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Old 02-16-2012, 02:50 PM
 
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we have been looking in the Reading, North Reading, Burlington belt as well. First impressions are that Reading/North Reading are better school systems but taxes are much higher than in burlington. Houses may be difficult to find (we have been having difficulty considering our laundry list). Good luck with the process.....
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Old 02-16-2012, 04:11 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonNewbie View Post
Sounds like quite a few of us are in the same boat!

SoFresh99- we hadn't really considered Waltham as at first glance it seemed more urban than we'd like, but as noted it's a great location for commuting to Boston and perhaps we should take another look. I'd love to hear some of the pros/cons are of living there.

And as MA2NC2012 said, does anyone out there have some further insights into life in Reading? I'd also be curious to hear about how it compares to nearby Wakefield.
If Waltham is too urban for your tastes I wouldn't push yourself into anything. For me Reading is too suburban, we're all different. I like Waltham b/c I like having things available to me where I actually live and not having to drive far to get what I want. (We lived in Malden for a couple of years and the only thing you could do in Malden was grocery shop or leave and it was urban- just urban with no amenities.)

So Waltham has a nice library with full hours (biggest music collection in the Minuteman network after Newton), a YMCA, access to whatever recreational amenities are on offer in the rich towns around it in addition to it's own, the commuter rail, the express bus, a hoppin' restaurant scene, a movie theater, an arts community, the Charles River, a surprising amount of greenspace for how urban it is (Paine Estate, Lyman Estate, Gore Estate, Prospect Hill Park, DCR Riverwalk, soon new DCR pool, what's going to happen at Fernald greenspace?), there is an actual farm and a CSA right in Waltham for your summer veggies, farmers market on Saturdays in the summer and Russos for the rest of the year (that might be technically Watertown), concerts on the common, 5 or 6 spray parks for the kids in the summer, the bike path along the river goes all the way to Boston so DH rides the 12 miles to work when it's nice- the rail trail is going to be continued the extra couple of miles and span Waltham through my neighborhood at some point. Waltham has Bentley and Brandeis which offer amenities like pools you can swim in, a great art museum, you could get your MBA right in Waltham (DH did!), and they reach out to the community and run tutoring centers and other school outreach stuff.

Waltham has low MCAS, middling SATs and an economically, racially and socially diverse population that may account for these scores. It has free full-day kindergarten and an integrated public preschool program available (for $). I have heard nothing but great stuff about the elementary schools but not much about beyond, the facilities are all new and in great shape (unlike Newton). Waltham has a huge commercial tax base so our taxes are low at $10.xx after the residential exemption.

I live on the Weston side near the highway so I can be almost anywhere I would ever want to be in twenty minutes by car. I can be on I95, rt.2 or I90 lickety split. (Ikea in Stoughton, Nashua antiquing, Cambridge to see a band, Boston to do whatever, the cape in 45 minutes, Framingham in 10 for shopper's delight). Waltham is next to Newton so in 15 min. you can drive to the south station commuter rail stop if you need to commute that way or ride the green line from Riverside. We use the DeCordova museum in Lincoln like our back yard. Walden Pond in 15 minutes. I can buy a pool pass to the Lexington Rec pool/Old Res and swim all summer with the kid. It takes me 10 minutes to drive him to preschool at Drumlin Farm.

Everywhere has a CVS (3) and grocery stores (4) but Waltham also has a local pharmacy (Rogers), a compounding/homeopathic pharmacy (Johnsons), a true value hardware, local ice cream shop, local coffee house (starbucks turned waltham down- yay!), local brew pub, local paint store, upscale liquor store, and regular big retail: Home Depot, Costco, 3 Radio Shacks, TJMaxx, Petco, etc. But NO BAKERY?!?
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Old 02-17-2012, 04:29 PM
 
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Wow, thanks- great to learn about all Waltham has to offer! Sounds like a great place to live. As you said, not sure if it's right for us (at this point in our lives, anyway) but still interesting to hear. . .
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Old 02-20-2012, 10:10 AM
 
71 posts, read 170,997 times
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Default Newton Highlands?

All of the attributes that you listed as desirable are in Newton Highlands. The question is whether the specific commute route would make it viable (some parts of Somerville are more easily accessed than others -- and is driving a commuting option? Because Newton is on the Green Line and therefore not easily connected to Somerville's Red Line.

But for a family and the type of walkable, down-to-earth, good schools, not overly urban feel (but close to city) you cannot do better than the Highlands.
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Old 03-11-2012, 06:30 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
6,301 posts, read 9,613,477 times
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Have you looked at Marblehead? It has a hip, intellectual vibe, with many relocated New Yorkers as residents. There are many well-maintained, updated historic homes on the market there. The downtown is very walkable with its own public beach. You would have all the beaches within Cape Ann, the art galleries in Gloucester and Rockport, hay rides and apple picking in Beverly Farms, antique shopping in Essex, the Peabody Museum and more cute cafés and shops in Salem.

Here is a search I just did on $350,000 to $500,000.
Marblehead, MA Homes for Sale & Real Estate | Homes.com

Marblehead tends to be more hilly than some of the coastal cities around it. I believe it does not have the flooding issues of some of its neighbors.

It is a little more laid-back than Lexington and much less urban than Arlington.

Probably something like a 30 minute commute to either Oak Grove Malden or East Somerville.

What do you think?

Last edited by 495neighbor; 03-11-2012 at 07:56 PM..
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Old 03-11-2012, 07:17 PM
 
1,039 posts, read 3,446,929 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 495neighbor View Post
with many relocated New Yorkers as residents.
I might be wrong, but I think this would be considered a minus in most parts of the world.
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Old 03-11-2012, 07:54 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
6,301 posts, read 9,613,477 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cato the Elder View Post
I might be wrong, but I think this would be considered a minus in most parts of the world.

The OP in their initial post mentioned they were relocating from NYC.
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Old 03-12-2012, 07:07 AM
 
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495 Neighbor, who wrote: "Have you looked at Marblehead? It has a hip, intellectual vibe, with many relocated New Yorkers as residents."

Are you, like me, a native New Yorker? I live in NYC (Queens) right now and my DREAM is to GET AWAY from the New Yorkers LOL! Big time! I want to run away, fast, fast run away! <GG> New York and the more aggressive, fast paced, less gentile ways is what I do not like.

Seriously, I think that many Massachusetts natives would think it cool and desirable to be in a New York influenced town, but then there are those of us who think that it's far more desirable as you put it, to live around almost all native New Englanders. Not that this is possible in the more affluent towns anyway. There are so many newcomers, or transplants. (I lived in the metro Boston area for 25 years but, fortunately, in unfashionable places like Dorchester and Milton, where few New Yorkers or people from other states are to be found and my parents are natives of Cambridge - they grew up there when it was almost all native Cantabrigians, not like now. I am over 60, so my parents grew up Cambridge when it and places like Marblehead were inhabited by natives about 95%, or even more. I like it better to be with native Bostonians and Massachusettes-ites. Different culture than New York. )
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Old 03-12-2012, 07:13 AM
 
2,280 posts, read 4,497,984 times
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"All of the attributes that you listed as desirable are in Newton Highlands. "

Newton Highlands is too expensive for her, I do believe, much too expensive.
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Old 05-22-2012, 12:05 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
6,301 posts, read 9,613,477 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha Anne View Post
495 Neighbor, who wrote: "Have you looked at Marblehead? It has a hip, intellectual vibe, with many relocated New Yorkers as residents."

Are you, like me, a native New Yorker? I live in NYC (Queens) right now and my DREAM is to GET AWAY from the New Yorkers LOL! Big time! I want to run away, fast, fast run away! <GG> New York and the more aggressive, fast paced, less gentile ways is what I do not like.

Seriously, I think that many Massachusetts natives would think it cool and desirable to be in a New York influenced town, but then there are those of us who think that it's far more desirable as you put it, to live around almost all native New Englanders. Not that this is possible in the more affluent towns anyway. There are so many newcomers, or transplants. (I lived in the metro Boston area for 25 years but, fortunately, in unfashionable places like Dorchester and Milton, where few New Yorkers or people from other states are to be found and my parents are natives of Cambridge - they grew up there when it was almost all native Cantabrigians, not like now. I am over 60, so my parents grew up Cambridge when it and places like Marblehead were inhabited by natives about 95%, or even more. I like it better to be with native Bostonians and Massachusettes-ites. Different culture than New York. )
Only I was directing this to the OP, and you seemed to hijack the thread with your own agenda. Perhaps, you need to start your own thread.
Additional Note: I think you meant "gentle."
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