why belmont MA is expensive but highly sought after?

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

The Romneys owned condos on the edge of the property where my job was (the psychiatric hospital). I was tempted to drive home after my night shift past the Secret Service cars with a dog crate and stuffed animal on the roof of my car! On election night, the place was swarming with security, etc. By the end of that night, it was deserted.

Bet you have some “interesting” stories from working there. Heck, even I do from people whose friends were patients there. That’s not counting the celebrity stuff. And I had forgotten all about Bailey’s until I saw Girl, Interrupted on DVD.

[bugelrex]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

The Romneys owned condos on the edge of the property where my job was (the psychiatric hospital). I was tempted to drive home after my night shift past the Secret Service cars with a dog crate and stuffed animal on the roof of my car! On election night, the place was swarming with security, etc. By the end of that night, it was deserted.

Is it true that most patients graduated from ivy league colleges? I heard this rumor

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by bugelrex

Is it true that most patients graduated from ivy league colleges? I heard this rumor

Not at all.
A lot of the rumors and books about McLean come from the 1960s or so. A very different world in healthcare in general, when "Girl Interrupted" referred, etc.

There were marked changes, especially in the 1990s with wide acceptance of Medicare/Medicaid, downsizing (hospital went from something like 360 beds to 160 and there were layoffs). The campus was 240 acres and went down to 50 acres with core services and buildings (hence a green belt and the condos mentioned).

Let me simply say that I worked in many area hospitals and while every place has some good people, you need a good system to deliver the care. The years I worked at McLean were by far more effective and valuable than anywhere else, although I will emphasize that there are good people in every system.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by Bronxer

Thank you for all the comments.


My another observation is although Belmont is closer to Cambridge and Boston, it is far from highway 95 and 93 which makes commuting to jobs in the suburbs longer.


Winchester is close to Boston and 93, which seems the houses at Winchester should be at least comparable to Belmont. The reality is the price per square foot is close to 600, while in Winchester, it is around 400+.


Any other comments is there any historical reason why people like Belmont so much?

Winchester is beautiful. Not that there's anything wrong with Belmont, but I'd far prefer Winchester.

[MassVt]

Belmont, for the most par, has lots of single-family and two-family homes, with many tree-lined streets. Its appeal is pretty obvious, and the school district is excellent, too...

[Bridge781]

Um usually places that are expensive are highly sought after. Belmont is very nice, close to Cambridge and has good schools

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by bugelrex

Is it true that most patients graduated from ivy league colleges? I heard this rumor

The rumor might be partly due to the hospital having been affiliated with Harvard, at least in the old days.

Of the two patients I heard about from someone who had lived with them (outside of the hospital), both were brilliant. One of them did attend Harvard and got picked up in Harvard Square when he was carrying something not normally considered a weapon but definitely “out of place” and acting strangely enough (as in, “the guy is gonna kill someone”) that someone reported him. I still have an old book of his that our mutual friend gave to me after he was hauled away. He had threatened to kill this guy, too.

The other patient I met during one of his not-in-the-hospital times. Even during his normal period, right off the bat he struck me as a little off. He, too, had tried to kill someone. I don’t know if he had attended an Ivy League school.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by pikabike

The rumor might be partly due to the hospital having been affiliated with Harvard, at least in the old days.

...

McLean is a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical. Many patients are students from many of the area colleges, if their diagnosis is appropriate for a unit. More chronically ill and less functional patients tend to be in the same diagnostic areas, and are not students. But with the high volume of people coming in for treatment of almost every diagnosis, people coming in are from all over the social-economic spectrum. The days of famous rock stars, etc. paying out of pocket for very long stays are history.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

McLean is a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical. Many patients are students from many of the area colleges, if their diagnosis is appropriate for a unit. More chronically ill and less functional patients tend to be in the same diagnostic areas, and are not students. But with the high volume of people coming in for treatment of almost every diagnosis, people coming in are from all over the social-economic spectrum. The days of famous rock stars, etc. paying out of pocket for very long stays are history.

Thanks for the update. The incidents I related must have happened in the late 70s and I lived in the town in the ‘80s. Some big changes were already happening, stuff like Arab shieks buying up city lots with an existing very nice house on them, scraping off, and covering the entire lot with an ugly house-thing. Or landlords jamming a second small home in what was the backyard of an existing small home. The building restrictions must have been lax, which is kind of weird given that it was never a slummy town.

Star Market got shoehorned into the funky triangle at one end of Waverly that I never would have guessed would get such a big building on it. The entire atmosphere became more rushrushrush. I was glad to leave the Boston area despite its good attributes.

Speaking of rock stars, a friend of mine lived in a rental house in Lexington. She said one of the neighbors somewhere nearby was J. Geils.

R.I.P. to the Andros Diner...

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Thanks for the update....in a rental house in Lexington. She said one of the neighbors somewhere nearby was J. Geils.

R.I.P. to the Andros Diner...

Andros was such a loss. I got so weary of every place I ever liked closing around Belmont and Cambridge. I know things change but the whole area felt like money running through the streets and the Starbuckization of so much. Like a giant outdoor suburb mall. No character or history. I started eating out in Lowell.