Stoneham (Boston, Brookline, Medford: to buy, theater, public school)

[goyguy]

People are asking "all the time" for info about suburban communities in the vicinity of Burlington, Medford, etc. I'm one of many persons who have to do a mea culpa for always neglecting Stoneham.
For whatever reason, working-class Bostonians (most if not all of them Irish-American, incidentally) used to call the town "Stone Ham." I've only heard "Stonum" in recent times. Regardless, it's an inner-ring suburb with poor MBTA service but easy access to 93 which should have its equal time.
Unless they're making a quick stop off the highway to buy gasoline or snacks, most visitors to Stoneham are there for the local theater's stage shows or for the Stone Zoo. Love's Furniture is gone and there's nothing distinctive about the business district along Route 28. What that means, of course, is that the community is essentially all residential. The income level is solidly middle to upper-middle class, the public school system respectable but not of the caliber of those in Lexington or Brookline.
Its lack of "uniqueness" is what kept me forgetting to bring up Stoneham when I've chimed in on posts which should've had it included. I think it's worth consideration as a town to move into for folks who are looking at Billerica and Woburn, for it has many similarities.