busy or quiet

[puffle]

Originally Posted by scarletfire

Westboro is a nice town and many areas are quiet, although there is a busy area along Rt 9 with lots of commercial areas and the downtown area is congested and getting worse. I like it as a town though, schools are good, and easy access to lots of activities, highways, Commuter Rail. What complex are you looking at?

I think it is called the Windsor Ridge? Do you know it? Also, how is the downtown area getting worse? Are you familiar with Lexington or Winchester? Those are the only towns with downtowns that I have to compare to and are looking for something similiar without the price tag. What do you think?

[scarletfire]

Hi Puffle,

If you have a unit in Windsor Ridge closer to the Rt 30 side than the Rt 9 side it will be quieter. There are units very close to Rt 9 that I would find too loud.
I know they allow dogs there but don't recall them having fenced yards.

Westboro downtown is very congested because the town has grown substantially but it still has a small downtown road and rotary for traffic to go through. In addition, there is a large condo and retail complex being built behind downtown, which will only make traffic worse. However, if you're in Windsor Ridge, which is the east side of town the downtown shouldn't really impact you because you can get to Rt 9/Rt 495/etc without having to go through downtown.

I don't know Winchester or Lexington very well. If Lexington downtown is a quaint center with pretty shops and restaurants like Concord, I'd say Westboro is not like that. It's not a downtown where you'd really stroll through.

Actually I was thinking of you yesterday because driving through downtown Sherborn I saw an apartment rental sign. They are hard to find here. I left a message for the owner re: dogs. I can PM you the ph# if you'd like. No idea of the cost, I was just surprised to see something available. If your son is looking for safe and quiet, Sherborn is definately a wonderful place to me. My niece and nephew moved here a few years ago and made friends very quickly. They always seem to have some nice community event or party to go to, not just the usual sports and such. Not that sports are a bad thing, I just think in some places if kids aren't active in sports there aren't a lot of opportunities for them outside of school to get to know one another. Anyhow, I hope that helps! :-)

[puffle]

Originally Posted by scarletfire

Hi Puffle,

If you have a unit in Windsor Ridge closer to the Rt 30 side than the Rt 9 side it will be quieter. There are units very close to Rt 9 that I would find too loud.
I know they allow dogs there but don't recall them having fenced yards.

Westboro downtown is very congested because the town has grown substantially but it still has a small downtown road and rotary for traffic to go through. In addition, there is a large condo and retail complex being built behind downtown, which will only make traffic worse. However, if you're in Windsor Ridge, which is the east side of town the downtown shouldn't really impact you because you can get to Rt 9/Rt 495/etc without having to go through downtown.

I don't know Winchester or Lexington very well. If Lexington downtown is a quaint center with pretty shops and restaurants like Concord, I'd say Westboro is not like that. It's not a downtown where you'd really stroll through.

Actually I was thinking of you yesterday because driving through downtown Sherborn I saw an apartment rental sign. They are hard to find here. I left a message for the owner re: dogs. I can PM you the ph# if you'd like. No idea of the cost, I was just surprised to see something available. If your son is looking for safe and quiet, Sherborn is definately a wonderful place to me. My niece and nephew moved here a few years ago and made friends very quickly. They always seem to have some nice community event or party to go to, not just the usual sports and such. Not that sports are a bad thing, I just think in some places if kids aren't active in sports there aren't a lot of opportunities for them outside of school to get to know one another. Anyhow, I hope that helps! :-)

Thanks for the info,Scarletfire. Really appreciate your going out of your way for a stranger like me. So what I am gathering from your info is that Westborough is more on the commercial side than quaint and quiet small town feel with local stores and such? How far is Sherbourn from Boston? My hubby doesn't want to be too far from it and in too rural of an area.

[scarletfire]

Hi Puffle, No problem at all. I wish when we moved to the west coast we had someone helping us. The temporary place we started out in in Santa Cruz we dubbed "the hovel". Yikes!

Sherborn is about 35 minutes from Boston (approx 18 miles southwest of Boston). It's pretty quiet here. I wouldn't say it's rural, just a pretty little town with much open space, attractive historic downtown, although not really much to the downtown (C&L Ice Cream, the library, the Sherborn Inn for good food & Jazz, the Peace Abbey, a bank, dry cleaner, pharmacy, day spa, post office, liquor store, Unitarian church, an antique store, and that's about it). It's not really much of a strolling downtown. I like that there isn't much there that is commercial but if you're looking for a place you can walk around with boutiques and coffee shops, etc downtown Sherborn might not be to your liking. Needham is the closest to us that has that type of downtown. There's also a Sherborn Newcomers & Neighbors group that may give you a bit of flavor about the town: www.sherbornnewcomers.com

Please feel free to touch base if you have other questions! :-)

[puffle]

Thanks again! How long have you been in Ma.?

[scarletfire]

I grew up here, then moved to N. California for a few years, then back home so all in all, about 35 of my 38 years here. I liked it in California - we lived in Santa Cruz for three months (definately not for me), then near Los Gatos, but I never felt quite comfortable. I moved back home to be close to my folks & my grandmother. My CA friends thought I was crazy. There everyone was a transplant from somewhere else but my LA friend said "nobody ever goes back from where they came!" :-> I do hate the winters here, and we usually have about a week of unbearable humidity, no getting around that, but I love it here otherwise.

Some things I love here...Walking around the city on a nice day, the unbelievably beautiful autumns, that sweet smell of spring in the air for a few weeks in May, albeit very briefly, Handel's Messiah at Symphony Hall, the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, the first trip back to the Cape each summer, just to name a few. I live in the suburbs but we're just a short train ride or drive to Boston or Cambridge and about 1.5 hrs to the Cape.

[scarletfire]

I just realized I didn't answer your question about Westboro. There are a few mom & pop shops but most of the stores and restaurants are big chains. Don't get me wrong, it's a really nice town with some great neighborhoods and lots to offer, but it doesn't have a quaint small town feel to me.