband and I are considering relocation from the Chicago metro to another metro in the United States. We have decided that we would like to look at Cleveland or Boston. I grew up in Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb and I attended college at Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, MA. While attending Mount Holyoke, my twin sister, her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and I would travel to Boston to go to nightclubs, plays, Red Sox games, and restaurants. I absolutely fell in love with the city of Boston. I remeber going to Boston Common and just staring at the city lights and I have never seen such pretty city lights, not in Cleveland, not in Chicago, not in Seattle, not in Vegas, not even in New York. I would like to learn more about the area, because having never lived in Boston I have a bit of a different picture of it.
In the 1980's my husband and I traveled to Boston. We went to a friends house in Beacon Hill and had dinner. After the dinner party we walked down the street to hail a cab. A cab pulled up and when he saw us he sped off. He came back around and looked at us again and drove off again. Finally we were able to get a cab, the cab driver was of African decent. He asked us if we had had trouble catching a cab. We told him what had happened and he told us that blacks were not able to get a cab in Boston. He also said that he had never picked up a black person in Beacon Hill. Reading and hearing about Boston and its race problems in the past have us a little concerned about potentially relocating there. My husband having lived in Chicago his entire life has experienced unbelievable acts of racism. Living in a mostly white community on Chicago's North Shore I was surprised by how welcoming people are after the initial shock of meeting local African-Americans. I also have experienced racism in my hometown of Shaker Heights. In 1969 a big white cross was placed in our front yard. My son hasn't witnessed it too much, but he has told me some things that kids have said. I am not that afraid of Boston, but my husband is a little concerned.
We definitely would like to live in the suburbs of Boston. My husband could either be working at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, The Fallon Clinic Westborough, or The Fallon Clinic Milford. I would be working at Quincy Medical Center and Emerson Hospital. I would like to be within 45 minutes of both, but if I have to be 60 minutes away it is okay. My husband has a fixed hour specialty so commute doesn't matter. I feel that he should take the MBTA so I would like a nice neighborhood near a commuter train line that goes to Beth Israel Deaconess and Milford or Westborough. How is the traffic in Boston? We need a top-tier school district. We live in the New Trier High School district in suburban Chicago, which is by far the best school in the Midwest, if not the country. The suburb we live in is very expensive with the median house value at $1.4 Million. The house we own we paid $1,470,000 last year and it is not very easy to pay for this and three offices in the Chicago area. It would probably be easier in Boston because the hospitals in Massachusetts pay a lot of things like malpractice insurance, office space, and employees. In Chicago hospitals rarely cover anything accept their own behinds. Our house budget is up to $1,500,000 and we either New Construction, Recent Renovation, or something much cheaper that needs major renovation. We would love not to spend $1,500,000, which is one reason we like Cleveland because it makes more financial sense. You can get a nice house in an old cleveland suburb for $750,000 to $1,000,000. Chicago is just like Boston, $1,000,000 is either a beat up shack in a top-tier school district or a nice place in a lower end area. An old college friend who grew up in Newton recommended Newton to me and the Newton public school system. I really like the town itself, but the school system seems to be lacking in some areas. Its high schools North and South have a scores of 9 of 10 on greatschools.net. She also said that Weston, Wellesley, and Sudbury were nice towns. I always heard Weston was overpriced, but she says the school is well worth it from what she had heard. We really would like a school with a full Architecture program like our current district does, New Trier. We would settle for a school with a CAD, or Computer-aided Drafting program. Our son does not like team sports. He does like Rock-Climbing, Bicyling, and Swimming. He does participate in Crew, but I don't know if he enjoys it as much as he says he does. The school has to have top-notch academics and that should be the main focus. The school doesn't need to be small. The school he would be going to would have 1,600 at the freshman campus and 2,700 at the main campus. But, New Trier does have a class size of 14 to 18 students and a student teacher ratio of 12 to 1. Chicago's North Shore is an area of tremendously and consistently wealthy communities along the lakefront and several inland communities. Being in a village with a lakefront park and large quiet beach are major plus during the summer and we would like to be on the water, but growing up in Cleveland, I know you do not always want to be on the lakefront. We actually live about a mile from the lakefront park, but our subdivision is only 1 block from the Cook County Forest Preserve, Chicago Botanical Garden, and Skokie Lagoons. We absolutely do not want to live near high-rises or apartment buildings. In Chicago they are known to bring crime and lower housing values.
I would apreciate any help that anyone can give. Thank You.
Wow--great, informative post!! People asking for advice should always be so thorough. I guess I'd agree with your friend about Newton. As you know, there's nothing like New Trier but Newton is as good as it gets for public education in Massachusetts, which is very good. Choose an area along the Riverside branch of the green line and your husband can walk to Deaconess from Longwood Station. Or consider living right there in the Longwood section of Brookline; he could walk to work (although it's probably more urban there than you'd like, kind of like Shaker Square.) I don't think Boston has any upscale suburbs as well integrated as Cleveland Hgts or Shaker Hgts; socially Newton is more like the North Shore of Chicago--very white, some Asian, lots of Jews, lots of high-powered professionals. The commuter train line that stops in Westborough doesn't go anywhere near Deaconess, unfortunately. You'd have to investigate whether traveling out to Westborough via rail would get you anywhere close to your destination--often suburban train stations are too inconvenient to wherever you're going to be very useful. Milford has no railroad service. Traffic in Boston is pretty heavy, no better than Chicago and worse than Cleveland I'm sure. Another place to consider--Milton. Very close by car to Quincy, driveable (though not easily) to Deaconess and Milford. Milton has the Blue Hills and the swimming pond there and is closer to the bay. At least a few blacks live there, including the Governor.
I have been researching the Boston sub-forum and I got the names of Acton, Boxborough, and Westborough. I looked at GreatSchools.net and found that Acton-Boxborough Regional High School has a 10 of 10 rating, and so does Westborough High School. I would like my husband to take the train so that we could get rid of one of our three cars. He just loves driving his BMW sports car around all the time. I am concerned about the commute from those towns also and they do not seem to have the appeal that some of the more urban communities do. I come from a conservative suburb of Chicago, and most are, but I do enjoy a more open-minded community. I still want a community that is not overly liberal and still has a very structured school system. I did get a chance to read some of the reviews on Newton High School, Acton-Boxborough, and Brookline. Brookline seems really nice except for the fact that even the fixer uppers are so expensive. I will continue looking for places in Wellesley, Newton, Acton, Boxborough, Brookline, and Westborough. I will also look at Milton. What high school does Milton have? How good is it?
Don't know about Milton HS, maybe someone else can comment on that. Acton is a great community, although of the large lot, sprawling suburban type. Has rail access to North Station Boston which leaves a long ride on the green or orange lines to Deaconess. Acton to Westborough would be relatively easy in the BMW. Acton to Quincy would be a heck of a commute by car unless you could avoid rush hours and a heck of a commute by train as well, commuter train to Porter Square, then red line down to Quincy and who knows how to get from the station to the med center? Forget about it. Wellesley is very good and sort of at the center of all your work location possibilities. Don't know about Westborough. Best chance of getting your husband out of the beamer is a job at Deaconess and residence in Brookline or Newton. Still a chance with Wellesley or Westborough.
What about Needham? Needham is very good; it certainly should have a good HS, and it has its own rail line into Boston with a stop at Ruggles St, Roxbury, which is very close to Deaconess. Needham to Quincy by car isn't too bad, Needham to Milford by car is a cinch.
Lexington has great schools. I agree with Newton as a good possibility, as well. Acton/Boxborough is a longer commute, to be sure, and more rural. Have you thought about Concord? Your budget is high enough that you could live just about anywhere--including Cambridge. I live in Arlington, which borders Cambridge and is a great town, but probably too low-rent for you (just kidding, ).
I have noticed that the lot sizes in the Boston suburbs, even the inner-ring communities are much larger than those of Chicago and its outer-ring communities. My house in Chicago is on a 90' x 130' and people are just so amazed that I have found a house that has such a large lot because the typical sizes are 50' x 140', 50' x 160', and 50' x 120'. I think right now I am really liking Newton. I just cannot decide between North or South High School? Does anyone know where Dr. Madeline Krauss from Krauss Dermatology in Wellesley Hills lives? She and here husband Paul Friedberg were on This Old House and they renovated a larger shingle home in Newton. That area seems to be very nice. How is the neighborhood Newton Highlands? Where should I want to live in Newton it all looks very similar to me? I got a pm that recommended Sudbury, Lincoln, Wellesley, Weston, Dover, and Sherborn. Any input?
This is the first time I heard MA hospital paying for insurance. I know quite a few doctors left because of higher insurance in MA and lower pay.
If you're picky about school, I suggest private school. The taxes you'll be paying for your house in a good school district would probably more than cover the tuition.
In any case, to answer your question regarding which town. It depends... on what you are looking for. Most towns outside of Rt95 have 1 acre lots (40K sq ft). Are you saying you want small lot with a large house? Then Brookline. Lexington and Newton are the towns in the west. If you want to live near the coast, there is another list..
As to Newton North or South. They are similar with South having a little better test scores and currently a newer building. Newton North will have the biggest (400K sq ft) and most expensive building. In 2008, the cost estimate was $198million (up from $154million in 2007). This translate to $100K per student to build. Hence, it depends on when you child want to use the high school.
I do not need an acre and I do not really want an acre of land because of the maintenance and the cost of fencing. I just would like a house that is at least 3,200 sq. ft. on a decent sized lot at least 50' x 140', preferably at least 70' wide, but I think that that is out of our budget in Newton. My son will be entering 9th grade this August. Does anyone know where the house in Newton that was on This Old House is? I really liked that neighborhood. I was told by my friend that West Newton was very nice and upscale. Is West Newton a separate town?
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Research I have done
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