Help me find the town? (Boston, Newton: 2014, condo, home search)

[meeps2002]

My wife and I are trying to hone our home search to a few towns. With one of us working in Waltham, the other in the City... What it comes down to is 2-fold... a 40 minute commute to Waltham via Car & Train into Boston around an hour or less....

Homes under $400,000

Do towns that would meet these requirements exist?!

Unfortunately the towns that would make the most sense are the very posh Needham, Newton types, which are beyond our means.

Ideally the schools would be on the better than average side, with a cute town feel to go out to dinner or be active in the community.

[kingeorge]

Waltham and Watertown. Probably condo in Watertown, possibility of small cape in Waltham. Further out Acton, and maybe Maynard.

To make commute sane, you will not have too many options. If you can find SF in Watertown on your budget you are golden. I will also add Arlington, which is very attractive, but probably more competitive. If you can live with a condo, it is an amazing town to buy in.

Good luck!

[gf2020]

Woburn, Burlington, Wilmington and Billerica, may meet most of your desired requirements. A budget of only $400,000 is tough in the area you are considering.

[Shizim]

I think Woburn is the only one of the mentioned above (maybe the Rica) that will meet your desires. downtown Woburn has a alot of little restuarants etc. the town is pretty congested during rush hour though. not a bad drive to waltham (can even go backroads) and commuter rail into Boston.

Burlington and especailly Arlington that 400k won't go far at all.

I dont know anythign about the prices in Waltham proper but that would be ideal as the commute into Bston isnt bad.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by Shizim

I think Woburn is the only one of the mentioned above (maybe the Rica) that will meet your desires. downtown Woburn has a alot of little restuarants etc. the town is pretty congested during rush hour though. not a bad drive to waltham (can even go backroads) and commuter rail into Boston.

Burlington and especailly Arlington that 400k won't go far at all.

I dont know anythign about the prices in Waltham proper but that would be ideal as the commute into Bston isnt bad.

The Horn Pond area of Woburn is quite nice.

North Waltham is decent. Waltham is really cleaning up these days.

[johngolf]

Many towns/cities around Boston were considered blue collar/working class thus the higher earners wanted to live better as in move on up. Waltham to Lexington, Wayland, etc. Watertown to Belmont, some sections of Newton, etc. Many of the middle income earners could afford to get out to Natick, Marlboro, Bedford, Chelmsford, Billerica, Woburn, etc.

As time went on, bypassed towns like Waltham & Watertown that had slumped down started to become attractive. They are close to Boston and they are less expensive. The powers to be in towns like that awoke one day and said we have to many lower rung economic folks living here and that is hurting us, Our services, schools, etc. need money. We have to wake up and move forward.

Put all those factors together and we see towns like Waltham and Watertown on the rise and rising fast.

[MidwestRedux]

Its right on the edge of your time/proximity boundaries, but Westborough might be worth a look. As a now former resident, I can't recommend it highly enough. The commuter rail takes about an hour to Boston and its about 30 minutes drive (without traffic) to Waltham.

You will find smaller but decent homes for under $400k. Many of the homes in that price range are in/near the walkable town center. The town is about as safe as they come, leans a little upscale, but isn't pretentious and looks and feels exactly like I thought a historic New English town should.

Framingham and Natick are also options, along with Ashland. Natick is the nicest of the three, but may offer limited homes in your budget.

I would rather take the Mass Pike and/or Route 9 to Waltham instead of going too far up or down 128. I think the traffic is much worse along the 128 corridor and you get much less house/community for your money than when you head west.

[itoenjasmine]

I would recommend Reading, Stoneham, and Wakefield. Burlington could've been a choice too but it would be a huge pain to commute to Boston. I would rank Reading as my #1 choice. Check out the MCAS rankings. They are doing better than their their neighboring towns.

Top-scoring schools on the 10th-grade MCAS

Another reason that I am recommending these 3 towns is because depending on which part of the town you end up in, you can take the bus 132, 136 and 137 to Oak Grove station. Also, these 3 towns are close to Route 95, so it's easy to get to Waltham.

Home under $400K is definitely possible.