Framingham info? (Boston, Newton, Waltham: foreclosure, rentals, condos)

[mrsp813]

My husband has an opportunity to transfer to a postion in framingham, ma.

What are some family oriented neighborhoods that are commutable to framingham? We're looking for safety, affordability and good schools above all else. I would also like to be close to convenient shopping and restaurants. Thanks!

[CaseyB]

The Framingham-Natick area has several large malls and shopping centers, plenty of restaurants, too. You will need to state your price range though, because "affordable" is vague.

[scarletfire]

There are lots of nice very safe areas to live with good school systems and an easy commute to Framingham: Holliston and Southboro are two of my faves. As far as shopping and restaurants, Framingham and nearby Natick have tons. Natick has a nice big mall that was just expanded to add more upscale shops and there are restaurants of all kinds in Framingham: Indian, sushi, Thai, Italian, Chinese, etc. Re: affordability, are you looking for a home or rental? You can find a nice starter home in Holliston in the low 300s and in Southboro in the 400s if you really hunt (it's worth it - there are some really good finds there). For rentals I'd guess that would run maybe $1200-$1600 depending on how much space you're looking for. Sudbury is also a wonderful town with very well regarded schools that is convenient to Framingham. Prices are high there but you can find some smaller homes under $400K.

[nomadlifestyle]

How about just living in Framingham itself? Is it a nice town? Thanks

[scarletfire]

Sure, there are some really pretty areas of Framingham. One of my favorites are the homes around Edmands Rd/Pine Hill Road/Nixon Road. There are several major employers that are a really easy drive from there so if your husband is working at Genzyme, Bose, or Staples this would be a great area.

The town is large and good nice economic and cultural diversity. There's a whole mix there - neighborhoods that are seedy, neighborhoods with great entry homes, neighborhoods that are very upscale, plus numerous stores and businesses.

In general I'd stay away from downtown, it's not the most desirable area.

[scarletfire]

Another nice area in Framingham is Warren Road. My husband grew up there and I love the charming old homes and tree lined street, and it's walking distance to an elementary school. I just saw an adorable little house there the owners are selling at a real loss to avoid foreclosure. I guess a lot of people are in that situation right now. We rented in that neighborhood years ago in a great little multi-family but I think they've since been turned into condos.

[ogre]

The possibilities could be narrowed down a lot with some more specific info on how much you'd expect to spend on a house (or rent), and your preferred commuting time. If Scarletfire's suggestion of Holliston sounds interesting, you might also check out Hopkinton, which is right next door to Holliston, and a similar kind of town (both are safe, friendly suburban towns, with some open space, woods, fields, etc.). Another pleasant suburban town is Natick. It may not have quite the school system that you'd find in Holliston, Hopkinton, Southborough, or Sudbury, but I would suggest Natick as a possibility at least, even if its schools might not quite measure up to the stellar educational systems in some of the other towns in the area. Depending on how high you can go on housing costs, another nice town worth cosidering is Wayland. You might also cosider Newton, if you'd like a town with a character that is suburban, but more densely populated than the others mentioned here. It's also just beyond the outskirts of Boston, if close proximity to urban amenities would be a plus for you.

Unlike some of the users here, I'm not too thrilled with the idea of Framingham itself. It's basically just a generic large suburban town, with a crumbling downtown that offers no reason to ever go there (other than the commuter rail station). The economic center of Framingham is an area with big malls and gobs of chain restaurants.

If "diversity" is a plus for you, I'm not sure how much of that you'll really find in Framingham. There are a couple of ethnic groups, but they mostly live in their own neighborhoods, and have little interaction with the larger population, except those who patronize the businesses where the ethnic minorities work.

Framingham's local government also seems to be run by an old-boy network of residents who have lived in Framingham all their lives. If you move there from somewhere else, you'll never crack this network, and God help you if you ever get into a dispute with anyone who does have connections to the local cronies.

Decaying downtown, buncha malls, buncha houses, buncha cronyism--that's Frmaingham in a nutshell. There are plenty of better possibilites in the immediate vicinity. It all depends on your needs and preferences.

[scarletfire]

I agree with Ogre that Framingham wouldn't be my first pick. There are nice areas of town but also, as said earlier, some downsides.

[nomadlifestyle]

I hate to hijack mrsp813 posts here but I started reading this thread coz we saw a great rental in Franmingham and wanted to find out more.

Any help would be great for our family too. If I need to start a new thread to be fair to mrsp813, I'll do that.

We ourselves are looking to rent, no more than $2100. Single family 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, town with good elementary schools, close to shopping if possible. Husband working from home in the short run but may work somewhere along Rt 128. We lived in Norwood last year before moving to NJ. I really did not like it there...no real life in the town and had to drive 20 mins to any major shopping areas

Thanks everyone for all your help

[scarletfire]

If your husband may be working on Rt 128 I don't know that I'd pick Framingham because he'd have to take the Pike to 128 and getting through that interchange in the morning is such a pain. I suppose it does depend on when he leaves for work though. I worked in Waltham for awhile and my hours were 10-6 so I missed all that but once in awhile I had to drive in at regular rush hour and it was a pain. You see so much road rage.

How about Lexington? I've seen some cute single family rentals there well within your price range, and it seems like a nice town to raise a family with a strong school system. I don't commute from there though so perhaps someone else on the list can comment on what the drive might be like. I guess it would depend where you are in town.