Need help! Sherborn, Dover or Medfield? (Boston, Ashland: how much, house, purchase)

[Moving_Mama]

We are a family from Southern California facing a possible relocation to the east coast. Our number one priority is GREAT public schools which can be tricky to find when only doing online research. For instance, there are a number of districts that are known to "teach to the test" and in a matter of 2 or 3 years have raised their standardized test scores significantly. But the fact of the matter is that the education in the classroom is still sub-par.

Second on our list is commute time, my husband will be commuting to Pawtucket and would like to keep his commute under an hour (during bad weather) and about 40 minutes the rest of the year.

Other pluses would be activities for the children through a rec. department or community center, active Newcomers Club, Mommy and Me Groups, etc.

Could someone please provide me with a good description of these three towns and how they are similar and different from one another. They all seem to have great schools. And am I missing any other communities?

About us: Our family is pretty conservative. We are leaving a small, affluent community outside of Los Angeles and would like to find a similar community. We have young children 5, 3 and 1 so I would also appreciate information about preschools that follow a child development based philosophy. Ideally, we would like to purchase something in the 8's but could go higher if needed. Any advice or comments are welcome.

[CaseyB]

Dover and Sherborn are very rural, I'm not sure they would have the kind of amenities you are looking for. Medfield is more the quintessential suburban town. You should look at Westwood which has good schools as well and easier access to the highway. Even then, I don't know if you can do that commute in 40 minutes.

Most towns around here have a rec department with activities for kids, and library programs, but community centers are rarer.

[smarty]

I agree with Casey B... The population density here is much less compare to Southern CA to support a community center. The lot size if you do a search on realtor.com will show much bigger. The towns you mention like Dover are mostly horse farms. Get your GMC suburban ready

I suggest you take a look at Google satellite map to get a feel for those towns. Also, traffic is much easier when compare to LA.

[findingmesomeday]

You can get from Medfield to TF Green airport in about 40 min so Pawtucket would be closer (non-rush hour). Straight shot down 27, pick up 95 south and away you go.

All 3 towns have great schools (Dover and Sherborn share a middle and high school). You can't go wrong there either way. People in D-S have been known to send their kids to preschool in Medfield and people in Medfield have been known to send their kids to preschool at D-S. The towns are adjacent to eachother so it's no issue.

Medfield has a very active newcomers club--don't know about Dover or Sherborn.

You'll get more house for the money in Medfield.

[scarletfire]

It's funny to hear Sherborn & Dover described as places where one must have an SUV to survive. Dover & Sherborn are quiet communities but it's not like being out in the sticks. I moved to Sherborn because I treasure green space and quiet places, but we're only 10 minutes from tons of shopping. Both Dover & Sherborn are affluent towns with a highly regarded shared school system. Both communities have large house lots and a strong commitment to protecting open space, and have done a good job keeping out big box stores. I love the historic homes in Sherborn's downtown.

Most towns around here offer a lot of sports & some art activities for children. Sherborn has a community center, newcomers club, and quite a few children's programs (tennis lessons, soccer camp, lacrosse, basketball, hockey, arts & crafts, swimming lessons, etc). Dover rec dept programs include baseball/softball, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, nature programs, Tae Kwon Do, summer playground, pre-K sports, etc.

If you mean conservative politically, Dover leans more conservative than Sherborn but I should say I don't really think any one town is all "red" or all "blue". Incidentally, I read a funny description of Dover in the latest Boston Magazine:

"Dover is venerable enough to make Carlisle seem nouveau riche. The predominantly Republican rural community is 20 miles outside Boston but a world away in outlook."

I can't say I always agree with all this magazine's descriptions (the one of Ashland this year was really off) but found this interesting. :-)

[findingmesomeday]

I like the Sherborn community center! The swim team recently had their end of season banquet there and brought in food from Tennessee BBQ! And it was much, much nicer than last year's banquet at Prima Vera in Millis which was overpriced with lousy food.

[Moving_Mama]

Thank you all for your posts! We just returned home from our scouting trip and you are all correct. The towns are beautiful and I don't feel we can "go wrong." Now we just need to find our home