Conservative small towns within commuting distance to Cambridge? (Boston, Fitchburg: rent, limo)

[Hope01]

Thanks so much for the helpful links!

[Drechie]

I would definitely say Winchester is known as being a conservative and mostly Republican town. Also I believe Belmont to be true too (all in the metro-Boston area). Both these towns are always on the upswing in real estate markets. A more traditional country town alternative: Boxford, north of the city. Billerica, a more affordable alternative is north west.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by Drechie

I would definitely say Winchester is known as being a conservative and mostly Republican town. Also I believe Belmont to be true too (all in the metro-Boston area). Both these towns are always on the upswing in real estate markets.

While attempting to ignore the OP's suggestion that the overwhelming majority of towns in the Boston area can't be "traditional" or "family-oriented" because they're politically liberal, I will caution you not to believe it. Belmont went for Obama 69-29 and has been going for Democrats such as Kerry, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, and Ed Markey in similar proportions for quite some time. Most of the Republicans there are related to Mitt Romney. Actually, kidding aside, despite the town's history as a bastion of the seemingly extinct mainline Protestant New England Republicans, a good number of Belmont's GOP voters today are LDS members who live there to be near the temple. Winchester also went for Obama by about 60-40 and for John Kerry in even greater numbers.

In my experience the highest GOP performance in eastern Mass. is in the Boxford/Topsfield area, which are classic semi-rural wealthy suburbs, and south of Boston in places like Norfolk and Wrentham. Towns like Cohasset, Walpole, and some others south of the city have been about 50-50, which is the most "conservative" you're likely to find in eastern Mass.

Once upon a time, the Irish Catholic population of Massachusetts was almost monolithically Democratic and the WASP population tended to be Republican. These Massachusetts Republicans could, on social issues, be more liberal than the Massachusetts Democrats. Now wealthier towns like Weston, Lincoln, Concord, and especially Lexington, Newton and Brookline have been going heavily Democratic for a while. Except for a couple of outliers like Boxford, the GOP has a better shot in towns with a large "Reagan Democrat" blue collar population, including Billerica. The same is true nationwide, as the GOP has gone after Democrats for alleged elitism. These days, in a number of states, the former "country-club Republicans" have been moving toward the Democrats as the GOP has shifted toward an angry pseudo-populist theme.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by Hope01

I am willing to commute 20 miles, although I have no idea what the traffic will be like. Price range would ideally be $1000-1500; however, I am concerned about the utility costs. I had very reasonable utilities in Wisconsin and Minnesota despite our harsh winters (never higher than $100/mth). Thanks for your help!

Mmmm, yes, regarding traffic, it usually works better to talk in terms of commuting time in the Boston area, rather than distance. Twenty miles out may mean a lot longer commute timewise than you're picturing, due to traffic. Also, what are you aiming to find in your range for rent? You can find some good rentals for a single person in that range even right in the central sections of Boston, but you said you're looking for a family-oriented area, which implies that this is a family move. 1,000-1,5000/mo. for a place large enough for a family will make for limited possibilities in most places really close to Boston or Cambridge.

Regarding some suggestions on here, Dreamworks offered some good links, and I'd rep that post except that the notice came up telling me I have to "spread it," but I do have to disagree on Lexington and Concord as conservative areas. In fact, I think Drouhin is right about there being a lot of suburbs in the area which have family-oriented activities but lean to the left politically. There are some conservative pockets here and there, but generally in the Boston area you'll do better if you look for moderate politics as opposed to insisting on very conservative leanings all around you. Before reading Dreamworks' post, I had planned to second Drouhin's post and suggest that you seek moderate politics (most suburbs) and then suggest certain well-kown leftward-leaning towns to avoid. Lexington was in fact the first town on the list I had in mind of towns to avoid. Lots of Harvard, MIT, and Tufts professors live there. This lends Lexington the heavily leftward bent often associated with academic circles. While Cambridge might seem to many like the epicenter of left-wing politics in the Boston area, I've also sometimes heard people refer to Lexington as "The People's Republic of . . ." Concord too has a reputation of leaning to the left, though Lexington and Concord seem different. Lexington is more in-your-face militantly politically correct. Concord has more of an artsy reputation, but it's still known to lean to the left in terms of prevailing political views.

There might be a number of towns you want to avoid in order to stay away from the more extreme leftward leanings. The towns that I think of immediately, in addition to the aforementioned Lexington and Concord, and Cambridge, which is more of a city than a town, would be Newton and Brookline, possibly Weston and Wellesley as well. The last two are good examples of Holden's info about how some old-money types have shifted from blue-blood Republican to Volvo/Lexus Democrat.

Holden's discussion of the various political climates in the Boston area offers a good picture. Generally, if you want places that are really conservative rather than sort of in the middle, that will be somewhat difficult to find in the Boston area, but some blue-collar towns have their share of Reagan Democrats, and there are some old-money Republicans still around some areas.

Aside from any sense of feeling out of place which a lot of people might have around the blue-blood crowd, one problem with the old-money places is that they tend to be low-density, woodsy kinds of suburbs, not the best areas to find a lot of rental options. A couple of old-money towns that might be worth checking out to see what could be available would be Hamilton and Wenham. Not sure how many rental options there will be in those towns, but if you can find a place then these towns might suit you politically.

For a moderate, downt-to-earth town, I like Holden's suggestion of Walpole. Nearby Foxborough might be worth a look as well. Holden's suggestions of Norfolk, Cohasset, Boxboro, etc., are good possibilities as well. If you can expand your commuting range, you might also take a look at LITTLETON and STOW, a couple of friendly small towns northwest of Boston which are somewhat of a cross between exurbia and being traditional small semi-rural towns. Littleton is on a commuter rail line, if that is an advantage you'd like to make use of, and Stow is a fairly short drive from the commuter rail station in South Acton. HOPKINTON and HOLLISTON are two nice towns with a somewhat similar feel as Littleton and Stow, located southwest of Boston, a bit closer than Littleton or Stow, but still not really close in to the city.

Closer to Boston, another possibility is NATICK. Natick is somewhat similar to Needham, but maybe with a bit less of a pricetag. Natick is a clean, middle-class, family kind of suburban town, with malls on the north side of town, and a clean, attractive downtown area that has some basic small stores. The town has various looks and feels in different sections, but overall is a very pleasant suburban kind of town, located on commuter rail, roughly fifteen miles or so from downtown Boston. Despite having a very suburban character overall, Natick has some neighborhoods that are a bit more densely populated than you find in some other towns suggested on this thread, so there might be a few more possibilities for rental properties there than in the semi-rural towns.

So, there are possibilities, but it may take some digging to find the best situation in this area. Best of luck with your search.

[hudsonma]

If you are going to work in Central Square the best way to get there is the "T" the red line. You can pick up the red line in Alewife Station very easily, Central Square is just a few stops away, and there's parking at the station too! Alewife Station is located at the end of Rt. 2 on the Arlington/Cambridge town lines. There are many towns on Rt. 2 that sound great. Lexington, Concord, Acton, Lincoln. They all have good school systems and are bedroom communities, but, very expensive. You can look further West, maybe the Rt 2/495 junction, housing is affordable, Check the school systems though, Most are good. This is a very low/no crime area.

[Concepts]

While lovely towns, many suggestions are way way out of the price range of $1000-$1500. Its unlikely you could rent even a studio apt in Concord, Lexington, etc for anywhere near that. As Hudson suggests, your best bet is to look further West - near 495 belt or, as Ogre mentions, perhaps Natick or even Framingham might work. If you really want to be closer to the city, it will be tight - realistically, you may need to focus more on price than the politics of where you live.

[ogre]

Very true, Concepts. Or else be ready to compromise on the commuting distance in order to find the right price and something close to the diesired politcs.

While all the towns HudsonMA suggested are nice towns, in additon to the fact that three of them (Lex., Lincoln, Concord) are generally expensive, those same three towns are poor fits with the desired politics. Of the four, Acton seems like a possibility for both reasonable housing costs (by Boston-area standards) in a clean, family-oriented kind of town, and political views that trend a bit more toward the middle, or at least not far to the left. But then, Acton is a far enough from Cambridge that it's possible that a compromise on commuting time might be needed.

It's not that it's absolutely impossible to find the price, the nice town and family activities, the politics, and the moderate commute all in one town, just that the options may be limited. The possibilities can be expanded with some compromise in one or another of the desired features.

[manuvaram]

I moved to Boston from WI couple of years ago and have lived in Newton since then. It is one of the best school districts around and you will have a very manageable commute to central square (15-20min). As far as I can tell, there are more liberals than conservatives in this town. That said, Newton is a large town (~85k population) and all kinds co-exist. I am in the process of buying a home and the seller is a staunch conservative. The first thing he told me is to never ever vote for Barney Frank :-)

It would be difficult to find a decent dwelling for a family here for $1000 but you will be able to get something in the $1500-2000 price range. Also not all places require last month's rent. First month and security deposit were pretty standard in WI too.

If you want more specific information on Newton - feel free to write to me at manu at uwalumni dot com.

cheers and welcome!

[manuvaram]

Originally Posted by Concepts

While lovely towns, many suggestions are way way out of the price range of $1000-$1500. Its unlikely you could rent even a studio apt in Concord, Lexington, etc for anywhere near that. As Hudson suggests, your best bet is to look further West - near 495 belt or, as Ogre mentions, perhaps Natick or even Framingham might work. It will still be tight though - realistically, you may need to focus more on price than the politics of where you live.

dude - I live in a 2bed/2bath in Newton for $1610/month (~1200 sq ft). Granted it's not a luxury apartment - it is very decent and clean.

[kaioak36]

Why would a town that is "liberal" not be family oriented???????