relocating to Boston (Brookline, Franklin, Bridgewater: fit in, transplants, real estate)

[mjkw3]

Our family may be possibly relocating from Michigan to the Boston area. We have lived in Michigan all of our lives and do not even know where to start looking. We have a 15 year old son entering high school in the Fall and our priority is not to scar him for life . My husband will be working in Boston but I assume we will want a nearby suburb...some of the ones I have looked at online just based on affordabililty of the houses are Brookline, Walpole, Westport and West Bridgewater. OUu priorities are excellent schools and a friendly town. Is it an Urban Legend that New Englanders are unfriendly to outsiders? If so, which are the "friendliest" towns with more "transplants"? Any info on places to look as well as places to stay away from would be greatyly appreciated!!!

[scarletfire]

I don't think it's really more difficult to make friends in the Boston area than other places. In general we may be more reticent about talking with strangers on the street or in a grocery store but I think it's pretty easy to meet and make new friends, particularly for parents with school age children. I'd recommend checking out the towns online to see if they offer things you're looking for, then visiting to get a feel for the various communities, and possibly visiting a few key places like the high school. I've been surprised how accomodating some of the school principals and superintendents are about sharing information, good and bad, about what their schools have to offer, to help parents choose the right school for their children.

Best of luck!

[im2005]

I don't think it's an Urban Legend at all. I'm from MI originally, but have lived all over. I lived in Boston for almost 2 years but did eventually leave. Some people absolutely love it (especially those who grew up there) but I did find that a lot of people (not all) really keep you at arms length if you're an outsider. They will be nice enough, but don't expect to get invited over for dinner/BBQ/etc. It takes a long, long time to fit in as a transplant in NE, from my experience. That being said, if you don't mind the winters, it's a pretty decent place to live! And certainly in better shape economically than MI is right now. Good luck.

[Katezli]

mjkw3,
if you don't mind me being so bold, may i ask what your price range is? the towns you list here and in your other post (waltham and wellesley) are all very different in terms of affordability and i am a little confused about what you can afford. wellesley and brookline are lovely, but two of the most expensive places to buy in massachusetts.

[mjkw3]

See...this is why I need guidance!!!! A lot of it will depend on what we can get for our house here in the very depressed economy of MI and what the final job offer is....I know this is a very broad range but we are going into this knowing we cannot start any lower than $500,000 and knowing that we could not go over $700,000.

[scarletfire]

I agree, I don't think the lack of friendliness factor is an urban myth but maybe overblown. I am very shy in person and find it hard to reach out to people, yet have developed many lovely friendships since we moved back here, mostly through work and through the Sierra Club. When we moved to Sherborn our next door neighbor came over to welcome us with little lemon squares and their cell number in case we ever needed anything. In my sister-in-law's neighborhood they take turns putting together a welcome basket whenever new people move into the area, and was invited to join book clubs in town. I think they probably had an easier time meeting people than I would because they meet other parents and belong to the UU church, but still, I do think if you give it time you'll develop some longlasting friendships here if you do end up moving to the area.

Best of luck in your future plans. :-)

[mjkw3]

Can anyone tell me more about Brookline? Through my research on the internet it looks very Urban and most of the real estate (at least in our price range under 700K ) is condos. WOuld it be an appropriate place for a 15 year old? Does anyone know anything about Brookline HS? Also, and forgive my stupidity, as I am from the burbs...what is the parking situation if you live in a condo? I assume you have to find your own in a parking garage and that this could get pretty pricey...I assume that most people in this area own only one car?

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by mjkw3

Can anyone tell me more about Brookline? Through my research on the internet it looks very Urban and most of the real estate (at least in our price range under 700K ) is condos. WOuld it be an appropriate place for a 15 year old? Does anyone know anything about Brookline HS? Also, and forgive my stupidity, as I am from the burbs...what is the parking situation if you live in a condo? I assume you have to find your own in a parking garage and that this could get pretty pricey...I assume that most people in this area own only one car?

Brookline is very urban. The single family homes are expensive. It has a large college student population.

To give you some brief guidance about where to start your home search, look at a map of eastern Massachusetts. Pretty much inside the boundry of Rte. 95/128 are the older, traditional suburbs of Boston. Some excellent school systems in many of these city/towns but the ones that do are obviously more expensive. Some of these towns also have bad schools so you really have to do your research.

If you look at the map again between these suburbs and the Rte. 495 perimiter. you will find the where the newer suburbs are located. This has been the fastest growing area of the state in the last 15-20 years. You will find for the most part, decent schools and lots and lots of transplants. Of course the commute will be a lot longer, but some towns have commuter rail.
Good places to look would be Westford, Hopkinton, Franklin (which has been the fastest growing town for a while now) also, Lakeville is a nice town that has been booming. No problem finding nice properties both new and resale within your price range.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by mjkw3

Can anyone tell me more about Brookline? Through my research on the internet it looks very Urban and most of the real estate (at least in our price range under 700K ) is condos. WOuld it be an appropriate place for a 15 year old? Does anyone know anything about Brookline HS? Also, and forgive my stupidity, as I am from the burbs...what is the parking situation if you live in a condo? I assume you have to find your own in a parking garage and that this could get pretty pricey...I assume that most people in this area own only one car?

Brookline is very urban. The single family homes are expensive. It has a large college student population.

To give you some brief guidance about where to start your home search, look at a map of eastern Massachusetts. Pretty much inside the boundry of Rte. 95/128 are the older, traditional suburbs of Boston. Some excellent school systems in many of these city/towns but the ones that do are obviously more expensive. Some of these towns also have bad schools so you really have to do your research.

If you look at the map again between these suburbs and the Rte. 495 perimiter. you will find the where the newer suburbs are located. This has been the fastest growing area of the state in the last 15-20 years. You will find for the most part, decent schools and lots and lots of transplants. Of course the commute will be a lot longer, but some towns have commuter rail.
Good places to look would be Westford, Hopkinton, Franklin (which has been the fastest growing town for a while now) also, Lakeville is a nice town that has been booming. No problem finding nice properties both new and resale within your price range in these areas.

Ask us on the forum about individual towns, moving with a 15 year old will be tough!

[missionhill]

I like Casey's geography lesson, although you'll find many of the traditional Boston suburbs inside the Route 95/128 perimeter as well as outside. The towns you mentioned initially are all over the map. Husband could practically walk to work from Brookline but Westport is very far, maybe 60 miles south and not what you'd call a suburb of Boston. So you do have to look at the map. Lots of good things about Brookine. Great high school, great school system in general, great town services, three streetcar lines into Boston (Green line Riverside, Cleveland Circle, and Boston College lines). Brookline is urban in the nicest possible way--walkable shopping areas, good restaurants, nice parks. It's a great place for a teenager to live because he can get around on his own without being driven; he's not stuck out in the sticks. Brookline real estate is very expensive but there are lots of condos that make it affordable to a family like yours. Many of these are conversions of big century-old houses into two or three units; they can be really nice, distinctive homes and not what you'd think of as a typical cookie-cutter condo. Probably many condos in Brookline include at least one off-street parking space. Brookline does not allow overnight parking on any public street so you have to find an offstreet space.

You have many choices--CaseyB is probably right that the areas outside Rte 495 have more transplants because most middle class people want their own house and, especially coming to eastern Mass from out of state, they can't afford their own house in the nicer towns closer to Boston. Some of these outer suburbs are nice places but anything outside 495 is pretty far, at least 25 miles from Boston. And, although many are suburbs, some of them, like Newburyport, are just old towns with great character that are attracting newcomers because they offer convenient rail service into Boston.