young family moving from Los Angeles > Boston with many questions... (Cambridge: middle-class, rent)

[avedianj]

Hello,
My wife has accepted a position at Harvard and we're very excited to embark on a new adventure.

We have been living in Claremont, CA (eastern edge of L.A. County) for the last 8 years and absolutely love our town. Claremont is home to the Claremont Colleges (5 undergrads and 3 graduate schools which are very highly ranked in the U.S.) and is a very progressive but family oriented city which was recently ranked in the top five towns to raise a family in the U.S. We have had excellent schools here for 2 children, an 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son. Claremont is surrounded on 3 sides by mostly "blue-collar" cities with high rates of crime which it has successfully kept out for the most part thanks to high housing prices and low supply. Our town is very very safe and quiet considering our surroundings. Known as the "City of Trees and PhD's" we have many green spaces and tree lined streets, sidewalks everywhere, and all destinations very pedestrian / bicycle friendly.

That said, we're excited about the next chapter in our lives but would like some advice on where we should target our housing search. As a consultant I work from home most of the time so my work is irrelevant but my wife will be commuting in to Harvard Square daily. We want a place that is as similar in character to our current town with a focus on low-crime, family friendly, good schools, close to transportation (preferably commuter & light rail), grocery, etcetera.

We've read the forum and asked around and have basically concluded that some good fits may be:
Watertown, Newton, Waltham, and Arlington. We know that every town has it's desireable parts and not-so-desirable parts but have no idea which areas of the aforementioned towns these are. We've been told by some of the people my wife interviewed with that Watertown is a nice family town with lots of Harvard faculty. Arlington (and Lexington for that matter) were said to be top notch though a bit farther from transportation. Newton also was said to be great with good schools but far from transportation. Waltham we were told by someone who lived in Boston is not the most desirable place to live but we found some homes on the north or north-east sides of Waltham that looked like they were in decent neighborhoods (Trapelo Rd for example) and not far form the Waverly station. I am pretty handy and can do home improvement projects so I am not afraid of outdated homes or anything like that - as long as the "bones" are good.

Okay so I'd like some suggestions from people who know the area. What are the nicest parts of the aforementioned towns? Any cons? Any other towns we should consider and why?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

EDIT: Our budget is 400-450K

John

[gf2020]

What's your budget? I don't think I saw that mentioned.

If you can afford $700K+ I would say look at Winchester.

[avedianj]

Originally Posted by gf2020

What's your budget? I don't think I saw that mentioned.

Probably $400K-$450K.

[CaseyB]

I don't know who told you that Newton is "far from transportation", but they were wrong. Newton has several commuter rail stops and several subway stops, although it is less convenient to commute to Cambridge from there because your wife would have to do another switch to the Red line to get to Harvard Square.

Here's the site for the transportation system: MBTA.com > Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System

Click on the icon for either the train, subway or bus.

I think Waltham would work for a house otherwise, your budget is a little low for that area except maybe a condo. You may have to look at other towns a bit farther away.

[kingeorge]

All the places you have mentioned would work. However, your budget would not allow for a SF. If you do not mind condo/TH living style, you can have some options in Arlington, Watertown and Belmont. Arlington would be my first choice for ease of commute, and especially East Arlington. Belmont has best schools of three followed by Arlington and Watertown.

Prices in Belmont are getting really high lately, and you might find that your budget is good only for 2 bed plus office type of condos, and too low for bigger 3 bed units. This might be the case in other places mentioned as well. Many families are moving into this area and need to stay close to Cambridge, so there is shortage of family-sized housing and prices are getting higher all the time.

I would be careful with Newton because commute might not be as easy as from the other three. Waltham is up and coming blue-collar/ recent immigrant town that is popular with younger crowd and where schools have not very good reputation. However some families are moving in priced out of Cambridge area.

If you want a singe family house and can deal with longer commute check Acton (Fitchburg commuter rail into Porter Sq., near Harvard). Depending where new job is located, it could also work. Acton is more rural, with excellent schools and very family oriented atmosphere. Very safe, but so is Belmont, Arlington and the rest. Hope it helps.
Good luck and welcome.

[flowbe202]

Depends which campus the OP is working in. There are lots of shuttles that can take you from outer areas to different campuses.

Depends if OP is faculty/sr management with parking or staff with no parking.

HBS -> Newton & Watertown would be a great commute.

Budget is horrible for what they're looking for unless they're willing to compromise on size/quality.

[tribechamy]

Arlington, Belmont, and Watertown all have buslines that run pretty frequently to Harvard, tons of professors live in these towns.

East Arlington is a lot of fun - restaurants, shops, parks & playgrounds, a funky movie theater - and has the most frequent access to Harvard via the 77 bus. The Hardy school is a good one. It's nearly all multifamily homes, some of which have condos around that price range, or you could try renting for a while <--- I'd recommend this to anyone coming to the Boston area

Arlington Heights is another spot with good schools, I think Brackett is one of the most sought after, but honestly the whole town has good schools. Traditionally the least desirable is Thompson (it may unfairly get that reputation because it is near public housing) but they just got a brand new school building. Honestly you can't go wrong with any of these.

In Belmont the most desired schools are Wellington and Winn Brook followed by Burbank and the least sought after is Butler, although these might be for the same reasons as with Arlington, and honestly they're still all good schools. Slightly less frequent bus to Harvard (but still pretty frequent, plus quick Commuter Rail to Boston), more single family opportunities (although still pretty expensive), lots of Harvard & MIT folks.

I know fewer specifics about Watertown. Newton is a great city but transportation probably wouldn't be optimal for your needs. Lexington is another option, many of the same great qualities as Newton but closer to Harvard Square. Both have bus routes which can take you to Harvard but you'd have to switch lines. Both also have pretty uniformly good schools and have more quiet neighborhoods than Belmont or Arlington. I'd skip Waltham altogether for myriad reasons.

Reason for mentioning elementary schools, in addition to it being relevant with the age of your kids, is it drives what are considered to be "good" neighborhoods. Quick shorthand in the Boston area (and this is probably everywhere, no?) to find the "good" areas is to find the highest rated schools. Also - and I know this differs from some parts of the country, we tend to have "good" towns (rather than regular towns with a "good" side and a "bad" side) The school system tends to drive that as well. As elementary school age parents that kind of makes your job easier when searching for housing, just look for the schools and the rest will follow.

Good luck and welcome!

[avedianj]

I don't know who told you that Newton is "far from transportation"

A guy that just moved to L.A. from the Boston area. Maybe I misunderstood. Given that from north Waltham/Watertown she would have to switch from commuter rail to the red line at Porter Station to get to Harvard Square anyway I guess they are all "less convenient" in that sense.

Depends which campus the OP is working in.

Harvard Law in Cambridge. Not sure if this answers your question.

Depends if OP is faculty/sr management with parking or staff with no parking.

Staff with a option to park (for $2,000/yr. from what we've heard.)

We're partial to metro/commuter rail routes if available.

Thank you all for your responses. And a special thank you to "tribechamy" for your very well rounded response. If any of you have more information to add please do I'd love to hear it.

John

[timberline742]

HLS is on the Arlington side of Mass Ave, 77 bus right there... I'd stick to that, personally. But yeah, not a SFH, a condo, for that price range.

[dravogadro]

Waltham is a mix of economic and racial backgrounds and most people have opinions on it even if they have never been there. What can you do as a middle-class city surrounded by Lexington, Newton, Belmont and Weston? It is a city populated with recent immigrants, long-time residents, college students, and a growing population of 20 & 30-somethings that are leaving 'Camberville' as their rent would be more than a mortgage payment on a single family house.

If you have interest in Watertown, then I would highly consider Waltham which is less urban and more green.

I'm not that familiar specific neighborhoods within the northside but it has a ton of green space. There are pockets of neighborhoods and parks that are nice to walk and bike in but I find the northside to be somewhat isolated and more car-dependent. This might be why, I think, the housing tends to be more affordable, compared to the southside neighborhoods. People that I know who recently moved there like it a lot because they work right off 128 and their partner uses the Waverly train stop to get into Boston.

Two neighborhoods on the southside that are popular with young families are Cedarwood and Warrendale. You may have to look into a fixer-upper (not necessarily a gut job) in your price range to get into those neighborhoods, which is what we did. Parts of Cedarwood do not have sidewalks but people, and kids, just walk and ride bikes in the street. You can get to Waverly from Warrendale, or back track to Waltham center. The Brandeis rail stop is accessible from Cedarwood.