Researching a possible move to Boston from Southeast. Help me find my ideal 'hood! (Cambridge: apartment)

[JBthe3rd]

I'm trying to find out if my ideal neighborhood exists in the Boston area.

I'm married with a young child. My wife and I are young-ish (mid-late 30s), and we don't go out a lot - no nightclubs, unless it's a special occasion. We're pretty low key: long walks with the baby and dog, neighborhood coffee shops, dinner w/friends, occasional outing to favorite dive/sports bar, etc. Nothing too exciting.

She will be working from home for at least a year. So we need a neighborhood where she can push a stroller and generally feel safe.

Some place with access to parks would be nice, especially a dog park.

We're willing to live farther away from the city center - in the 'burbs even - if the tradeoff is a finding a rental (duplex, townhome, single-family) with a yard for the dog.

If we live closer to the city center we're open to all housing types - apartment, townhome, duplex, etc.

Would be nice to be near a rail line.

My pet peeve is noise. Where we live now, we're in a great semi-urban area, where we can walk to downtown in our city. Downtown's full of used book stores, coffee shops, decent restaurants, etc. But we have to go through a gauntlet of sometimes aggressive homeless to get there. And some neighbors with not as much vested interest in the neighborhood are boisterous and insanely loud. If we do come to Boston, I'm trying to avoid that scene again!

Finally, hoping to rent in the range of $1,600 - $2,000.

Does my dream 'hood exist in Boston? Or am I dreaming?

[snatale1]

With the $1600-$2000 range you'd find many quiet places in most of the Boston Suburbs. You should have no problem finding a great place. I would say West Roxbury. It's living in the burbs but still being in Boston. Or a neighboring town. Brookline, Newton, Dedham. there all nice and have both a busy side to them as well as quiet area with trees and driveways

[JBthe3rd]

Snatale1, thanks for the leads. Someone else mentioned West Rox. I'll look into those other areas too. They sound promising. I've never been a shiny née condo type of guy. So an old 'burb with well kept duplexes, etc, would be fine by me. The commute would be worth it for the tradeoff of quiet, lawns, offstreet parking, etc.

[orangetravelerJP]

We found something similar to what you are describing in Arlington. If you are in East Arlington, Alewife station (Red line) is a 15 minute walk along a bike path. If you're a bit closer to the center of town, you can easily hop on a bus that will take you directly to either Alewife or Harvard stations. There's a lot of restaurants & shops along Mass Ave and the area seems very safe. Most places have some yard area for a dog. The closest dog park I know of is on New St. in Cambridge.