Anyone familiar with the commute into Boston from Arlington? (Somerville: crime rate, schools)

[SoFresh99]

I have a friend who is thinking about Arlington and from what I remember about living in West Somerville the Arlington commuting action is bus only (to harvard or alewife). Is this correct? What is that like in the winter? I remember waiting and waiting and waiting for an 87 or 88 and then just regularly hoofing it down Holland street but walking is not really an option from anything other than East Arlington.

The schools score well on test but I have heard mixed things from random mom-in-the-playground, does anyone have first hand knowledge?

[brightdoglover]

Depends on what part of Boston you're talking about. The Mass. Ave. bus runs into the lower end of Newbury Street and on into the Mass.Ave. part of South End and a bit of Roxbury. You can take it to Harvard Square and get the red line into Boston or take the red line to Park Street to get the Green line if necessary (but is a lot of changing for a relatively short distance).
I don't think anyone would likely walk to Alewife from Arlington for the red line.
Don't know what the problem was from Holland Street, but I thought that bus line was no problem at all.

[Amontillado]

In nice weather it's a very pleasant walk down the old railroad track (Minuteman Bikeway) from Arlington to Alewife, but I doubt if many people do it regularly.

Back around 40 years ago when the Red Line extension was being planned, there was a proposal to run it as far as Arlington and they had a referendum on whether people wanted it, and they voted no, and it wasn't built. I think the issue was that the people saw the town as suburban, and being on the subway would have made it urban. So now if you live in Arlington and commute to the city, you ride a bus to the subway.

[brightdoglover]

Crime rate is way lower in Arlington than along the Red Line stops, and I think that was part of it.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by Amontillado

In nice weather it's a very pleasant walk down the old railroad track (Minuteman Bikeway) from Arlington to Alewife, but I doubt if many people do it regularly.

Back around 40 years ago when the Red Line extension was being planned, there was a proposal to run it as far as Arlington and they had a referendum on whether people wanted it, and they voted no, and it wasn't built. I think the issue was that the people saw the town as suburban, and being on the subway would have made it urban. So now if you live in Arlington and commute to the city, you ride a bus to the subway.

I believe the original plan was to take it out to Lexington and maybe even Bedford. Lexington agreed but Arlington did not, which is why it stopped at Alewife. The Arlington demographic at the time was less welcoming of outsiders, not only criminals but gentrifiers as well (which has happened anyway). I also believe that developers wanted the terminus at Hanscom so it could serve as a true secondary airport like in most major metros. That obviously did not go over well with the towns surrounding the airport.

It's a pipe dream that would probably only get enough support in a place like Europe or Japan, but it would be great if the Red Line used the Fitchburg ROW to extend west to a new terminus in Waltham near 128 and 20. You could then eliminate the Brandeis and Waverley stops on the commuter rail speeding that up by a good ten minutes into North Station.