If You Could Live Anywhere in Mass - With A Family of 5 (Boston: fit in, how much)

[thecharlesriver]

Also Tewksbury and Wilmington!

[Bostonmania]

Concord.
Great schools, and Im pretty sure there isnt too much helicopter parenting there, the high school is one of the best public ones in the state,

It is also a great community, lots of things to do.
there are two stops on the commuter rail into boston, which is about 1/2 hour ride.
There is almost no crime in the area, one of the safer areas in the boston area.
The house prices are in the upper spectrum of your budget, but i think it would be worth it.
I love concord, it would be toward the top of my list of places of where id want to raise a family, but its too expensive for me.

[RiverBird]

In your price range and for the kind of schools you are seeking, Westford.

[geoffreyk]

Some great suggestions so far. THANKS! Keep them coming. Planning on going to Boston in June to start checking out some of these towns.

[brightdoglover]

Concord or Acton. Certainly the budget is great for Acton. Littleton? Good schools but no helicoptering- people are down to earth. For that amount you could get anything you wanted in Littleton. Would have to drive a couple of miles for restaurants, etc., but not very far.

[Beantown_mama]

If I could live anywhere in Mass, I'd say Manchester by the Sea. Such a beautiful town, and there is a train station right downtown that takes you to Boston. Lot of little shops/restaurants, a beautiful harbor and a beautiful beach (Singing Beach). Great school system, but since I don't know anyone that attends the schools I couldn't answer the helicopter parent question. It is a bit pricey though (which is why I don't live there myself!) But you should check it out.

[konfetka]

If you are coming for the visit you can see the whole North Shore in one day if you drive through the Essex Scenic Byway - from Nahant to Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem, Beverly, Manchester-by-the-sea, Gloucester, Rockport, Essex, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury and Newburyport.

These are some of the most beautiful towns in Massachusetts, with lots of history and natural scenery. The further you go the more land you will find. They all have a train line connecting to Boston. Of those the best schools would be in Nahant/Swampscott, Marblehead, Manchester-by-the-sea/Essex, Newburyport. The further you go the more you will get for your money, but Marblehead and Manchester-by-the-sea are the most desirable and pricey.

[CityLight]

Hamilton MA which is next to Ipswich. I would pick Essex over Manchester by the sea since they both belong to the same school diatrict but a bit more affordable than Manchester by the sea.

[geoffreyk]

Thanks for all these great suggestions. Building a long list of places to visit.

[jackshaw]

The western suburbs are good to very good from a school standpoint (Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Weston, Wayland) and many are connected to the city via commuter rail. The towns are expensive but they will have a small number of houses in that price range. Concord and Lexington have town centers that are pretty vibrant. Wayland and Lincoln are more bedroom communities. Winchester (more to the north) may have some houses in that range -- I'm not sure. All these towns will be relatively low on the crime scale. Here is a rating of school systems in the Boston area: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/best-s...ton/index.html. Take it with a grain of salt, but the rankings are not crazy.

Based upon your description, I might have suggested Amherst (lovely town), but there is no public transportation other than buses. My suggestion is to stay in the Boston metropolitan area, but in the exurbs. Because you don't need to commute, , you could live a little farther out from Boston in the exurbs. Acton and Harvard have very good schools as well but the prices are lower.

There are probably towns at the far reaches of Fairfield County, CT that might qualify but I don't know those towns.