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Thank you for the replies!
Roadstrailstis, can you recommend any preschools in the area?
Thank you!
Yes, we've been extremely happy with LEAP in Sudbury. Both of my kids have done three years there, and have had wonderful teachers, and such a good learning experience.
Yes, we've been extremely happy with LEAP in Sudbury. Both of my kids have done three years there, and have had wonderful teachers, and such a good learning experience.
You're welcome! We have had such a great experience with the school. It's such a creative, nurturing environment that has done a wonderful job preparing my kids to go on to kindergarten. It has also provided good friendships with many of the other LEAP parents.
Considering demographic shift where majority of younger buyers are more inclined to forgo space and privacy, for easier commute, sidewalks, and walkability, you are already going against the grain by going rural and might have diminished appreciation. In two decades from now many sprawling places scattered throughout out Sudbury, Wayland, Carlisle and such, will not have as many willing buyers. What is the upside: expensive large homes with huge yards that are PITA to heat and keep up, plus deer ticks, bad commute, and many amenities that are completely lacking?
Good luck.
As always, you have supplied some very worthwhile feedback; however, I do believe there is a bit of a myth regarding millenials and their desire for city living.
I was convinced this was the case as well until I and my fellow elder millenials began house shopping and family building. Where are they buying? Quiet suburbs with good schools and a lot providing some degree of privacy. This includes many couples who were seemingly devoted to city/urban living, that was until a child became a consideration. For every affluent 30 year old moving to Quincy, there seems to be an equal proportion moving to Littleton, Harvard, Groton, and other rural towns which one would not classify as a millenial enclave.
All we ask is our suburb have a decent coffee shop.
As always, you have supplied some very worthwhile feedback; however, I do believe there is a bit of a myth regarding millenials and their desire for city living.
I was convinced this was the case as well until I and my fellow elder millenials began house shopping and family building. Where are they buying? Quiet suburbs with good schools and a lot providing some degree of privacy. This includes many couples who were seemingly devoted to city/urban living, that was until a child became a consideration. For every affluent 30 year old moving to Quincy, there seems to be an equal proportion moving to Littleton, Harvard, Groton, and other rural towns which one would not classify as a millenial enclave.
All we ask is our suburb have a decent coffee shop.
i can agree with this.
i am a hardcore urban fanatic, but for a variety of reasons we couldn't stay in manhattan or the south end (commute, schools, etc). for us, we felt like if we couldn't have the city we wanted something very very different than the city. we are outside 128 with acreage backing up to wildlife preserves. its perfect. i don't miss the city so much because its not "trying" to be city here.
i do wish we had a decent coffee shop here in town. i was just telling my husband the other day that i should open one. I day dreamed about a cool little place in town center where the older men could reminisce, the young families could come and play a game of monopoly while sipping hot chocolate, and teens (and their parents!!!) could try their hand at open mic nights and poetry reading! a real actual community center!
As always, you have supplied some very worthwhile feedback; however, I do believe there is a bit of a myth regarding millenials and their desire for city living.
I was convinced this was the case as well until I and my fellow elder millenials began house shopping and family building. Where are they buying? Quiet suburbs with good schools and a lot providing some degree of privacy. This includes many couples who were seemingly devoted to city/urban living, that was until a child became a consideration. For every affluent 30 year old moving to Quincy, there seems to be an equal proportion moving to Littleton, Harvard, Groton, and other rural towns which one would not classify as a millenial enclave.
All we ask is our suburb have a decent coffee shop.
Agreed. My primarily focus when answering was OP worry about RE appreciation. Rural is not where that is happening, as much as it is happening elsewhere right now. Towns that offer healthy balance of family oriented atmosphere, and good amenities are clear winners, and will keep "winning" into foreseeable future.
Littleton and Groton have plenty going for them, where Harvard is status symbol, and an "acquired" taste. Many, homes for sale in Harvard sit on the market for a long periods of time.
Obviously, many FTHB will make some compromises in order to buy, as you rarely get everything you want on the first try. Later, as your family and career evolves, so you evolve with it. If your friends had an option to buy in places like Brookline, Newton, Belmont, Arlington, Needham, Wellesley, or Lexington, would they still choose what they chose?
In many family oriented home buyers there is sometimes too much focus on the baby and kid's early years, where young parents have no clue how quickly those early years go by. And then, that rural paradise for a 4-year old, can easily become an obstacle to a social, naturally curious, bursting with energy teenager.
I will admit, that I do have strong preference for more pedestrian type of lifestyle, and feel lucky that it is so, because it served me very well with any of my RE "appreciations".
Now, that I am having older kids, I can appreciate even more, and feel that there are huge benefits in real town and sidewalks (and type of community it offers), where everything we can ever need is all within our easy reach, and in very safe environment.
Not to mention that kids friends, and our friends are all over neighborhood, and town, which makes for lot more spontaneous encounters, strong sense of community, including much harder environment to hide secrets, or unwanted behaviors (so far so good, knock on wood). This is not to say that kids in more rural towns are bad, or will do worse things. But, I do think that it is a perk of living closer to other people in general.
In the end, to each its own. We all do, what we think it is the best and what we can afford at the time. OP will do well in Sudbury, and with job in Waltham, it should be quite reasonable commute.
Since I do follow RE, and I am very curious what kind RE appreciation is to be expected in Sudbury or similar communities, in the next decade or two. I am finding ii to be an interesting litmus test for new high-tech economy, and new generation of buyers.
Many wealthy RE developers are betting in favor of cities, and walkable communities. We will see if it stays business as usual, or we start treating deep burbs the same way people treated cities last 50 years in the US, as something to avoid, if at all financially possible.
Kingeorge, I appreciate your insight.
I agree with you towns with proximity to the city, good school systems and plenty of amenities will generally demand higher prices. We have lived in the South End and currently in Brookline, so believe me when I say we love the urban feel. The Chestnut Hill area of Brookline has seen a huge influx of baby boomers moving in causing condo prices to spike (as well as rents). So yes I definitely get your argument. You are right most according to research millenials are not having kids, don't value cars or large homes, but for whatever reason we don't fit the trend.
For us aside from the fact that towns like Wellesley, Lexington, Concord are out of our price range they just don't offer the privacy we desire. To each his own, right?
So given that the towns mentioned above are out of consideration, I was hoping to get insight on a couple towns that don't seem too far out with great schools and that we actually get a newer/updated home with a decent lot.
There are.certain towns that demand strong prices despite their rural feel and lack of amenities (ie Dover). Acton is another example of a town that has seen a jump despite distance. Given these examples, I was curious to to see if anyone had insight regarding the two markets mentioned (sudbury, carlisle).
Right now based on the weather, California sounds so good!
chris: I'm totally with you on this one. I've been reading so much about how people our age want to stay in the city, but my personal experience doesn't agree with what I read. We all say we love the city but once we actually have kids less than half of us stay inside 128, let alone in the city. I know more people with kids who moved OUTSIDE of 495 than I do inside 128. The fact is, most people are moving somewhere in between 128 and 495.
To me Carlisle is a mysterious town. It almost seems like everyone in that town lives in a house that was handed down to them and they keep to themselves because it's probably the only town inside 495 where I don't know a single person. I think Sudbury is the safer bet for a family. Way more out of towners and even a good amount of out of staters. More things for toddlers and children. More restaurants. And most importantly, closer commute to Waltham. Forget what people say about horrible commute (I commute from Sudbury to the financial district daily). It's not like everyone is commuting to Boston or Cambridge! There are tons of jobs in Waltham, Bedford, Marlborough and Framingham. Sudbury is an easy commute to any of those job centers.
chris: I'm totally with you on this one. I've been reading so much about how people our age want to stay in the city, but my personal experience doesn't agree with what I read. We all say we love the city but once we actually have kids less than half of us stay inside 128, let alone in the city. I know more people with kids who moved OUTSIDE of 495 than I do inside 128. The fact is, most people are moving somewhere in between 128 and 495.
To me Carlisle is a mysterious town. It almost seems like everyone in that town lives in a house that was handed down to them and they keep to themselves because it's probably the only town inside 495 where I don't know a single person. I think Sudbury is the safer bet for a family. Way more out of towners and even a good amount of out of staters. More things for toddlers and children. More restaurants. And most importantly, closer commute to Waltham. Forget what people say about horrible commute (I commute from Sudbury to the financial district daily). It's not like everyone is commuting to Boston or Cambridge! There are tons of jobs in Waltham, Bedford, Marlborough and Framingham. Sudbury is an easy commute to any of those job centers.
From what I'm reading, a lot of people are reversing course on what they originally theorized millennials would want. Originally, people were saying they would cram themselves into tiny apartments in urban areas foregoing cars and walking everywhere. Now it seems, they're just like previous generations and are moving out to the 'burbs when they form families. Boomers on the other hand are moving to urban areas in droves.
It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.
I think boston is a hard city to stay in. There are no middle class families there because the city doesn't support them. It's not NYC. The schools suck, housing is limited, the t stops are too spread out, few cheap dining options, etc etc. A lot of families feel forced out.
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