Need Info on Bedford/Burlington Area (Boston, Waltham: houses, condos, rental)

[fido_dido]

We will be moving to Boston from Chicago in a few months. My wife would be working in Beford and I would be commuting to Boston downtown. I am looking for some info particularly on apartment rental cost, safety, commute to downtown and if we can find condos/townhouses for less than 350K near the Bedford area.

Thx much.

[MagicTouch]

Bedford is known to be expensive, if you go to rent.com and look at the rentals in Bedford you will see that the new 2/2 go for between 1900-2100 a month. The two new complexes in Bedford are Heritage at Bedford Springs and Avalon at Bedford.

Lexington and Concord are also expensive, Burlington and Billerica are cheaper. All of the towns border each other and I consider them safe, finding a condo at that price will be difficult in Bedford, Lexington and Concord, but may be possible in Burlington or Billerica. I would suggest that if you plan on renting and can come here for a few days that you make arraignments to go and check out a few locations and decide what is best for you.

You may also want to check into Woburn and Waltham.

Best wishes to you on your search for the best place for you.

[fido_dido]

Thanks. I will look at apts in Burlington then. Also hows the commute from Burlington to Downtown both by car and train. Is there a train line that is accessible from there? If not which is the closest town with a train station.

[MagicTouch]

As with any drive it will depend on the time of day that you leave and get on the freeway. I can leave at 6 am and get to the airport in about 25 min. If you leave at 7 it will take longer.

As far as the T goes I don't know since I live and work locally (next town over). You can look at the Mass transit website and that may give you more information.

Best Wishes

[jayrandom]

Getting in to Boston from Burlington/Bedford is a real pain using public transit. Too far for subway, and there isn't really access to commuter rail. There is a big station in Woburn, but that's already a little bit of a drive.
If you're looking for somewhere with public access to Boston but not far from Bedford, a place to consider would be Arlington. It's relatively straightforward to Boston on public transit and the reverse commute isn't bad to Bedford, if that is where your wife is working. I don't know how far 350K will go, but it will probably be reasonable for a condo in Arlington.
Another option is Belmont/Watertown. Very easy access to the city and reasonable commute to Bedford as well. My wife did the Belmont-Bedford commute for about a year and had minimal problems (other than her extreme hate of driving, especially in this town). Her commute was about 20 minutes and she went right around the peak commute. 350k might be a little low for condos in either, but with the market the way it has been I wouldn't rule either out. Belmont has excellent schools, as well, if that will ever be a factor.
If you're just looking to rent, which might not be a bad idea at first because it's always nice to get a feel for a place, Belmont and Watertown both have a good number of options. We had a spacious 2+ bedroom for $1450 in Belmont, to give you an idea of prices. Arlington is a good rental option, as well. If you can get your wife to split the difference in distance, any of these options would serve you well.

[fido_dido]

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated guys.

[DG001]

You should also consider Woburn - its cheap(ish), and close to both Bedford and Boston - many places in Woburn have busses running to Boston, 2 major train stations nearby and its a 15-min commute (for the most part) to Bedford.

[fido_dido]

Thanx DG. I am planning to look in Burlington, Billerica, Woburn as well as Tewksbury. I will keep the board posted on what I find.