Westford or Shrewsbury? (Worcester, Acton, Northborough: houses, neighbourhood, elementary school)

[findmyhomw18]

Hi
We are a family of 4, currently living in Hollis NH area and planning to move to MA. We have 2 kids in elementary school and are looking to move to a town with good schools, and great neighbourhood.
We have been looking @ a number of places and have narrowed down our search to Westford, MA and Shrewsbury MA.
Our criteria include:
1. House is not older than 10-12 years and >2500 sqft with a good yard.
2. Excellent elementary, middle and high schools
3. Good neighbourhood with diversity and a community feel is very important to us.
4. Convenience w.r.t shopping, kids after-school activities
5. our budget is 600K.
We are working parents with commutes to Rt9 and 495.

We have been looking @ houses in both the towns and both seem really good.
Would appreciate the input from members here to help us decide just the right kind of house for a young family. Also are there any specific things/concerns that we need to be aware of w.r.t both towns.

Thank you very much for your help, love to read the varied posts on these forums and how helpful they prove to the readers.

[gf2020]

Gee, most folks would view Hollis as among the top towns in NH. What is prompting a move?

[Valerie C]

My guess would be the commute... Hollis to Rte 9/495 (this would be what, somewhere a little east of Worcester? Hollis is a nice town but that's an hour's drive on a clear day, and with no commuter traffic. I'd be sad to leave Hollis, but would want to live closer to work.

Originally Posted by gf2020

Gee, most folks would view Hollis as among the top towns in NH. What is prompting a move?

[findmyhomw18]

Although Hollis is very nice town, the commute is prompting the move for us.

[gf2020]

Ok, so where are you commuting to? I can't think of too many locations where Shrewsbury and Westford are equidistant.

[findmyhomw18]

Commutes are to Littleton and Southborough. Its like, one town is close for my hubby while the other is closer for me. so we are trying to find the best option here. I know one of us will end up commuting based on the town we choose.

[gf2020]

Ok, I know that area pretty well.

Shrewsbury and Westford are certainly nice communities and I think they offer good value, but what about moving closer to your job locations, towns like Littleton, Acton, Boxborough, Northborough or Southborough? With a $600K budget you should find plenty to choose from.

[Cato the Elder]

Based on your commutes and price point, I would look in Boxboro, Harvard, Stow, and Bolton before Westford and Shrewbury (all things equal).

[findmyhomw18]

Thank you for your responses, greatly appreciate it. But we are an asian family and are looking for diversity in the neighbourhood. hence we narrowed down these 2 towns

[Cato the Elder]

Well, if you told us this earlier, we could have pointed out that Acton is the logical choice. Westford is ~5% Asian, Acton 10% and Shrewsbury somewhere in the middle.