Marlborough or family friendly town near by (Boston, Newton: sales, house)

[PTMom]

My husband is flying up in a couple of weeks for interviews with a company in Marlborough. We currently live in South Carolina, where I am a stay at home mom to an almost 2 year old. We are very active in the community and are used to taking our son to children's events, mother's morning out, pools, parks etc. Is there a community that fits this description? We would be looking to purchase a house in the $400k to $600K range to start, and probably moving to something bigger in a couple of years. Where are there towns with lots of young families, stay at home moms, play dates, social and volunteer activities? We are also total foodies, so good restaurants are helpful, too!

Thanks so much!

[codfish1]

New Hampshire isn't far from there.
New Hampshire has no state income tax and no sales tax

But Property taxes are high

The area your looking in has many small towns within the price range you mentioned try Bolton

[scarletfire]

Sudbury would be an excellent bet - lots of stay at home moms, family/community activities, town pool, stellar school system, lovely neighborhoods. There are a few restaurants in town but tons in adjacent town of Natick.

[scarletfire]

More info on Sudbury at Massachusetts Town Information- MA Community data - Boston.com and about Sudbury, MA; top Massachusetts public school system

[findingmesomeday]

I second Sudbury. Borders on Marlboro, great schools, nice community. Your price range will allow you something nice there.

[PTMom]

Great website, thanks! I love the photo of the kidspace. How far is Sudbury from Wellesley? Would it be unreasonable to think that Sudbury is close enough to Boston to get involved in some volunteer work in the arts or some other nonprofits there? Also, we are an interracial family. It is actually something that rarely comes up here and we don't think about it often. We are in a university town and both grew up here, and we have known most of our friends since elementary school. But I have heard that the Boston area can be difficult for that sort of thing... or is that just on the southern side of Boston?

Also, does anyone know anything about The Center for the Arts in Natick?

Thanks so much!

[findingmesomeday]

I know a bit about TCAN through my son's involvement. Also, Metrowest magazine (I think that's the title) did a piece on TCAN a few months ago.

[smarty]

Depends on where in Sudbury and Wellesley you need to go and traffic... around 30 minutes (~13 miles)

One thing I want to caution is... what type of town you want to live in? Sudbury is fairly rural without a center of town and very little sidewalk... most drive from here to there.

As to friends since elementary school , it actually happens more than you think in MA... especially for towns with lower taxes... It happens a little less in Sudbury as median property tax is $8K/yr... many leave when kids are out of school.

You may want to checkout DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA

[smarty]

Not sure what type of Art you're looking for .... I forget to mention that Newton and Brookline has a fairly big art community.

Newton Open Studios

[NY'er lost in MA]

Check out some of the 'boros'. - Northborough, Westborough, Southborough. I also recommend Ashland & Hopkinton.