Shrewsbury or Westborough - which is a better town? (Boston: to buy, school rankings)

[tigerclaws]

For a family with kids who are planning to buy a house.

Which town is better in terms of

- Housing
- School ratings and perception
- Any criteria that you might want to evaluate.

[kmann-sherborn]

Here are some handy links for school rankings:
School Rankings
GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Housing & taxes are somewhat less expensive in Shrewsbury than in Westborough. Both are nice communities with well regarded schools, lots of community activities, plenty of shopping & restaurants, etc. Westborough offers more convenience in terms of access to Boston.

[brent s]

Westborough has a nicer/larger town center, lots of big box stores along Rt 9, slightly better schools, and is a slight bit more upscale. The downsides are that , taxes are quite a bit higher than Shrewsbury, although housing prices themselves are only marginally higher.

Shrewsbury has a decent town center, but nothing special, lots of big box stores along Rt 9, good schools, and is a very nice town in and of itself. The taxes are also a lot lower than surrounding communities of the same quality. Roughly $10.XX per $1,000 of assessed value.

I chose to buy in Shrewsbury over Westborough because they are pretty similar in terms of the things that are important to me, and the taxes were much lower in Shrewsbury. In the $275k-300k price range that I bought in, taxes in Shrewsbury averaged around $2,700-$3,000, whereas in Westborough, they averaged $4,500-$6,000 or so, if I recall correctly.

[gf2020]

brent s hit on a key differentiator.

I grew up in Westborough but I honestly don't recommend the town to people these days. The cost of entry and total cost of ownership (taxes, utilities, etc.) is far greater than other towns in the west of Boston area that offer comparable services and scholastic performance.