Need advice on nice family town with commute to cambridge (Boston: for sale, houses)

[kdjack]

Hi,

My family is considering a move to the Boston area. My husband's job would be in Cambridge (on Concord Ave. about half way between N. Cambridge and Belmont). I'm looking for a town that would be within 1 hr. by car, although shorter is certainly better, and an option for public transit is also a plus. We have 3 kids (3,8, & 10) so schools are extremely important. I'd like a 4-5 bdrm. home and 2200+ sq. ft. We can probably stretch to 650K but would rather not. Any thoughts? Thanks!

[jayrandom]

The three best school districts near Cambridge are generally considered to be Belmont, Lexington, and Winchester (BLW) so you might want to look in to those towns. They are all on the pricier side, but you may find what you're looking for in all three at 650K in this down market. Arlington is liked by many and is very close to Cambridge--the schools are generally not considered as good as in the first three I mentioned but are still well regarded by most on this board. Those are the main choices in the zone that I would classify as "close to cambridge" (i.e. within 128, West of 93, North of 90), but all are closer than an hour.

Others may have suggestions beyond this region (Newton, Bedford, Concord, Acton come to mind) but I don't have much familiarity with those regions and couldn't even tell you what's an hour away (although I do know it depends a lot on when you go).

Good luck!

[kdjack]

Thanks. I've been looking at the map, and it appears to have "rings" of highways around Boston, with "spokes" of highway that connect them. Using a map program I can figure out a no-traffic drive time, but have no real idea of a rush hour drive time. I'll have to look at Lexington and Winchester, as I've already checked on Belmont. Are the towns/neighborhoods pretty much the same? I know we'll have to visit, but we may not have much time to decide, so want some feeling before I come. It'd be great to hear about some places a bit further out as well, if you get more for your $. Thanks again.

[scarletfire]

The towns of Hopkinton & Southboro are a good bet - strong schools, nice town feel, and easy highway access. There's a commuter rail station into Boston near the Southboro/Hopkinton line. A few of my favorite Hopkinton neighborhoods are Charlesview Estates (lovely, tree lined streets, an established neighborhood with easy access to parks & school) & Springwood Estates (very pretty area with very easy access to the train). You can go to http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_ma...route=WORCSTER to see the commuter rail schedule for the line from that area into Boston.

Holliston could also work but doesn't have easy train access right in town (you'd need to go to Framingham or Ashland). It's a pretty little town with good schools & is one of the few towns in the area with a French immersion program. The towntown is quaint with family-owned businesses, general store, antique shops, and a new cafe opening this month. My favorite home for sale there is a charming antique with fireplaces in nearly every room.

The few homes in Southboro for sale that would meet your needs are a bit dated. You'll get more for your money in Holliston & Hopkinton but all three might be worth a look if you're headed out that way.

Best of luck!

[kdjack]

It looks like there are a lot of town choices that have good schools, and that you can still live a bit further out to get better value for money. Can anyone tell me about gifted programs in the public schools? I've checked the district pages for a few of the towns mentioned, but haven't seen anything. Maybe I'm not looking for the right thing though. It seems different parts of the U.S. call their gifted education by different names (GATE in California, for example). Anyway, my oldest son is currently in a private school for gifted children in Switzerland, and I want to make sure I can find schools that will be able to challenge him. The language won't be an issue as we are American, but I don't know how the curriculum will differ from what he has here. (Switzerland moves very slowly from K-5, so he may actually be a bit behind.) Private school is probably out as I doubt we will be able to afford the tuition. Thanks again for all the good info, and keep it coming!

[holden125]

I second Belmont, Lexington and Winchester, and will put in a plug for Arlington since the schools did fine by me when I was a kid.

If you want 2,200 square feet for under $650,000, I'd say Lexington might actually be your best bet of those towns. It's more spread out and many homes are somewhat newer than in Belmont, Arlington, and even Winchester. What I've seen is that it's a bit cheaper for that size home, and you'd probably get more yard also. And it is a great town though I prefer to be closer to the city and in a somewhat denser place.

My own preference, after a number of years of a long and lousy commute, is always for a shorter commute. For that reason I'd say Hopkinton or Holliston (where my girlfriend grew up) are too far from Concord Av. in Cambridge for my taste, but you would definitely get more house for less money there than in Belmont and they do have good schools as well. It's up to you to decide if the extra couple hundred square feet is worth the extra 35 mins in traffic each way.

Lincoln and Weston are far too expensive, but you might want to look at Concord and Bedford before going as far afield as Hopkinton. Naturally, with some variation for other factors like schools and transportation access, a large house will cost less as you go out. Some sellers have been reluctant to come down on price and there are houses sitting for a while (or at least there were) but you might be able to get something for less than asking price. Seems to be a buyer's market.

[scarletfire]

I agree with Holden125 that the commute from Hopkinton/Southboro is far - about an hour. When I lived in Southboro I liked it because I just hopped on the train and got to relax and read the paper and I'm a big fan of public transit.

Driving every day seems like it would be a hassle though. Sometimes it's easy to zip into Cambridge and other days you'll just sit in awful traffic getting off the Pike. Then again, I absolutely have no tolerance for traffic so I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I'm always lobbying to work at home more! :->

[scarletfire]

Re: gifted programs, I think your best bet is to call the superintendent of schools for the towns of interest and ask them directly. Sometimes the info online listing gifted programs is erroneous or outdated.

Boston Magazine periodically lists public school stats. The most recent was an interesting article on public high schools. The Best Schools 2008 - Boston Magazine

[ogre]

Two possibilities on the outer fringe of your commuting range which I would add are Acton and Littleton. Both are northwest of Boston, kind of in the country, on the commuter rail line that has a station in Cambridge. Acton is kind of a spread out, exurban town, at least in some areas, with strip mall shopping and some open space, but good schools. Littleton has more of a compact, town kind of feel, though the general area is somewhat rural.

[FloripaUSA]

Originally Posted by kdjack

Hi,

My family is considering a move to the Boston area. My husband's job would be in Cambridge (on Concord Ave. about half way between N. Cambridge and Belmont). I'm looking for a town that would be within 1 hr. by car, although shorter is certainly better, and an option for public transit is also a plus. We have 3 kids (3,8, & 10) so schools are extremely important. I'd like a 4-5 bdrm. home and 2200+ sq. ft. We can probably stretch to 650K but would rather not. Any thoughts? Thanks!

HI! If you like to live closer to Cambridge, you should consider Belmont, Walthan, Arlington, Lexington or even Newton they are way less than an hour driven with traffic! With the Market on the Buyers side you can get something within your price range, publics schools are very good in this cities!
Good Luck!