Travel between Westford and Norwood (Boston, Walpole: real estate, homes, new construction)

[yzerstone]

I am considering a move to MA, and getting a job in Norwood. I like everything I have read and researched on Westford and would like to settle there. My question. Is a daily commute between these two towns a little much? It looks like there is a pretty direct route on the I-95 or a roundabout way on the 495. Which would be the better route?

If anyone knows of another town to live that is closer to Norwood, with the same feel and cost of living as Westford I would love to hear.

[brightdoglover]

I think it's doable. I live in the town next to Westford. I think you'd be best off taking 495 south, not 95 (much more crowded). In fact, I drive past 128/95 south every morning and it's bumper to bumper already at 7:30 in the morning. 495 swings further west, but is far less crowded, and it's right at Westford exit.
(I work third shift, and go against traffic in the morning, so maybe underestimate the jam-ups everywhere, but I think 495 from Westford to Norwell could work).
For towns further down 495, maybe Stow or Hudson? Do you care about the school system?

[yzerstone]

The school system is important to me. I have a first grader so I am looking to find a location that would suit for the long term. Westford has some additional appeal because of the availability of newer homes, but that is not a top priority.

[jayrandom]

Do you only expect to working in Norwood temporarily? If not, I would seriously consider looking at some of the towns nearer Norwood, plenty offer good schools and can be affordable but without the 1+ hour commute each way. Some possibilities include towns like Mansfield, Walpole, Sharon, Canton, Westwood, Medfield, Sherborn, or Dover--all of which are much closer to Norwood and have reasonable to great schools.

Your real estate dollar may not go as far in some of these towns (especially Dover/Sherborn), and you will have a harder time finding new construction, but saving two hours of your life a day should at least warrrant a quick look. Just comparing median home prices, Westford is more expensive than Norwood, Walpole, Mansfield, Sharon, and Canton so at least for affordability there may be some comparison.

[molbio]

Top-scoring schools on the 2008 10th-grade MCAS exams - The Boston Globe - Boston.com

I think a somewhat poor but available metric for determining how good a school system is in Massachusetts would be the individual high/middle/elementary school performance on the state standardized exam. The MCAS is mandatory for all students and is taken throughout K-12 on various core subjects.

Given this data, you can kind of see if a town has a relatively competitive school system.

Using jayrandom's list...

Sharon, Westwood, Medfield, Dover/Sherborn, Westford, Canton are generally very good/well regarded systems.

Mansfield, Walpole are probably just fine too.

I personally think your head will explode (unless you're from LA or another really heavy traffic city) if you do this commute. I recommend checking the google map resolved to E. MA during the morning to see the traffic situation. I think it will easily be more than an hour although 495 like brightdoglover said, isn't generally bad. I used to live in Westford and work in W. Concord (495 S to Rt. 2 East) and that would take 25 minutes in the morning with traffic.

Naturally, there is internal Norwood and Westford traffic to consider as well. I don't know about Norwood but the entire town of Westford has just 9 red lights. It's still a huge town so you can still spend 10 minutes driving just to get to the highway.

Good luck!

[yzerstone]

Thanks for the responses. I will do some research into these other towns.