Andover MA to Burlington MA commute (Arlington, Woburn: house, schools, living)

[Fitz1028]

Hello everyone. My husband works in Burlington. We only have one vehicle and I'm trying to find a town where I can walk most everywhere with the kids. We are having a hard time finding a place in our budget in the Arlington and Winchester areas and Woburn doesn't have the walkability we are looking for. Andover seems to have a lot of perfect options but we are trying to keep my husbands commute to 30 mins tops. Google claims the commute can be 30 mins to an hour. Anybody out there make this commute? Is it often backed up?

[Joel418]

I commute from North Andover to the Anderson/Woburn station, and that's a little over 20 minutes in 7:00AM traffic. Of course, your husband also would be dealing with the cloverleaf (93-95/128 interchange), and then 95/128 to get to Burlington, so yeah, major backup, and probably closer to 45 minutes in regular rush hour (i.e., w/o any major accidents). He could try coming down 93 and getting off on Hwy 62, but it would probably come out about the same, depending on where in Burlington his job is located.

If you want to keep his commute under 30 minutes, but perhaps also need to keep your housing price down, I would recommend looking at Wakefield (especially the area east of Lake Quannapowitt), Wilmington, or Woburn (south side is pretty affordable, though the schools are not as good as those on the north side of town). You might even be able to find something in Reading, though again, the part of town that's most affordable (north of 95/128, west of Hwy 28) doesn't have great schools either.

Best of luck!

[BostonMike7]

How long that commute takes all depends on the time he would be leaving. 6AM? Might be 30 mins. 8AM? Probably not

[LexWest]

As much as I like Andover as a town, I wouldn't consider it walkable enough throughout to get by without a car; especially if it were to rain, snow, heat or cold.

I would rather live in Burlington, and drive my husband to and from work with the kids. It might seem inconvenient in some ways, but it can't be worse. having to pick my kids up from school for being sick and having to walk them home. (And this is assuming they go to the same school!)

I know that's not the advice you're looking for, but I'm considering your best interest.

[rethcir]

Sometimes it can take 30 minutes to get from your office building onto 95 in Burlington during high traffic seasons (like now).

Andover Center itself is becoming walkable but finding a desirable single family house right near the downtown would limit your options.

[gf2020]

Andover is geographically large, so depending on where someone was actually living or working, the drive could easily be anywhere from 25 minutes to 60 minutes.

[Joel418]

Originally Posted by gf2020

Andover is geographically large, so depending on where someone was actually living or working, the drive could easily be anywhere from 25 minutes to 60 minutes.

That's true, but you'd have to be right on the line with North Reading to have even the slightest chance of getting to and from Burlington during rush hour in 30 minutes, and it would be basically impossible when there was any sort of buildup (accident, weather, roadwork, etc.).

[darkone]

I get from Burlington to Andover in 18 minutes flat in the morning. Same for the reverse in the evening.

[Joel418]

Originally Posted by darkone

I get from Burlington to Andover in 18 minutes flat in the morning. Same for the reverse in the evening.

Out of curiosity, are you going with or against traffic?

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Joel418

Out of curiosity, are you going with or against traffic?

I'd say against. If you're in the northwest corner of Burlington and take back roads, you can get to Dascomb Rd. in 18 minutes in the AM.