Quincy/Belmont/Boston commutes (Newton, Brookline: neighborhoods, schools, where to live)

[moxie22]

My family is relocating to the Boston area and we are trying to figure out where to live - I work downtown, my partner works in Quincy, our family (and backup childcare) live in Belmont. Schools aren’t a concern for us, but we are hoping to find somewhere that has a city/community feel and access to parks/running routes. My budget is around $750k.

Thank you!

[commonwealthre]

I would try the Newton to Watertown Area.

[SunnyinBoston]

Milton if you want to live near work

[tysmith95]

For parks and running routes a great spot would be Jamaica Plain. The area around Jamaica Pond is beautiful and it does have that city/community feel. I'd just avoid being next to the Heath Street part. But the other parts of JP are beautiful, and a little bit cheaper then Brookline due to the Boston schools. Along with Jamaica Pond and the Emerald Necklace, JP has the Southwest Corridor park which has a bike lane and walking path that goes all the way to Back Bay. One negative part about JP is the Heath Street projects by the border of Mission Hill, but other residential parts of JP towards Jamaica Hills/Jamaica Pond are just as safe as Brookline/Newton. You also have the Arnold Arboretum in JP.

Second Milton. Makes sense for that commute and is a nice town. The Neponsit River has some nice recreational trails. Also you've got the Blue Hills Reservation nearby (a huge 7k acre conservation land/park). Only negative is that Milton does border some sketchy parts of Boston (Mattapan Square). Although the Lower Mills section of Dorchester that Milton borders is very nice. Lower Mills would be another place to look, if you don't care about the fact that it's Dorchester.

You could also look at Quincy itself. Quincy is more blue collar feeling, but it has the beach and some young professionals. And it's safe and honestly a great deal for its location. In Quincy i'd watch out for flood zones in certain neighborhoods though, there were some issues this past winter with flooding.

You could look at West Roxbury. It's a nice neighborhood, more suburban then JP but a similar feel to Watertown. Dedham too.