Which suburb? (Boston, Cambridge, Arlington: houses, neighborhoods, living in)

[jayrandom]

My wife and I are currently living in Belmont and looking to find a nice single-family home. My wife works downtown, so ideally we'd like to be close to the commuter rail and not too far from Boston (I work in Cambridge and will probably be taking the commuter rail, but possibly driving.)

So far, we've identified Wakefield, Melrose, Reading, Woburn, and Wilmington as possible places, as they all have reasonable access to commuter rail and single family houses in our price range ($400-500k). From what I've read, none of those cities are "outstanding", but they all seem reasonably nice and all are reasonably close.

My questions are the following:

1) are there any comments on these towns? something positive I should know about or something really worrisome about any of these cities?

2) are there other towns we should be considering? Neither of us are natives, so I'm sure there is something we are missing.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[brightdoglover]

I'd absolutely suggest Arlington. Right on the bus line to Harvard Square, the Red Line is at Alewife, easy access to Rt. 2 and out of town. I think you could easily find a decent house in that price range. It's a quiet town that is minutes from Cambridge and then downtown. You can't beat the location, and it seems to be a very nice community.

[airedaly]

Woburn has had trouble with their water and contaminants (I think Wilmington's wells have been contaminated, too). Remember the movie "A Civil Action"? That was about Woburn and the childhood cancers. It might be best to stick with a town that uses MWRA water (Quabbin). I agree that Arlington is a nice town, very convenient, with lots of restaurants and shops and the bike path. Close to the T and Cambridge/Boston.

[bingo08]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

My wife and I are currently living in Belmont and looking to find a nice single-family home. My wife works downtown, so ideally we'd like to be close to the commuter rail and not too far from Boston (I work in Cambridge and will probably be taking the commuter rail, but possibly driving.)

So far, we've identified Wakefield, Melrose, Reading, Woburn, and Wilmington as possible places, as they all have reasonable access to commuter rail and single family houses in our price range ($400-500k). From what I've read, none of those cities are "outstanding", but they all seem reasonably nice and all are reasonably close.

My questions are the following:

1) are there any comments on these towns? something positive I should know about or something really worrisome about any of these cities?

2) are there other towns we should be considering? Neither of us are natives, so I'm sure there is something we are missing.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

1st I would pick Reading. 2nd choice wakefield. 3rd choice Melrose. Skip woburn and wilmington. That is the best advise.

[jayrandom]

We've looked at Arlington---it seems like a great town, but it seems to be more expensive than any of those either towns, at least for single-family houses. We'll definitely include it in our search, though.

I did get a bad vibe from Woburn when I visited, so I guess it's not surprising people are warning me away. What's the strike against Wilmington?

Thanks!

[NY'er lost in MA]

...just a suggestion, but you might check out some of the towns in MetroWest. Heading further up 93 (Wilmington) is going to cause you to pull your hair out commutting into the city. Keep in mind the commutter rails don't go downtown- they go to North Station. And 93 is........93! Worst traffic out of any of the roads.

[jayrandom]

We know that the commuter rail goes to North Station, but is there anything in MetroWest that's both affordable and not significantly further away? Southern suburbs end at South Station, as well. Are any of those comparable?

Again, thanks for all the advice!

Originally Posted by NY'er lost in MA

...just a suggestion, but you might check out some of the towns in MetroWest. Heading further up 93 (Wilmington) is going to cause you to pull your hair out commutting into the city. Keep in mind the commutter rails don't go downtown- they go to North Station. And 93 is........93! Worst traffic out of any of the roads.

[NY'er lost in MA]

you'd be slightly further out in distance in some areas of Metrowest, but closer in commuting time. The Pike tends to be much more efficient over 93, and taking the rail into South Station is easier than getting off at North station and then adding another 20-30 minutes wrangling with buses or the T. I assume when you said downtown, you mean your wife works in the Financial District. And for driving to Cambridge on occasion, you can pop off the Pike and zip in a few ways.

Check out Natick, Ashland, Wayland, Southborough....

[jayrandom]

She actually works downtown, but it's closer to South Station than it is to North Station (I once made the mistake of saying she worked in the financial district and was quickly corrected), so a train that stops at South Station would be advantageous.

The western suburbs are certainly something to consider, though, so we'll start including those towns in our search. Any suggestions for possible southern suburbs?

Again, thanks!

[NY'er lost in MA]

My wife and I lived in in Salem for 4 years. Taking the rail to North Station and then scrambling to see what T line was running efficiently each morning was a headache. Walking to South Station area also added about 25 minutes. That was one of the determining factors that made us look to Metrowest.

A good drive to check out neighborhoods is Rt 135- from Wellesley all the way to Hopkinton. That reminds me- parts of Hopkinton would also work for you folks. Great town!

I am not that familiar with points south. But from my experiences driving to see clients and heading south, I can tell you that the traffic is the worst in the State. I also know the rail lines have had serious issues recently and are unpredictable. My personal opinion is that some of the towns in the South Shore are very congested and lack the accessibility of Metrowest (both that's just me maybe)