Neighborhood suggestions for young family moving to Boston area (Cambridge: rentals, house)

[voxxa]

My husband be getting a job in the north west Waltham area. I'm feeling overwhelmed by the choices of neighborhoods to live in.

We have a 2 1/2 year old and another child on the way. Our budget is between $2500 and $3500 a month. I've been investigating Watertown, Newton, Belmont, Lexington, and Waltham. Here is what we are looking for:

- somewhere easy to commute via rail to and from Waltham
- good / safe neighborhood
- 2 bedrooms + office space (husband must have an office for days he telecommutes), 1500 - 2000 sq ft
- Easy to get into Boston for kid activities
- Other young families nearby, moms groups
- Somewhere that welcomes outsiders
- A yard would be nice
- Good schools would definitely be a plus, but we still have 2-3 years before kindergarten.
- More of an urban setting, shops, public transport, walkability, or easy access to these places


Can anyone help narrow down our list of potential neighborhoods?

[shrinkberry]

Originally Posted by voxxa

My husband be getting a job in the north west Waltham area. I'm feeling overwhelmed by the choices of neighborhoods to live in.

We have a 2 1/2 year old and another child on the way. Our budget is between $2500 and $3500 a month. I've been investigating Watertown, Newton, Belmont, Lexington, and Waltham. Here is what we are looking for:

- somewhere easy to commute via rail to and from Waltham
- good / safe neighborhood
- 2 bedrooms + office space (husband must have an office for days he telecommutes), 1500 - 2000 sq ft
- Easy to get into Boston for kid activities
- Other young families nearby, moms groups
- Somewhere that welcomes outsiders
- A yard would be nice
- Good schools would definitely be a plus, but we still have 2-3 years before kindergarten.
- More of an urban setting, shops, public transport, walkability, or easy access to these places


Can anyone help narrow down our list of potential neighborhoods?

All of these are good areas and meet the criteria you've specified but the availability can be thin. Because of this, I would keep them all on the list and decide based upon the nicest place you can find in your budget. Good luck.

ETA: You could think about adding Arlington to the list as well. It meets all your criteria and is a nice town.

Also, I would skip Lexington since you don't have school-age kids. It's a great town but you would pay a big premium for the school district that isn't worth it if your kids aren't in school. Plus, the inventory for rentals is almost non-existent.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by voxxa

My husband be getting a job in the north west Waltham area. I'm feeling overwhelmed by the choices of neighborhoods to live in.

We have a 2 1/2 year old and another child on the way. Our budget is between $2500 and $3500 a month. I've been investigating Watertown, Newton, Belmont, Lexington, and Waltham. Here is what we are looking for:

- somewhere easy to commute via rail to and from Waltham
- good / safe neighborhood
- 2 bedrooms + office space (husband must have an office for days he telecommutes), 1500 - 2000 sq ft
- Easy to get into Boston for kid activities
- Other young families nearby, moms groups
- Somewhere that welcomes outsiders
- A yard would be nice
- Good schools would definitely be a plus, but we still have 2-3 years before kindergarten.
- More of an urban setting, shops, public transport, walkability, or easy access to these places


Can anyone help narrow down our list of potential neighborhoods?

It caught my attention that your husband's job is in the northwestern part of Waltham, and you want rail access for the commute. If your husband will be working in the tech/office park area near rt. 128/95, just a heads up that this area is beyond convenient walking distance from either train station in Waltham. I'm less familiar with bus routes than train or subway, so if there's a bus from downtown to NW Waltham which your husband plans to transfer to, that could work. Otherwise, the idea of commuting to Waltham by train might need some rethinking.

Costs of particular properties vary, but you may be more likely to find what you're looking for if you focus on the higher end of your price range. Housing in Boston is not cheap.

Another point about rail access to Waltham is that of the towns you're considering, Belmont and Watertown are the only ones that would provide this, and then it depends on the neighborhood where you live in either town.

Regarding several other of your desired features:

Good schools would definitely be a plus, but we still have 2-3 years before kindergarten.

Of the towns on your list, Lexington, Newton, and Belmont have the best reputations in terms of overall quality. Something to keep in mind, though, is that Lex. and Newton also are known, by reputation at least, for having pressure-cooker school systems where kids are really pushed hard to be super-achievers. From your budget it sounds as if you'll be renting at first, so it may be that schools won't be an issue at the moment anyway, because you might end up buying in another location once you become familiar with the area.

More of an urban setting, shops, public transport, walkability, or easy access to these places

It depends on what you mean by urban. None of these places is urban in the sense that you'll walk out your door and find the city spreading out all around you.

Downtown Waltham has an indie movie theater and a good collection of restaurants.

Newton has business districts scattered all over town. You could live within walking distance of larger commercial zones in Newton if you lived in either the Newton Centre or West Newton neighborhoods.

The Watertown Square area and streets near downtown Belmont could also put you within walking distance of local shopping, though all of this also depends on what kinds of shopping you'd like to have nearby.

Lexington has a decidedly suburban look, but the downtown has a solid collection of local shopping, so a house in the vicinity of downtown could give you access to this, again depending on what kind of shopping you're looking for.

Depending on how long a commute your husband can handle, I might suggest adding Cambridge to your list, if you want convenient access to something more urban than what I've just described.

Of course if your husband plans to commute by public transit, some of these areas become more or less workable. If there's a bus from downtown Waltham to the northwest part of town, you're back to having the most convenient areas being the ones I pointed out above that are on the same rail line as Waltham. The Porter Square neighborhood in Cambridge also has a station on that same line.


Other young families nearby, moms groups

Combining this with your other preferences might be a bit tricky, because some of the areas that offer local walk-to shopping are more young professionals areas rather than family-oriented communities. I'm thinking in particular of downtown Waltham and Watertown around the Watertown Sq. area.

In Waltham, if you don't mind a doable but still somewhat longer walk, the more suburban neighborhood immediately north of downtown could be a place where you'd have families right around you and you'd still be able to walk to downtown.

Lexington is more of a family kind of town, so if you lived near downtown you could have families nearby but still have walking access to shopping. The same possibility exists in the streets surrounding the commercial districts in Newton. In Newton and Lex., though, there may be an issue with a public transit commute, since these towns do not lie on the rail line that serves Waltham. Again, though, I'm not very familiar with bus routes, so it's possible that this could be an option that I'm unaware of.

Maybe this seems kind of confusing, because I've touched on several of your criteria. At least you can look at the info about each factor and piece things together. It's possible that you may have to set some priorities and make some compromises, because with that work location, and the options in the close vicinity of Waltham, it's tough to find everything you're looking for all in one place.

[SoFresh99]

Commuting to NW Waltham will be by car, while some employers out there run shuttles they are run from the Alewife T station in Cambridge to the Waltham office parks and back, not from the Waltham train station (strangely).

As far as taking kids into the city for kid stuff- what are you imagining doing? If you are hauling them in with the thronging hoard twice a year for disney-on-whatever you can drive to a commuter rail stop for that. OTOH if you imagine yourself strolling Boston Common to the playground regularly you'll want to live somewhere on the subway lines.

Assuming you want city access but not city density I recommend either the Cushing Sq. neighborhood of Belmont, almost any part of Arlington (look at MBTA maps of bus lines to check on going into Boston/Cambridge). Plenty of young families, moms on the streets, good schools, easy ( by Boston standards) commute.

A commute from Watertown and Waltham would be fine. I just don't love Watertown, i pick Waltham between those two- tons of greenspace, a YMCA, 8 spray parks, riverwalk bike path, restaurant row, new public pool, etc. Waltham is largely perceived as ghetto but it has great amenities. Watertown has the density of the other towns without the amenities, IMHO. But definitely do the Watertown Family Network if you end up nearby, great ready-made source of playgroups. You dont need to live in Watertown.

As far as Newton goes there are only certain parts that would make for a decent commute to Waltham- West Newton and Auburndale, and while they both have a "center" there is not much going on in them and most people live there for the schools, so there is premium rent pricing for non-premium town centers. Newton does have a nice (pricey) YMCA.

If you want more suburban like Lexington you will sacrifice access to Boston and there will be fewer young families (just because it is less dense and there are far fewer rental units.)

[NettaJane]

As far as outdoor space and preschool activities, have you considered Brookline or Jamaica Plain? I lived in both areas and found that it was easy to manage with one car. Newton is great too. One thing to consider is to try out playgrounds and public libraries in the areas you are considering. There can be a lot of babysitters or groups of moms and you can get the vibe after a few visits. Good luck!

[dravogadro]

In Waltham, I would look at Warrendale or Cedarwood areas. I'd guess the Lakeview neighborhood on the northside would also be a good choice but I am less familiar with it.

Originally Posted by SoFresh99

Commuting to NW Waltham will be by car, while some employers out there run shuttles they are run from the Alewife T station in Cambridge to the Waltham office parks and back, not from the Waltham train station (strangely).

The same group that runs the Alewife shuttle also runs one from Waltham center/train station.