Which do you prefer: Belmont or Lexington? (Boston, Arlington: houses, school district)

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Belmont or Brookline?

Lexington or Brookline?

You're still here? Amazing..

EDIT: why did C-D send an email today notifying me that there are new posts to this thread when the last post was on April 23?

[johngolf]

As a former Bostonian my order would be Brookline, Belmont, Lexington.

[Martha Anne]

Belmont. And I do love Lexington equally, but, especially in today's world, easy access to Boston and Cambridge are of paramount importance. The school systems are both tops.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by Martha Anne

Belmont. And I do love Lexington equally, but, especially in today's world, easy access to Boston and Cambridge are of paramount importance. The school systems are both tops.

Couldn't you argue the opposite, now more than any time in recent memory?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Couldn't you argue the opposite, now more than any time in recent memory?

What would you argue today, in 2023?

[Iced_Coffee]

Two nice towns but I would live in Belmont over Lexington, and the decision would be easy for me. I love Belmont's mix of rural/leafy and urban/suburban. And the convenience to Cambridge/Boston would win out for me.

[Remy11]

Definitely Lexington and I would absolutely say it’s more prestigious and boujee. Granted this was 20 years ago, but I had friends move back to the Boston area after college and they rented in Belmont. Nobody was going to Lexington unless they were wealthy.

Two of my good friends from college grew up there and loved LHS. One ended up moving back as an adult.

[Remy11]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Yes, I live in Bedford but on the Lexington side.
Yes, I live Framingham but on the Sudbury side.
Yes, I live in Natick but on the Needham side.
Yes I live in Lawrence, but on the Andover side.
Yes, I live in the Andovers. Only said by those that live in North Andover.

Come on MAholers. Add to the list.

“I live in the Bradford section of Haverhill” was one I heard a lot when I lived there. (That is if they decided to add the ‘Haverhill’ part in at all.)

Meanwhile, Beverly Farms people very rarely leave ‘Farms’ out.

I had a coworker who lived in Rowley tell people she lived in the “Newburyport area.” Not sure why, I always thought Rowley was pretty nice.

A lot of Georgetown people get annoyed when others mistake it for Groveland but have no problem when it’s grouped with Boxford.

Don’t shoot the messenger on this one, but Boxford and Topsfield kids at Masco view the Middleton kids as being from the hood.

[ben young]

It's all about the Zip Code.There was a TV show with the Zip Code as the name
Just makes the weak feel stronger...Me ,I have a PO Box in the northern hills of NH.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by aries4118

What would you argue today, in 2023?

Access to Boston/Cambridge matters less in 2023, than it did in 2019. Look no further than Boston's vacancy rate in Commercial buildings. It goes without saying - People aren't in offices like they were. Commutes are often part time, if at all.

This is a fundamental reason why towns like Andover, Attleboro, and Shrewsbury are the hottest zip codes in the State. And why Southern New Hampshire has become such a hotbed. Before the transition, Andover was one of the cooler zip codes amongst desirable Eastern Massachusetts towns, significantly trailing towns like Reading, Melrose, Arlington, etc. There was a time in the not-so-distant past that homes in Duxbury were nearly depreciating. Now the median listing price in both Andover and Duxbury well exceeds $1M.

There's much more of an equilibrium/balance across Central and Eastern MA than there was in the near-suburb gold rush. Or should I say, everywhere is expensive now.

That's not to say many wouldn't prefer to be closer to Boston. It's still the heartbeat of Massachusetts, and still commands a premium psqft.