Most affordable, walkable suburbs with train connections to major downtown (houses, neighborhoods)
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I'm curious about charming suburban towns or neighborhoods outside of a major city downtown, with their own little downtowns but also have access to rail to get to the primary downtown.
A couple examples that I am familiar with are Wilmette, IL north of Chicago and Tarrytown, NY north of NYC. There are countless other examples surrounding Chicago, NYC, and of course, Boston, DC, etc.
I would like the location to offer:
Detached Single Family Homes within walking distance to a downtown-like commercial strip with retail and offices
walking distance to the rail station
approximately one hour or less ride into the downtown or urban core area (ie Manhattan)
service available on weekends
It does not have to be outside the city, nor does it have to be "commuter rail" so even certain neighborhoods within Chicago or even Atlanta could fit the bill. I was even thinking Austin or Nashville but I see their rail doesn't operate on weekends.
Of the locations that fit this description, which are among the more affordable housing options??
Greater Boston (Priced Low to High)
-Providence, RI (70 minutes to Downtown Boston, but this is a great city itself with service to Boston if you want even bigger... Love this place too for easy living)
-Revere, MA (Blue Line and commuter Rail, great little town center! I want to buy here for convenience)
-Salem, MA (Commuter Rail is about 25 minutes to NS)
-Quincy, MA (3 Stops on Red Line and Commuter Rail with nice forming town center)
-Newton, MA (Has Commuter Rail and Light Rail in the town)
-Concord, Lexington, Wellesley, Brookline, Arlington, Cambridge.. but they are astronomical...
New York City
-Anywhere around White Plains or in Westchester County is fair game
-Montclair, NJ (Easy commute, know people who live here without cars)
-Morristown, NJ (Same, but I love this downtown better)
Greater Boston (Priced Low to High)
-Providence, RI (70 minutes to Downtown Boston, but this is a great city itself with service to Boston if you want even bigger... Love this place too for easy living)
-Revere, MA (Blue Line and commuter Rail, great little town center! I want to buy here for convenience)
-Salem, MA (Commuter Rail is about 25 minutes to NS)
-Quincy, MA (3 Stops on Red Line and Commuter Rail with nice forming town center)
-Newton, MA (Has Commuter Rail and Light Rail in the town)
-Concord, Lexington, Wellesley, Brookline, Arlington, Cambridge.. but they are astronomical...
New York City
-Anywhere around White Plains or in Westchester County is fair game
-Montclair, NJ (Easy commute, know people who live here without cars)
-Morristown, NJ (Same, but I love this downtown better)
Pittsburgh
-Dormont or Brookline, PA
I dont know what your budget is.
I live in Newton, MA and really no town in Massachusetts should be anywhere in a discussion where affordable is mentioned. Our expectations for what we think is cheap is way too affected by the ridiculous prices things cost here. You think a place like Revere is cheap then you check out safe suburbs in states like Ohio or West Virginia and your mind gets blown.
The next suburb out on the rail line is Mt. Lebanon. It has an even more impressive downtown area, (called "Uptown" which stretches for many blocks. It's a more upscale area overall, compared to Dormont, which was always working class. There's a lot of multi-family close to the downtown area, but if you look around you can find affordable single-family houses. Keep in mind not all of Mt. Lebanon is walkable to Uptown though, and not all of it is near a T station (though there are a few other stations, like Poplar and Arlington, away from the business district but accessible to some residential areas.
Oak Park bordering Chicago Il... or Evanstone IL... or the suburb that is basically Chicago that never got annexed and Al Capone's old hood... Cicero
Evanston is an ideal example but the cheapest SFH move-in ready I see listed is $675k. Oak Park and Cicero I'll have to learn more about. I've heard of them as affordable, good residential areas although they are pretty close to some bad areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by masssachoicetts
I dont know what your budget is.
I appreciate your list, but I wasn't really looking for a complete list of every neighborhood like this out there. I meant which ones do you know of that might be among the most affordable in the country? If it helps to think of a price range how about $500k and below? I'm pretty sure there are a few decent options in that price point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Japanfan1986
I live in Newton, MA and really no town in Massachusetts should be anywhere in a discussion where affordable is mentioned. Our expectations for what we think is cheap is way too affected by the ridiculous prices things cost here. You think a place like Revere is cheap then you check out safe suburbs in states like Ohio or West Virginia and your mind gets blown.
Agree. Definitely not going for Newton and was assuming MA in general wouldn't have anything although I'm happy to be shown otherwise. I know you weren't suggesting it either, but most of OH and WV are not gonna have the neighborhoods I am describing. Maybe Lakewood outside Cleveland would be a contender (nm I see that it's not connected to RTA)
Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
Brookline doesn't have rail service, only bus service. It's also an outer city neighborhood.
Dormont is a great option though.
Thanks for the info! Sounds like Dormont and Mt Lebanon are strong candidates.
I live in Newton, MA and really no town in Massachusetts should be anywhere in a discussion where affordable is mentioned. Our expectations for what we think is cheap is way too affected by the ridiculous prices things cost here. You think a place like Revere is cheap then you check out safe suburbs in states like Ohio or West Virginia and your mind gets blown.
Middleborough. It has a decent walkable town center in a safe town and the commuter rail station is within walking distance. In a few years, the commuter rail station will be even closer to the town center as it's being relocated as part of the South Coast Rail project. Of course, Middleborough isn't as nice as, say, Concord, but it's also about 1/3 the price. Ayer fits this bill too, though the downtown is smaller than Middleborough.
And while they're certainly not "cheap," value can still be found in Franklin and even Framingham - both of which have walkable centers with rail stops.
*Edited to add*
I don't know how I left it off, but Bridgewater, MA might be the best option for someone on a $500k or less budget looking for a single family home in a MA town with a walkable center with rail access to Boston. Decent schools, reasonable housing stock, safe, decent downtown, and not bad proximity to Boston.
Middleborough. It has a decent walkable town center in a safe town and the commuter rail station is within walking distance. In a few years, the commuter rail station will be even closer to the town center as it's being relocated as part of the South Coast Rail project. Of course, Middleborough isn't as nice as, say, Concord, but it's also about 1/3 the price. Ayer fits this bill too, though the downtown is smaller than Middleborough.
And while they're certainly not "cheap," value can still be found in Franklin and even Framingham - both of which have walkable centers with rail stops.
*Edited to add*
I don't know how I left it off, but Bridgewater, MA might be the best option for someone on a $500k or less budget looking for a single family home in a MA town with a walkable center with rail access to Boston. Decent schools, reasonable housing stock, safe, decent downtown, and not bad proximity to Boston.
You’re talking about areas 40 miles outside of the city. It’s a stretch to call some of these towns Boston suburbs.
You’re talking about areas 40 miles outside of the city. It’s a stretch to call some of these towns Boston suburbs.
Well, they're in the metro area, on the Boston commuter rail network, and all of them except Ayer (which is an hour and 3 minutes) are within an hour of downtown Boston by train. They literally meet every single one of the OP's criteria, so I'm not sure what the problem is?
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