Moving from Australia to Massachusetts (Boston, Cambridge: rent, hotel, homes)

[MTags]

Hi all,

My wife and I are seriously considering a move back to the U.S. I was originally born in Columbus Ohio but my parents moved to Australia when i was youngish. We've spoken about the move for awhile now and its something we want to do. We have always liked Boston and surrounding suburbs in Massachusetts. We spent some time their recently and the combination of a big city but also nice family and school/college suburbs is very appealing.

Can anyone give me a list of suburbs or areas that are nice and suitable for a young family? We'd like to stay close to Boston (20-35mins drive) if possible and we'd probably rent for a few months then look at buying something.

Any other information or suggestions would be helpful. We're trying to make sure we consider everything before we book the tickets.

thanks,

[brent s]

What kind of price range are you thinking about? That would help people give you some better ideas.

[MTags]

I guess thats part of our problem. We're not sure what rent you need to pay to get into a nice area. We're probably looking around the $1500-$2500 per month range.

[holden125]

You can get a pretty nice apt in that range in Newton, Watertown, Belmont or Arlington. Going just a bit beyond the core of Boston proper/Brookline/Cambridge yields far lower rents.

You mentioned a 25 minute drive to Boston. Many (most?) people don't drive to work in Boston because the cost of parking and the traffic are prohibitive. Many commuters rely on mass transit.

Newton has the Green Line and, to the north, 3 commuter rail stops (at rush hours to Boston's Back Bay Station and South Station). Belmont has 2 commuter rail stations (Belmont Center and Waverley, which is on the Belmont/Watertown border) with service to Boston's North Station or Porter Square on the Red Line. Belmont and Watertown also have a number of bus lines that connect to the Red Line. Arlington also has buses connecting to the Red Line, and the SE corner of town is near the Alewife station, which is the terminus of the Red Line. It's about 25 mins to downtown Boston from there.

From Newtonville or West Newton, you could have a ~20 min train ride to Boston and a quiet neighborhood, but with shops, restaurants, etc. in close proximity.

[MTags]

That sounds promising. Thanks for the info.

When i said 25minutes drive to Boston it was just to give an idea of the proximity we wanted.

When we were there in 2009 we were staying in a hotel in Boston and took a day trip out to Wachussett mountain for some skiing. We passed through some really nice areas that were probably about 30minutes out of Boston. Mainly large 2-3 storey homes with bigish yards. I know its a long shot but would anyone have an idea of the areas we would have passed through if we were driving from the city to Wachussett Mountain? The areas were quite leafy etc...

thanks,

[CaseyB]

You most likely drove along Rte. through Concord and surrounding towns.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

You most likely drove along Rte. 2 through Concord and surrounding towns.

Route 2.

About the "25 min drive," just be aware that someplace 20-35 mins drive from Boston on the weekend or midday will likely mean a far longer commute if you have to work in Boston.

[sblumberg]

If you want to stick to a 20 - 35 min drive along rte 2, I would probably look at towns east of the Concord Rotary.

[MTags]

Thanks everyone. All the information is very helpful.