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We have been looking into Bedford, MA - young family so schools and safety are important to us, and it seems reasonable to commute to both Boston and in the northwest. Are certain neighborhoods more desirable than others from a safety perspective? We see some newish construction homes (we are trying to find things built in the late 1990's or newer) popping up amongst smaller and "older" housing stock, but much closer to the middle school/high school/ town center, and other newish developments in more organized "subdivisions" of like-appearing homes. The newer developments tend to be very close to route 3 on the eastern side but away from the town center (so I assume easier commuting access but more difficult to get to any town amenities), whereas the center of town is much closer to Hanscom, west and south of route 62 (although my reading of this forum my guess is not as much to do in the town center). Is one area of Bedford more "desirable" than the others... is there an advantage to living closer to the town center or is it mostly things one would drive to anyway? Thanks for any info!
We have been looking into Bedford, MA - young family so schools and safety are important to us, and it seems reasonable to commute to both Boston and in the northwest. Are certain neighborhoods more desirable than others from a safety perspective? We see some newish construction homes (we are trying to find things built in the late 1990's or newer) popping up amongst smaller and "older" housing stock, but much closer to the middle school/high school/ town center, and other newish developments in more organized "subdivisions" of like-appearing homes. The newer developments tend to be very close to route 3 on the eastern side but away from the town center (so I assume easier commuting access but more difficult to get to any town amenities), whereas the center of town is much closer to Hanscom, west and south of route 62 (although my reading of this forum my guess is not as much to do in the town center). Is one area of Bedford more "desirable" than the others... is there an advantage to living closer to the town center or is it mostly things one would drive to anyway? Thanks for any info!
Bedford to Boston commute is less than optimal. I'd expect 1HR drive, minimum, to downtown Boston (pre COVID). No train option. The drive to Cambridge is better, though route 2 get's backed up heavily at Alewife.
Though the schools don't "rank" quite as high, I'd heavily consider Reading as a possible option to save yourself 20 minutes on the drive. It's a really nice town. Train becomes an option, too.
For a late 90's and newer home, either town will demand minimum $800k. I'd expect them to be similar from a price perspective.
Bedford doesn't have any unsafe areas. There are a few areas with a higher concentration of fancier homes (Crestview, Battleflag, Lavender Lane), but because the elementary schools are not divided up by zones, there really is not very much difference in desirability like you'd have in other towns. There is one area of what used to be base housing where there are mostly 2 family ranches that is less fancy, but other than that... no real market value difference.
Center of town is popular because you can walk to things... but other areas have their benefits as well.
You can do better than an hour commute even during rush hour. During off times its more like a half hour.
Depending on the part of town you end up in (West Bedford), there is an option to take the train from Concord Center but the train schedules aren't all that convenient and its expensive.
You can do better than an hour commute even during rush hour. During off times its more like a half hour
Wouldn't most commuters in Bedford take 95 to 93? During rush hour, how can you beat an hour?
From SW Reading which is directly on 93, it was 45+ minutes to Boston during rush hour. And, I can't imagine you get to that 95/93 interchange in Reading from Bedford in less than 25 minutes during rush hour.
Wouldn't most commuters in Bedford take 95 to 93? During rush hour, how can you beat an hour?
From SW Reading which is directly on 93, it was 45+ minutes to Boston during rush hour. And, I can't imagine you get to that 95/93 interchange in Reading from Bedford in less than 25 minutes during rush hour.
or 95 to 90. or 2 to 90.
Dunno exactly what my spouse does, to be honest... but they don't do 95/93
Wouldn't most commuters in Bedford take 95 to 93? During rush hour, how can you beat an hour?
From SW Reading which is directly on 93, it was 45+ minutes to Boston during rush hour. And, I can't imagine you get to that 95/93 interchange in Reading from Bedford in less than 25 minutes during rush hour.
Depending on where you are in Bedford, it can take 15-20 minutes to get across town on 4/225. It's the only route to 128/95.
Thanks for everyone's feedback. mwj119, I'm familiar with Reading - about a decade ago I lived there for a few months and it was a very nice town, I know that commute and the 95/93 interchange right outside Reading very well - a chokepoint in the commute. We have looked there, but because this time the job will involve going to Boston/Brookline as well as points west (Waltham for instance) we thought the commute from Bedford to some of these other places would be easier starting form the Northwest (with the alternate 95 to 90 or 2 to 90). I was hoping for less but would accept up to an hour as my current commute is about that much.
Crestview is very close to route 3 - doesn't that go to 95 or is that a chokepoint? Alternatively, if we lived close to the town center we would already be very close to 4/225. We thought the Crestview area looked "newer" and the houses more homogenous, closer to route 3 (thinking that was an asset) but thought the downside was that there probably wasn't much to walk to around there... vs closer to the town center you could walk to the middle school and some of the stores, which sounded appealing but the housing stock seemed a bit older. Maybe this is the old base housing someone was referring to, as this area is much closer to Hanscom? We didn't know if that was an indication it was "the wrong side of the tracks." It sounds like with there not being safety issues in Bedford, that this more what you see all over Boston, older housing stock being knocked down to make way for newer larger houses. Thanks for any thoughts.
I have a coworker who does Boston to Bedford each day. Depending on traffic, they do either 93 to 95, or 2 to 95.
Right now is a tricky time to gauge commute times by, but back during normal times, that 95 traffic can be brutal in that area. When I used to commute to Bedford from Somerville, it was an easy hour. I would have to imagine going the opposite direction would be even worse, especially if it rains, snows, or a nice Friday in the summer.
Depending on where you are in Bedford, it can take 15-20 minutes to get across town on 4/225. It's the only route to 128/95.
Right, very fair.
It'd take me about 15 minutes to get to Bedford, and it'd take me about 95 minutes to get to Boston if I drive during commute hours (which I've only ever done a handful of times). So, at least pre COVID, it has to be 75 minutes from Bedford either via 95/2 or 95/93.
Sounds like the OP is familiar with Reading- My drive into the city was ~/<60 minutes, no matter what time I left the house. I think the train is 40 to north station. Sounds like this won't be a good fit for the criteria, as I know there's a need to commute to the western suburbs like Waltham and Brookline.
So, OP, why not Wayland? The entry point is not much different than Bedford. Wayland, generally, has a larger luxury market, but between $700-$1M, it should not be different. You can hop on 90 or 9 to Brookline, and can take 20 to Waltham. The drive to Boston from Wayland is a bit easier via 90 than it will be taking 95/93 or 95/2 from Bedford.. No bottlenecks that chew up time.
If you want a proper downtown and train access, then Natick seems to be a good fit. Bonus is that your money should go a bit further than either Bedford or Wayland. Con as you know would be that it's not quite as small or bucolic as the others.
Route 3 does go to 95 but traffic gets backed up there as well.
The old base housing is the area around the intersection of South Rd. and Summer St. It actually has the best access to 128/95 because it's near Hartwell Rd. in Lexington. I rented there years ago - you could call it the "bad" side of town but it was mostly families in duplex homes. Some owned both sides and rented the other side to folks like me.
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