Commute from Bedford to Boston (Worcester, Newton: real estate market, houses, neighborhoods)

[cherry242]

Family of wife and a 2 year old, we are looking for houses in Bedford. Both my wife and I have to commute to Boston and based on earlier posts in this forum it does not look to be an easy ride (drive to Alewife or #62 bus). Bike path is potentially an option for me but I am looking for commuter rail options. Are there parking garages in walking distance around the Concord commuter station?

Thanks.

[wxjay]

Where in Boston are you working? You can take the commuter line all the way to North Station (connections to Green and Orange Lines) or stop at Porter Square and pick up the Red Line. If your job is closer to South Station, this won't be the greatest commute because of the line changes.

The Concord stops do not have parking garages. But there are a good number of spaces at both Concord and West Concord. You could also consider the Lincoln stop, which has 161 parking spaces.

By the way, why are you interested in Bedford? There are better communities for commuting into Boston with very good schools and even a little cheaper than Bedford.

[cherry242]

Thanks for the info on parking. Since the parking lots are less in number, don't they run out pretty quickly in the morning? We work near South Station so changing over to Redline works for us. But this is not an ideal commute.

We looked at a few other places around Boston with good schools and they are expensive (> 500K Winchester, Newton, Natick, Reading, North Reading etc). We like Melrose and Wakefield but I am not sure how the schools are.

Any suggestions?

[wxjay]

The commute from Bedford to South Station, given driving to the station in Concord, using the commuter rail, switching to the Red Line, etc., could easily be 1.5 hours each way. I would strongly suggest that you look into another scenario.

Why not look toward the S/SW of the city? Natick is a good city though it is congested and very suburban. Have you considered Needham or Canton? Those places have great school systems and are on a commuter rail line. Needham is more expensive and maybe out of range in general, but with the real estate market, you could get a good deal. Newton is a great town too, but as you mentioned, it is pricy.

If budget is the driver for where to live, then you could look further out on the S/SW lines. Cities like Hopkinton or Medway are cheaper with decent housing prices, decent schools, and also a short drive to nearby commuter rail stations to commute directly to South Station.

If I can help more, let me know! Feel free to DM me.

[kmann-sherborn]

I second the vote for places west of the city. Along the Framingham/Worcester train line you could go with Hopkinton (pick up the train in Southboro or Ashland, both of which have lots of parking) & be at South Station in about an hour. Or a bit further out is Westboro. Both towns consistently rank high in Boston Magazine's list of top high schools in the state. Hopkinton is also getting a lot of recognition for its schools of late, including its ranking in Newsweek's top high schools in the country & an honorable mention in US News & World Report's ranking of top US high schools.

They're both really nice towns. Hopkinton has a lot of growth right now. A nice town center with plenty of community activities, two lakes for swimming/canoeing, etc, lots of sports programs, etc. Westboro is another nice suburb, a bit overbuilt for my taste but still very lovely neighborhoods. Lots of restaurants & shopping in town + easy access to the Mass Pike. Also lots of sports programs, town activities like an annual tree lighting, 4th of July block party, etc. The town center there has more to offer than many other surrounding towns - a few cafes, boutiques, grocery store, restaurants, gym, etc.

Please feel free to PM me if you have questions. I grew up in Westboro + work in Hopkinton. Our first house was there so it has a special place in my heart. :-)

ps. You can also find plenty of info about both towns by googling terms like "living in Hopkinton" or "living in Westboro" and can find photos on Flickr. I have some pictures of downtown Hopkinton online as well. I'll try to dig up the URL.

[kmann-sherborn]

Here are a few links you might find handy.

Lake Whitehall in Hopkinton | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21590926@N07/4157294837/ - broken link) - a few pics of Hopkinton

MBTA Commuter Rail > Framingham / Worcester Lines Schedules and Maps - train schedule

Best Schools 2010: The Rankings - Boston Magazine - Boston Magazine's list of top high schools

Living in the Boston suburbs - Wall Street Journal article about Hopkinton & surrounding towns

Best Places to Live - Boston Magazine - Boston Magazine's 2011 Best Places to Live

Hopkinton Crier article about why to live in Hopkinton

[Drechie]

You might want to think about driving into South Station via 95 N to 93 S. I prefer this commute into Boston. This commute is quite efficient if you are on the road at the right time. You could give this a trial run.

Taking Route 2 to Alewife and taking the Red Line to South Station is convenient too, again if you are there at the right time. Bedford to Alewife is 12 minutes max without traffic. With light traffic maybe 17

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by Drechie

Taking Route 2 to Alewife and taking the Red Line to South Station is convenient too, again if you are there at the right time. Bedford to Alewife is 12 minutes max without traffic. With light traffic maybe 17

I can almost guarantee that you will not make it to Alewife during rush hour from Bedford in under 20 minutes, especially if you live in Bedford center or to the west side of the city. Not only is getting onto the highway (say through Great Rd) a tad traffic-ky, but 95 S is generally bumper-to-bumper all the way from Rte 3 south to the Rte 2 exit.