Where to live in Massachusetts (working in Burlington) (Framingham, Beverly: fit in, 2013)

[stemarcats]

Hello everybody. We are a couple living in Italy and we could have the possibility to relocate to the USA, with my husband working in Burlington.
We visited the area in the past years and I fell in love with Lexington, but it seems way out of our budget.

However, our dream home should:
- be a single home (we live in an apartment now and don't want neighbors on our heads anymore!)
- have a garden
- be in a safe neighborhood
- allow us to walk around (i.e. walk for sport or walk to the town center) and ride our bicycles
- be far from busy roads since we have three cats and we are concerned about cars
- have access to good schools: no children so far but we are still hoping for a miracle baby (we are 40)

We also like to go to restaurants so it would be fantastic to live in a town with a decent downtown/historical district with bars and restaurants.
I would like to have a farmer market or a good choice of fresh food to buy (we like to cook, especially vegetables).
We also would like to have access to high rated hospitals and veterinary centers (one of our cats has a heart disease).
And, of course, we would like a nice neighborhood in order to make new friends. :-)

I think I told you all I could about our requests which, I know, could never be satisfied in the reality.
Our budget is low, let's say 400.000 but we really don't know because it all depends on the new salary my husband will have. I work as a translator and I am hoping to work in the USA too, but we cannot count on me :-(

What town do you suggest? What about the "new communities" such as Legacy Farms in Hopkinton? Are they a good idea or not?
Living in a totally different society, it is all new to us and every advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

[kmann-sherborn]

I've been working with a client who's moving into Legacy Farms and they've been fantastic to work with. However, the commute from Hopkinton to Burlington isn't so fun & the prices for the standalone townhomes are in the mid 500s. Some of my clients who lived Lexington but found the prices too steep have looked in Bedford. However, I will say that there aren't a ton of towns around here that have a truly vibrant town center. Concord, Lexington, and Wellesley are some of the nicest, I think but they're also pretty pricey. There are plenty of others that have lovely neighborhoods but really lack a walkable center with good restaurants and such.

Also, if you'd like a contact for translation work please feel free to pm me your contact info. A friend of mine runs a successful translation business in Framingham.

[Parsec]

Moving from another country, I always recommend people to rent for at least a year first. There are many rentals in Lexington if that's the area you love. Once you get a feel for the area you can move to a neighboring town or even within Lexington since it doesn't sound like you need too much space. Maybe a small 2 or 3 bedroom home will be fine for you.

[kmann-sherborn]

I'll also add my two cents as a cat owner. When we moved years ago we were excited to live away from a main road and be in a nice wooded area that we thought would be wonderful for our cats, but we didn't realize at the time that there are coyotes, foxes, and other animals, even in fairly densely populated areas. I only mention this because I'd hate to see you go through the heartache we did when we lost one of our cats. We now have indoor kitties, including one formerly feral cat who seems quite content to be away from all the outdoor critters. I know that's not the right decision for everyone, but for us it was.

[stemarcats]

Thanks for your replies!
We are actually thinking about renting in the beginning, just to get a feel for the area, as Parsec says, and then decide what is best for us. We don't need a lot of space since we are used to smaller houses here in Italy and, for us, an average US house is HUGE :-) and even if we will have a child we will be a family of three.

Thanks for the info about woods and cats, too. We don't have woods or other dangerous animals here in Italy (highly urbanized country!) and the main problem here is cars. So, for my cats, what I have in mind is something far from a highway or a main street.

What we absolutely don't know at the moment is any info about towns: which are "nice" and which are "ugly" (for crime etc..), how is the commuting situation in Massachusetts (we are used to 1,30 h for a 20 miles trip, since traffic here is CRAZY) and how to find new communities (new constructions).

[495neighbor]

Andover and North Andover followed by Billerica and Reading are the towns most likely to meet your criteria list. I would start there.

[konfetka]

I would look at Melrose and Beverly. They fit into your price range, and have historic walkable downtowns within a decent distance from Burlington, with lots of restaurants and farmers markets. Schools are about the same, not the best, but better then average. The bonus for Bevelry is you can walk from downtown to the train and the beach. You would like the Cove neighborhood. Beverly also has a fresh seafood market, organic store, organic cafe, and a farm where you can buy CSA shares and pick up fresh produce weekly.

[Parsec]

stemarcats: I would still recommend starting your search in Lexington if you decide to rent. The other towns mentioned are all further away from Burlington and require traveling traveling in the same direction as the rush hour traffic to get to Burlington. From Lexington, your husband will have a local commute. Traffic here is not nearly as bad as what you describe, but I would favor a 15 minute local drive over a 30-45 minute crawl in highway rush hour any day. Billerica which was previously mentioned would also be a nice local commute, but I think it's pretty seedy compared to Lexington. It doesn't sound like you would mind spending a couple hundred dollars a month extra to live in a nicer area.

[superleggera]

Beverly is the worst choice because you will be traveling with the traffic during rush hours and the school system is terrible especially comparing to Lexington. But the rush hour traffic problem won't effect for those people that don't even work or have schedules that are different from 9 am to 5 pm jobs. Certain parts of Beverly has that Jersey show scene except when you get close to Manchester. We have look at properties on west beach in Beverly Farm but was extremely turn off by the school reputation. Most of people in Beverly send their kids to private schools unless some couldn't afford to do so. There are a lot of bullying as well as drug problems in Beverly school due to over crowded with students (Save Beverly Schools: "Severe Overcrowding" Cited in Middle School Pitch. Lexington is definitely a solid pick because it is a reverse rush hour traffic and the school system is excellent.

[Valerie C]

This is great info from kmann-sherborn about keeping your cats safe from the wildlife. Something else that you may not be aware of (being in highly urbanized Italy) is the parasites that your kitties will bring indoors: fleas, and of more concern for you: ticks! Ticks in this area carry the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, and Massachusetts (like much of the east coast) is endemic for Lyme Disease. Keeping your cats inside will protect both you and them from the diseases that ARE present in our environment.

Originally Posted by stemarcats

Thanks for the info about woods and cats, too. We don't have woods or other dangerous animals here in Italy (highly urbanized country!) and the main problem here is cars. So, for my cats, what I have in mind is something far from a highway or a main street.