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Old 11-19-2013, 10:13 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,769,301 times
Reputation: 2962

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I live pretty close to Maynard which is an identical commute to Cambridge since Maynard is slightly further west from me, but closer to Rt-2. It takes me about 45 minutes to drive to Alewife in the morning (30 minutes in the summer w/o traffic and about an hour on a bad day coming home). I'm guessing it will take another 10-15 min just to get to Mass Ave. with all the traffic in on Alewife Brook Parkway so that's 1 hour right there, plus the time it takes you to drive from Mass Ave at Rt-16 to East Cambridge (15 min w/o traffic). I would rule out Maynard since it seems commute time is important to you.

If you think you might be moving once your future kid is old enough for kindergarten (still possibly 10 years away), you can even look at Everett or Chelsea. I have no idea what housing costs there, but I can't imagine it's out of your price range and the commute would only be a few miles.
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Old 11-19-2013, 10:40 AM
 
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I should have been more clear. First, when I say 'new' house I mean 'new to me but probably well over 50 years old' house. My experience in home ownership is that newer doesn't always mean better. Sorry I wasn't clear.

As for commuting, because of the consulting I do outside of the office and errands I run before / after work, I really want to restrict my commute to car only. I will have parking at the office so that is not an issue.

Will look in to Littleton - thanks for the suggestion!
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Old 11-19-2013, 06:01 PM
 
Location: New England
1,053 posts, read 1,403,103 times
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For people in the "don't have kids yet" stage, I really don't think that signing on for a long commute is very smart. My suggestion is always find a cheap but bearable home (a condo, maybe) reasonably close to work, and enjoy the leisure time that you'll have while everyone else is on the road, plus save up some cash for the nice place you'll have in the future. And if you happen to listen to the radio when the topic is traffic jams everywhere, you'd be a very bad person if you smile. If you are blessed with children in the future, then you have a few years to think about where you want to put them in school and what you can afford. Who knows, perhaps by then you'll have a job out in the suburbs and once again you could have a short commute.
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Old 11-19-2013, 06:22 PM
 
596 posts, read 978,997 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amontillado View Post
For people in the "don't have kids yet" stage, I really don't think that signing on for a long commute is very smart. My suggestion is always find a cheap but bearable home (a condo, maybe) reasonably close to work, and enjoy the leisure time that you'll have while everyone else is on the road, plus save up some cash for the nice place you'll have in the future. And if you happen to listen to the radio when the topic is traffic jams everywhere, you'd be a very bad person if you smile. If you are blessed with children in the future, then you have a few years to think about where you want to put them in school and what you can afford. Who knows, perhaps by then you'll have a job out in the suburbs and once again you could have a short commute.

I agree. There are plenty of condos in the OP's price range in some of the nearby towns. Even if they had kids tomorrow, they would still have at least half a dozen years before they would have to worry about the quality of the schools.
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Old 11-22-2013, 04:42 AM
 
Location: Everett, Massachusetts
316 posts, read 720,174 times
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I have said this in other threads, but I'll say it again here. Everett is worth a look. In particular the western part of the city closer to Malden tends to be pleasant and quiet away from the main streets, and you get a lot from your money. Your commute to Cambridge would be 10-15 minutes depending on your trajectory and the lights, you could save in case you wanted to move elsewhere down the line, and your life would be just all-around convenient. I bought in the area I just mentioned, and it's pleasantly quiet and friendly. If I lived just a few miles away in one of the hip areas of Somerville or Cambridge, I would be paying triple what I pay to live here, but it's seriously that close, and if you ever did want to take the T, Malden and Wellington are 5-10 minutes away by bus. Whatever you do, good luck!
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Old 11-22-2013, 11:59 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,769,301 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by professeurpablo View Post
I have said this in other threads, but I'll say it again here. Everett is worth a look. In particular the western part of the city closer to Malden tends to be pleasant and quiet away from the main streets, and you get a lot from your money. Your commute to Cambridge would be 10-15 minutes depending on your trajectory and the lights, you could save in case you wanted to move elsewhere down the line, and your life would be just all-around convenient. I bought in the area I just mentioned, and it's pleasantly quiet and friendly. If I lived just a few miles away in one of the hip areas of Somerville or Cambridge, I would be paying triple what I pay to live here, but it's seriously that close, and if you ever did want to take the T, Malden and Wellington are 5-10 minutes away by bus. Whatever you do, good luck!
I had a hunch Everett would be an ideal place for the OP, so thank you for elaborating on that. All the areas being mentioned in this thread are way too far for the OP.
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Old 11-22-2013, 12:28 PM
 
14 posts, read 22,688 times
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Thanks for the ideas! There are a lot of factors, and my wife's job might be up in Burlington, so there is even more to consider. While we do not have kids (yet), we still do want to purchase a SFH and have some privacy. I looked at Wilmington and a couple other towns and they seem to have some good housing stock as well. I'll look in to all of this more (and probably annoy you all on the list!) once a decision has been made to do the relocation, which should be soon-ish.
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Old 11-22-2013, 12:41 PM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,769,301 times
Reputation: 2962
Quote:
Originally Posted by SparkyNY View Post
Thanks for the ideas! There are a lot of factors, and my wife's job might be up in Burlington, so there is even more to consider. While we do not have kids (yet), we still do want to purchase a SFH and have some privacy. I looked at Wilmington and a couple other towns and they seem to have some good housing stock as well. I'll look in to all of this more (and probably annoy you all on the list!) once a decision has been made to do the relocation, which should be soon-ish.
Forgot about the wife being from Newton. I can guarantee you she will turn her nose at Everett and will plead with you to commute over an hour to get into a "nicer" quiet small town
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Old 11-22-2013, 02:34 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
6,301 posts, read 9,603,814 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SparkyNY View Post
Thanks for the ideas! There are a lot of factors, and my wife's job might be up in Burlington, so there is even more to consider. While we do not have kids (yet), we still do want to purchase a SFH and have some privacy. I looked at Wilmington and a couple other towns and they seem to have some good housing stock as well. I'll look in to all of this more (and probably annoy you all on the list!) once a decision has been made to do the relocation, which should be soon-ish.
No trouble at all. When new people like yourself join these boards and talk about their quest for the ideal location, the rest of us learn from it, as well.
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