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Old 11-11-2013, 06:37 PM
 
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Paper statistics aside, thoughts on Belmont, Lexington, Concord, Wellesley or Needham?
Where do you want to live?
Any and all comments welcome and much appreciated.
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Old 11-11-2013, 07:17 PM
 
Location: Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerogie View Post
Paper statistics aside, thoughts on Belmont, Lexington, Concord, Wellesley or Needham?
Where do you want to live?
Any and all comments welcome and much appreciated.

All of the above. They are all great towns.
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Old 11-11-2013, 07:21 PM
 
6,432 posts, read 7,720,006 times
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Don't mean for this to sound wrong but...what do you expect to get out of people's personal preferences (completely rhetorical)?

Personally, much of my answer depends on proximity and ease of my commute to work. And I have a school aged kid so schools are important, and there are many other factors that make my decision mine. You aren't any one of us, why do you care whre those who may have a completely different situation than yours would prefer to live. Just makes no sense to me.

That said, I'd go for Needham or Concord.
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Old 11-11-2013, 08:10 PM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,524 posts, read 13,896,762 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by G-fused View Post
Don't mean for this to sound wrong but...what do you expect to get out of people's personal preferences (completely rhetorical)?
I agree. The only thing you get out of asking for people's opinions is . . . well people's opinions. These opinions of course may or may not apply to your own personal preferences. Maybe if the OP could tell us what they are looking for in a town we could be of greater assistance.

Luckily, we do have some people on this forum with some very intimate knowledge of some of these towns. I live in Needham. I know Malishka if she wanders into this thread lives in Belmont. I wouldn't doubt there are some people who lurk here and live in the other towns listed. Otherwise, I know quite a bit about Wellesley & Lexington. I think the OP could get some valuable insights into these towns if they ask the right questions.

Let me say a few things about what attracted me to Needham . . . I really liked that there was a town center. A town center is so important to me. I don't want to have to drive 20 minutes to grab a bite, a cup of coffee, or some parts for a home improvement project. It also gives me a place to walk to. Great access to Boston. I can be on the highway in about 5-10 minutes from almost anywhere in town and be in Boston about 15-20 minutes later. If I don't want to drive or if I ever end up with a job downtown there are four commuter rail stations in town. I also like the various levels of population density the town offers. Some areas of town have 0.23 acre lots while on the outskirts you'll see more acre zoning. I also like the people. I lived in Newton for 10 years prior to this and didn't find the people anywhere near as friendly. The people of Needham are very involved in their town and there are many civic oriented groups in town which help to make this such a great place to live. There are also some other wonderful organizations like Parent Talk (a family/kids oriented group) and an active Newcomers Club. I also liked the size of the town. Newton was too big for me. The schools in Needham are of course very solid and I recently discovered the special education resources in town are top notch as well. I could go on and on, but what I would just say is that for me this town was a great fit.
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Old 11-12-2013, 07:15 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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I like Belmont (though Concord is great), but I'm heavily biased as I grew up there.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:14 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
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In terms of school systems, I would choose any of those over Lexington. It's a pressure cooker environment and I know my kids wouldn't thrive there. In terms of town vibe, I would choose Concord because I prefer to live in the woods surrounded by nature and trees.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:47 AM
 
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In terms of the investment--Lexington beats every other place right now. It is well run town with good tax base--not just homeowners, but commercial as well. Pressure cooker schools are more in the eye of beholder than truly reality. Most people who move to Lexington expect outstanding schools and well educated kids. It is the parents which are "pressure cooking" their kids, not schools. Lowest common denominator is very high. They have many enrichment opportunities and well funded curriculum and schools.

I also like Concord, vibe, nature, lifestyle. It is bit further out.

Needham and Belmont are very solid and offer great commute to Boston (Needham) and Cambridge/Boston (Belmont)
Belmont has issues with budget (heavily dependent on homeowners taxes, as it failed to develop better commercial tax base).
Needham I do not know very well except that it is sought after, and has fairly easy accesses to Boston on a commuter train.
Belmont is great for people needing to be in Cambridge on a daily basis, but Boston commute is still very reasonable as well. I would not recommend Needham for Cambridge commute.
Hope it helps.
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Old 11-12-2013, 09:54 AM
 
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Forgot to add that Lexington is better for Cambridge commute. Boston is doable, but not ideal.
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Old 11-12-2013, 10:38 AM
 
Location: Waltham
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One thing that's nice about Lexington is that if your kid is smart, they don't have to hide it to have a social life. Apparently there are a lot of somewhat nerdy kids who are also very popular. Makes sense in that environment.

In Belmont you don't have to hide it either, but I wouldn't say the nerds are "cool" there. It's more that they can find a niche, and the jocks don't bully that much or dominate the social scene. Proximity to the city helps as different kids can find outside things that interest them and aren't limited to the school environment. But there is a funding issue. Belmont tends to get dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world (e.g. they only just started allowing restaurants to have beer and wine, never mind liquor licenses, about a decade ago. One of the many issues that hurt the commercial tax base). So the schools have suffered, with music, art, etc. getting cuts and losing good staff.

On the other hand, the new development along Trapelo, along with allowing a craft beer store and distillery to open up in town, points to a more business friendly attitude among the decision makers. So that might help with a future upswing. Add houses going for 50k+ over asking price... in a town with that much money floating around, and very involved parents and parents-to-be buying houses specifically because of school reputation, the school system is never going to nosedive. When I say "suffered" I mean that in a relative way.
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Old 11-14-2013, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts
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If my fairy godmother granted me the choice of living in one of these towns I would pick Lexington. What I like best about Lexington is that the town center is still vibrant with activity, with open businesses, at 10 o'clock at night. Belmont would be my next choice. Love Wilson's Farms and Russo's. I'm more of a Cambridge than Boston person.
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