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I've been househunting for a long while now, and a nice little single family just came on the market in my price range in the 'Waverly' area, near 2 cemeteries. The pics look awesome and I'm sure I'll have to decide whether to go for in the next 2 days.
What are the pros and cons of Watertown? I like the convenient location in terms of commuting to Boston (easily done by car, bus, and rail) and I pass by the town here and there. However, I don't know much else about the town if I were to be a resident. Appreciate any insight.
For a long time Watertown has been a solid town with a broadly middle class feel, from a mix of middle class and blue collar residents, with some immigrant communities, Armenians being particularly well represented among the immigrants. Lately Watertown seems to have shown signs of being discovered by young professionals. So far the town's traditional character remains about the same as it has been for a long time. At this point the young professionals have simply been added to the mix, rather than showing up in large enough numbers to take over and transform the feel of the place.
I don't know how the property taxes or town services are. As for everyday pros and cons, you seem to be aware of the pros already. Watertown is conveniently located. It's also urban enough to have a reasonable collection of small stores for local shopping. Depending on what you're looking for, the main con would be that the local businesses offer mostly basic shopping. At this point Watertown has not developed the restaurant scene you'd find next door in downtown Waltham.
One of the negatives with Watertown is the school situation. The schools are not as highly regarded as Belmont or even Arlington. If you don't have kids, then this may not be an issue for you. Saying this, Perkins School of the Blind is located in Watertown and there's also an autism center in the town. So if you have children and they have with certain special needs, you may be served better in Watertown.
As Ogre mentions, Watertown is becoming gentrified with the influx of young professionals. I think it's more solid middle-class than Waltham with shades or pockets of working class. This is maybe a good situation if you're a young professional, but if you've got a family or are about to start one, it may not be. I don't find as many families in Watertown or the town as family-friendly as say Arlington. Again, this may not be a negative for you.
Watertown Square can get a bit congested in the morning and the afternoon commute. Usually, you can avoid some of the congestion by taking side roads. Generally, it's much easier to get around Watertown than Newton, in my opinion.
Public transportation tends to go east-west - either to Harvard Square, Newton, or Waltham. There's no public transportation to Belmont, Arlington, or Porter Square, which may be annoying.
Thanks so much. Great info. I'm a young professional no kids, sounds like I won't feel out of place as other younger people have started to move in. The house I'm interested in is in the north part, away from the mall area (which is perfect since I prefer not dealing with the congestion and a more quiet feel to the neigbhorhood).
From a bit of research, it seems the crime rate is decent compared to other towns, and the high school is middle of the pack (not bad but not close to the Ritzy towns). I don't have kids, but I don't want to buy into a town with bad schools. I believe the quality of the school affects the quality of kids/residents and also is an indication of how desirable the town is. I like the fact that there's a new library.
I'm ok with not being able to walk to nice restaurants (like those in Waltham). I think the essential stores: Shaw, S&S, CVS, Riteaid etc are all within 5-10 min drive plus there's Russo's. Are there other hidden gems?
One thing that I found negative is the high property tax. For example, 1000 sq ft house/5000 sq ft land has a property tax of just under $5K, while tax for a similar house may be 2.5K in Waltham, 3.5K in Dedham/W. Roxbury (from my observations). Does anyone know how 'healthy' the finance situation is?
Waltham and Dedham have more commercial development than Waltham and that's reflected in the taxes. They've got some big companies, hotels, and retail. They're more accessible than Watertown from the highways and public transportation and, as a result, attract more industry.
Both Waltham and Dedham have average, decent school systems and low crime rates; Dedham is close to Xavier HS, which is popular local Catholic high school for boys. Both are considered middle class. Both have district courthouses.
Waltham, in particular, has a good percentage of rentals, so you've got a transient issue with people coming and going. With that said, I'd say Dedham probably has more of a community feel to it than Waltham because I don't think they have as many renters (or even the number of short-term renters) that Waltham has, but you might want to verify this.
Waltham, I know, lost some big companies around Rte 128 recently and I'm not sure what the status is about vacant these properties and how much this is going to affect the tax rate. You might want to look into it.
I think Watertown is getting gentrified quicker than Waltham or Dedham. If I was a young professional without children, I would rather live in Watertown. There's more young people in Watertown than Waltham or Dedham. Waltham gets young professionals around Moody Street and in other pockets due to Brandeis, Bentley, and other schools but it's not as close to Cambridge, which automatically attracts more young professionals. Dedham, I think, is still a tad more family-oriented than Waltham or Watertown.
I only brought up Waltham and Dedham for comparison with taxes. I see the same type of house come on the market in a number of other towns, but noticed that tax is higher in Watertown - Thanks for your explanation on this.
Waltham has a cluster of multi-families/townhouses/condos and the rental situation you described is definitely right on. However, the north part of town where single families are predominant is like another suburbia.
Open House is tomorrow and will see if reality is anything close to the pictures. If its indeed as nice as the pics, I'll need to make an offer (crossing my fingers). Despite the economy being down, a lot of houses in my search that are in decent condition have gone under contract within days of listing. I was interested in 3 houses (2 in Canton, 1 in Natick) and all were sold before I got there to look at it. I guess it's a good thing since this one in Watertown is most convenient out of all the other places I've considered (for going to work and non-work activities). Some draw backs so far are that the yard is smaller (but less mowing and maintenance) and it runs on oil heating (I prefer gas). Will see what happens. Appreciate all your help.
As previously mentioned, the only negative is the School system.. Watertown is a great location, very similar to much of Belmont which it borders and available for 1/2 the price.
Tacovine - please explain why you say that. Is it just that the ritzy neigbhoring towns (Belmont, Arlington, Newton) all have super good schools in comparison while Watertown is middle of the pack, or is the Watertown system truely subpar?
I only get to see scores and rankings (no 1st hand experience), and I see that it's a middle of the pack but not bad. Is this the correct perception?
mmyk72.. subpar is relative... it may be a very decent school system, I haven't check the ratings recently. Belmont, Newton are some of the top schools in the State (although some feel Belmont has dropped off recently). I would not put Arlington in the same class but I'm sure its higher rated than Watertown. Things to look for are test scores. teachers per student, course, club offerings. etc. Also, the better school towns are going to be more expensive and the taxes are higher..
I personally think Watertown is a great town.. safe lots to do, close to Boston.
Thanks for feedback. Well, good news about the driveway situation. There is indeed a 3 inch drain outside of the garage, and just inside the garage against the wall, there's a sump pump. Should not need to worry about water flooding the basement.
The only thing I really don't like about the house itself is the typical lack of good insulation (50's era house). It uses oil heat with some baseboard and some in wall type radiator. A small addition area uses electric baseboards (but I don't need to use this room when it's cold). I'm a bit worried the heating bill come Jan/Feb/Mar.
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