moving to Boston, but where?! (Framingham, Natick: rent , work, big house)

[4kidsandadog]

We are moving to the Boston area within the next 6 months, but have no idea where. We want great schools, family friendly neighborhoods, a nice yard for our four kids. Some towns that have been recommended to us are:
Dover, Concord, Sudbury, Wayland, Carlisle, Westwood, Acton, Boxborough.

We're hoping to find a town that has lots of sports/recreation programs for kids, not just academics. Our oldest starts middle school this fall and we want to get him off on the right foot in a really good school. Any thoughts?

[smarty]

All towns you mention are good choices.

Not too many towns have school related sports/recreation in middle school. Most of the sports activities are still with special youth groups. They all have the standard soccer, basketball, football, baseball, ... sports. Most of them are volunteer coaches. The recreation is usually done by Park & Rec within town.

The real question is do you have the capacity to drive all 4 kids around?

If you are willing to pay, there are many special clubs and trainers for whatever sport or activity your kid is interested in.

[4kidsandadog]

With my oldest entering middle school next year, I have just begun to realize how much time I will be spending in the car in the next 15 years!

Thanks for your input. Any info helps. What about Medfield? From what I can see on the computer it has great schools but housing is a bit more reasonable than say, Dover.

Does Medfield have a town center? I was surprised when we visited Dover that the center was town hall/green, small market and sandwich shop. I think we need a bit more town than that....at least drug store....

Rec sports is great. That's what we have now and my husband usually coaches some sport or another throughout the year.

thanks

[CaseyB]

Medfield has a town center with a few stores, a bank, restaurants, churches, etc. I'm not sure if there is a drug store or not but a mile away or so there is a shopping center with a large grocery store that has a pharmacy.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by 4kidsandadog

Thanks for your input. Any info helps. What about Medfield? From what I can see on the computer it has great schools but housing is a bit more reasonable than say, Dover.

Does Medfield have a town center? I was surprised when we visited Dover that the center was town hall/green, small market and sandwich shop. I think we need a bit more town than that....at least drug store....

Medfield is another good choice.

The towns you mention are very similar. I think in order to further nail down the towns you want you need to have a bigger list. For example, do you have commuting time/distance criteria? What do you expect of the house (new, old, size, lot size) for the price range you are looking for? Do you have preference of the size(population) or density of the town? What kind of taxes are you thinking (it could vary by $1-2K depending on the town for the same house value.)? Do you want a downtown with shops? Anything else that is important to you? Checkout Bostonmagazine dot com. It has the best place to live list. You can compare towns tax rate, SAT scores, crime rate, ... etc.

One suggestion is to rent for a year or 6 months in the town you want to live in first. See if you like it before you buy. This gives you time to know the area better.

[4kidsandadog]

My husband will be working from home, at least for now, so commuting will not be an issue. He is definitely NOT handy, so we really don't want an antique...the new the better, but still with plenty of charm. We need a big house for our very active family, but no not want it to feel "grand". We like a small to mid size town with just enough shops, but not a huge retail area like Wellesley has....When we need to shop, we're happy to drive to the shopping. As far as taxes goes, I really don't know. We don't mind paying taxes if we get great schools etc.
We want at least a half acre lot, but would love 1 acre if possible....We would like to live in an area with trails/parks close by for family outings and so on. We hope we can find a community with "warm" people as opposed to "perfect people" if you know what I mean. We are very down to earth and feel just as comfortable in jeans and Ts as we do dressing up for a night out.....

[2KidsforMe]

4kids, can I suggest my town of Southborough? We are about 28 miles West of Boston. The schools are great, the town is quiet, very safe, and very friendly. We have a nice little rec department, with classes for all ages. A very active mom's group, as well as numerous community activities throughout the year can be found. We are close to all the shopping and dining you could want in Framingham or Westborough. 2 nice malls nearby (Natick and Solomon Pond), Hopkinton State Park is right around the corner, where you can boat, swim, picnic, snow shoe, or just hang out. There is good access to major roads into Boston, including the MassPike and we also have a commuter rail in town. Most homes here have pretty good sized lots, ranging from about 1/2 to 3 acres depending on your price range. A nice newer 4 bedroom home will probably start at around 550-600k, but prices have cooled a bit. Whatever you decide, good luck and welcome to MA.
p.s. I love my town

[4kidsandadog]

Hey, thanks for the tip! I'll check out Southborough.......

[smarty]

Originally Posted by 2KidsforMe

4kids, can I suggest my town of Southborough? We are about 28 miles West of Boston. The schools are great, the town is quiet, very safe, and very friendly. We have a nice little rec department, with classes for all ages. A very active mom's group, as well as numerous community activities throughout the year can be found. We are close to all the shopping and dining you could want in Framingham or Westborough. 2 nice malls nearby (Natick and Solomon Pond), Hopkinton State Park is right around the corner, where you can boat, swim, picnic, snow shoe, or just hang out. There is good access to major roads into Boston, including the MassPike and we also have a commuter rail in town. Most homes here have pretty good sized lots, ranging from about 1/2 to 3 acres depending on your price range. A nice newer 4 bedroom home will probably start at around 550-600k, but prices have cooled a bit. Whatever you decide, good luck and welcome to MA.
p.s. I love my town

2kids,

Since you love your town, what do you think your town has an advantage over the communities 4kids mention? Dover, Concord, Sudbury, Wayland, Carlisle, Westwood, Acton, Boxborough or even Hopkinton, Westborough, Franklin? In other words, what make you decide on Southborough versus other towns.

[2KidsforMe]

We looked at Acton, Boxborough, Hopkinton, Sudbury, Northborough, Westborough and Wayland (whew!) before deciding on Southborough. One of the main reasons was the location. I like that we have good access to major routes, and that we have alot of shopping and dining nearby, but without all of the traffic that goes with it.
I was also very impressed with the schools, and the small class size. I like having a state park and a rail station next door too, and I was aware of the very active preschooler mom's group, which helps in meeting people. I also felt that, while Southborough is a very nice town, it didn't feel snobby, for lack of a better word. I felt my money went further here than in Sudbury or Wayland. I think all of the towns 4kids is looking at are very nice. Southborough just felt like home to me.