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Old 02-08-2016, 06:36 AM
 
188 posts, read 280,507 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by semiurbanite View Post
That's because you aren't controlling for income. There has been rapid improvements in the score at the elementary and high school levels. It has been more pronounced at the elementary level, here is a comparison of some local elementary school controlled for income. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1O...JmM0NfSEE/view

The high school is not far behind, having the largest mcas improvement of any urban district for 3 years running it has jumped from a 3 to a 7 on greatschools in those 3 years. I'd bet my mortgage it's a 9 within 4 years.
OK, thank you; that is a good way to analyze the data and it looks like the schools in Somerville are improving, indeed. However, I think that your comment actually proves that the improvement reflects the changing demographic/gentrification and the effort that parents put on their kids. I mean after talking with many people, my impression is that in the districts with high scores, parents are more involved, some have tutors for their kids etc. So, essentially, in any school district in Mass, a kid can achieve high scores, as long as the parents are involved and provide help. I think that the differences among districts are mostly related on safety, management, activities, before/after school programs... So, why not Wakefield, Reading, Lynnfield?? or Medford, Melrose?? I really do not see major differences among all these towns and they are not that far away from Boston/Cambridge. Actually, some may be more convenient because of the public transpiration options.
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Old 02-08-2016, 07:00 AM
 
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Originally Posted by wolfgang239 View Post
I counted 20 on redfin, (sold in the last 6 mos., over $1mil). That might not even be a complete list.
Even on Redfin I get 11 for Arlington.
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Old 02-08-2016, 07:20 AM
 
Location: East Coast
4,234 posts, read 3,673,353 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NS-GR View Post
I think that the differences among districts are mostly related on safety, management, activities, before/after school programs... So, why not Wakefield, Reading, Lynnfield?? or Medford, Melrose?? I really do not see major differences among all these towns and they are not that far away from Boston/Cambridge. Actually, some may be more convenient because of the public transpiration options.
Melrose is actually very much up and coming. It's been described as "the hottest zip code in the nation." To the extent you can assess whether that statement is entirely accurate is questionable, but just the fact that that claim is made does show a certain level of demand.

I hope the Boston area doesn't become as insane as the SF market, where it is so insanely expensive that people live 2 hours or more (even without traffic) from their jobs, and no one who is in the service sector can afford to live there, so there are apparently issues with hiring people to work in the shops, restaurants, etc.
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Old 02-08-2016, 07:36 AM
 
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As far as the whole neighboring town thing goes there were times it was an issue an milton. People from boston and quincy would send their kids to milton schools and obviously they werent supposed to. Those kids usually behaved pretty terribly as well. It could happen anywhere but seemed to happen and still happens more in Milton based on it's close proximity to dorchester, mattapan etc. I've never heard it being a reason as to why people decided not to buy in Milton though.

These days people can't afford to be too picky even if they have a lot of money to spend so i can't fathom people taking a neighboring town into consideration too much especially if it's a great town. If they don't want it someone else will gladly take it
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Old 02-08-2016, 08:18 AM
 
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MLS has 12 million-plus SFHs sold in Arlington in the last six months; 31 sold in the last 12 months.
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Old 02-08-2016, 08:34 AM
 
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For what it's worth we have friends with kids who live in Arlington who love it. They moved there 3 or 4 years ago. They are very happy with schools and say that they are on the uptick. There are online parent groups where you could get current opinions.

As to some of the questions relating to why Arlington is expensive, and 'value'. There is and has been a huge demographic shift where many, many people are putting a lot higher value on walkability, access to amenities, easy access to public transportation, short(er) commute/more time with family, far above an acre lot and a picket fence in the suburbs. There will of course always be many/most people who want this but the demographic shift is very real and will continue.

I saw this shift in Boston over the last 10+ years....lots more families with kids who are staying longer. If you had told someone back in the day that the South End would be at >$1000/ft they would have thought you were crazy. The same thing has happened in Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington etc.

I appreciate that it can be difficult to wrap your head around this (and the resulting high prices) if you grew up in the town but this ain't your parents [insert town name here].
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Old 02-08-2016, 09:00 AM
 
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Well i'm sure anyone who moved to arlington a few years ago is indeed loving it particularly if they purchased a home. Loving it all the way to the bank.

Being able to walk to the store and being close to Cambridge is not worth a million dollars to me but I can appreciate that it might be for someone else.
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Old 02-08-2016, 09:19 AM
 
875 posts, read 653,848 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whatsnext75 View Post

Being able to walk to the store and being close to Cambridge is not worth a million dollars to me but I can appreciate that it might be for someone else.
would be very boring if we all wanted the same thing
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Old 02-08-2016, 09:29 AM
 
188 posts, read 280,507 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sawyer2 View Post
As to some of the questions relating to why Arlington is expensive, and 'value'. There is and has been a huge demographic shift where many, many people are putting a lot higher value on walkability, access to amenities, easy access to public transportation, short(er) commute/more time with family, far above an acre lot and a picket fence in the suburbs. There will of course always be many/most people who want this but the demographic shift is very real and will continue.
And you are saying that people accept to be freezing in the brutal and long winters every time they have to put their toddlers in the car seat (or to have to wait for their cars to warm up)? they are ok with the usually weird and old house layout? they are ok with having to be all the time careful about/supervising their kids running out of the tiny backyards into the usually fairly busy Arlington streets?
I do not see the quality of life you guys are describing...especially for $1M.
I can see though that there are many super-old, ready to tear down houses that many developers would like to make a fortune out of...
In any case, I am not saying all these things because I do not like Arlington that much. I am just trying to understand whether it is a good idea that we excluded Arlington from our searches (and I cannot find any convincing arguments so far, apart from the argument that we could potentially make some money in the future, which depends on so many unknowns anyway). I mean even the "easy access to public transportation" is so questionable..you mean buses??? there is no subway or commuter rail station in the town! you are saying that I should pay $1M to take the bus? where is the easy access? please give me an example, so I could see whether this might work for us...
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Old 02-08-2016, 09:38 AM
 
434 posts, read 506,083 times
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I suggest you go look at some houses there. It seems pretty clear that you don't like Arlington; different strokes for different folks. I don't think anything anyone here can say is going to convince you. Time for boots on the ground if you're really open to including Arlington in your search.
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