Advice on Dedham? (Boston, Braintree, Randolph: 2011, rentals, houses)

[adriennewingfield]

We are moving to the Boston area. We have 2 children and my husband will be working in the Longwood Medical Area. I see a lot of single family rentals in Dedham and I am wondering what it is like there? How are the schools? Thanks ahead for any advice.

[Woof Woof Woof!]

Originally Posted by adriennewingfield

We are moving to the Boston area. We have 2 children and my husband will be working in the Longwood Medical Area. I see a lot of single family rentals in Dedham and I am wondering what it is like there? How are the schools? Thanks ahead for any advice.

Dedham has nice areas and not so nice. I think it's a boring town. I would not want to move there.

[Charliekeet]

Well, Dedham is one of the "bigger" feeling of the south-suburban Boston towns. The first town you get to south of metro-Boston's neighborhoods on Rte 1/Rte 95 South, it's the Norfolk County seat, so you've got courthouses, a town center. It's got Route 1 through it, so you have lots and lots of businesses with usual pros & cons- good tax base for the town, extreme convenience for you to shop for pretty much anything, but traffic & noise, etc...

It's got many different types of neighborhoods, from nice, average residential to drab, industrial and commercial sections to leafy, classic-New England lanes. I cant help you on elementary schools, but there are both a public school system and some private & parochial schools in Dedham itself and in neighboring towns too. I don't think the high school is an academic powerhouse, but look it up. You'll want more than one car, although there's lots of public transportation (buses & commuter-rail) into Boston or south to Providence. To Longwood, you could drive (slow but pretty) up Rte 1 parkways, or take a train.

If you want comparisons in the area (Rte 128/95 around the southern half of Boston), it's not as posh a town as neighboring Westwood, Needham, or Milton- it's similar to, but busier than Norwood & Canton- it's nicer than Randolph or Braintree. It's in the middle, and a good location for Boston-focused suburbanites.

[findingmesomeday]

Schools are so-so. You are better off over the freeway in Westwood.

[seamusnh]

Lots of young families in Walpole and Medfield...

[adriennewingfield]

Thank you so much for all of the advice and your help!

[DarinsMom]

Originally Posted by adriennewingfield

Thank you so much for all of the advice and your help!

I grew up in Dedham and left in 1996 (after 23 years) and very rarely go back there.

Things started to change around 1992 - and I haven't seen much in the way of improvements.

I agree with others, look more towards Westwood, Walpole, etc - better areas.

Good luck!

[sccrockscl]

The schools arent that great, espically the HS.

[sccrockscl]

I agree with the hs, half of the class of 2011 in there freshman year failed at least one of their classes

[pjscdn]

What age are your children? Are they in elementary school? If so, then I'd suggest targeting the Greenlodge school and neighborhood. It's generally regarded as the best in Dedham. The town built a new middle school that opened a couple of years ago, and is targeting a new elementary school for construction in the next year or two. As other posters have mentioned, Dedham has a lot of commercial property, especially along the Route 1 corridor, so you should expect less open space than other towns nearby. The town does have three train stations for commuters to Boston, if that is important to you.

Dedham is predominately white (around 95% maybe?), and has neighborhoods ranging from very wealthy to lower-middle class. There are a number of private schools in the area, so the town has a high percentage of sutdents (about 15-18%) choose that route. The high school does not have the academic pedigree of the other wealthier towns nearby, but it also doesn't have the price tag. Don't expect to see BMWs affixed with Ivy League bumper stickers in the student parking lot. But it does offer the same honors and AP courses for motivated students you'll find in competitive school systems, and a good percentage of graduates go to higher education.

Hope this helps.