Done with Cambridge(Kendall Square)

[Catras]

What about Belmont? That's right next to Cambridge?

It seemed like a nice town when we visited, although that was quite a few years ago.

Good Luck

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Catras

What about Belmont? That's right next to Cambridge?

It seemed like a nice town when we visited, although that was quite a few years ago.

Good Luck

Belmont's still a great town, on the expensive side, but with great schools and tree-lined streets. You can take short bus reides to the Red Line i Harvard Square, or the commuter rail near Brandeis to North Station. Renting is more affordable than buying here, as it is in Newton and Brookline..

[PackersMA]

How are the schools in East Arlington?

[Brave Stranger]

Originally Posted by CloseToHome85

I'm going to second the earlier suggestion of East Arlington, based on personal experience. I currently live there and think it is an ideal place to rent. The houses aren't all modern (especially our apartment), but because it isn't a super popular area, rents have remained low (our 2-bed is $1350). It is a 7-minute walk (on the Minuteman Trail, which is plowed in wintertime) to Alewife station, a zip down Lake St to get on Route 2, and you can easily drive, bike, or walk to Cambridge, Somerville, etc. My husband commutes to Kendall Square and it takes him 35 minutes door to door, which I think is a small sacrifice for a reasonable cost of living every month. Hardy Elementary School is a 5-10 minute walk, as well, if your kids are that age. I'll warn you that this area is not what anyone would call "hip," but I personally like coming home to a quiet street at the end of the day, knowing I can still get to my fav spots in Cambridge & Boston pretty quickly.

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Well, don't ever leave that apartmnt if your rent is $1350 a month on a 2 bedroom unit. I was charging $1350 a month on a 2 bedroom my family owned in Arlingto 13 years ago ! Most rents in town for 2 bedroom units run about 2k these days. Now for the OP: I too would say look in Arlington. You can walk to everything & the schools are excellent. 30 to 40 minutes to Kendall at worst.

[emathias]

You could do something entirely different and live in East Boston, too.

[jackshaw]

I don't know market rents but there seem to be two kinds of options: Higher rent and good public schools: Towns on the Fitchburg train line allow you to take the train to Porter Square and switch to the red line. Here are the train stops: MBTA Commuter Rail > Fitchburg / South Acton Lines Schedules and Maps. Lincoln, Concord, Weston, Acton are all thought to have good schools. Could you take the green line from Brookline as there are lovely areas there with schools that are thought to be very good. Or, Winchester -- you'd have to drive but I think the drive is easy.

Or lower rent and private schools. What about Davis Square area? Then you could take the T to work but rents are likely to be significantly lower. Shady Hill is incidentally a great school. My kids attended three private and two public schools and Shady Hill was the probably the best, though I would start from the beginning. If you were sending your kid to Shady Hill, you could live in Watertown, where the rents are likely to be on the lower end, but you'd probably have to drive to work. With private schools, Waltham could also work. There is a train from the Brandeis area. I don't know Arlington but ClosetoHome clearly likes it.

Banking on private schools is tough because they are hard to get into. I had an employee who bought a house in Arlington when he had his first child. I told him to scrutinize the Arlington schools before he bought, but he decided to buy. then when the child hit kindergarten age, he decided that although the elementary schools were fine, he didn't want to start school there and then move, so he moved for schools (and other things).

[Pear Martini]

Brookline & Newton

[btownboss4]

Downtown Salem is right on the commuter rail and has everything you would need right downtown.

[semiurbanite]

You may want to consider some other parts of Cambridge, or West Somerville. People shy away from these areas due to schools, but do yourself a favor and tour some of the elementary schools and see for yourself. With diversity comes lower average scores, but there are many many successful, educated parents putting their kids through the schools here. We live in Somerville and we thought we would move once the kids reached school age. But after visiting the schools, knowing other parants, and looking at the school scores and data from a demographic point of view, we are planning to stick it out. Many of the things you like about living in the city are also going to be good for your kids. We live a very active, walkable urban life with our two kids and they get out more and see so much more than the kids in the 'burbs seem to. Young parents also tend to overlook the benefits of an urban area for kids once they are teens - instead of needing to be chauffeured around by parents, they become independent at a younger age because the can walk to almost everything they need. We have a single family house in good condition with a small yard an our mortgage is in line with the rent you are paying.

[semiurbanite]

Here is one other interesting piece of data analysis. Weston is considered to be the best School system in MA, in a leafy wooded suburb. Cambridge is urban and considered to be sub-par based on standardized test scores.

Now if you compare MCAS scores across the school, Weston comes out way ahead. However if you compare apples to apples, and only look at the "Non-Low Income" category for both schools, Cambridge actually does better with more Advanced scores and fewer with Needs Improvement scores. That's right folks, an urban schools beats THE BEST school system in the state once you control for income. Seems to jive perfectly with the SES correlation with student achievement I illustrated in this thread.

% Advanced % Proficient % Needs Improvement
GRADE LEVEL 3 - READING- Weston 27 53 20
GRADE LEVEL 3 - READING- Cambridge 32 52 16
GRADE LEVEL 3 - MATHEMATICS- Weston 47 35 17
GRADE LEVEL 3 - MATHEMATICS- Cambridge 68 28 0
GRADE LEVEL 4 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS- Weston 35 48 14
GRADE LEVEL 4 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS- Cambridge 4 58 38
GRADE LEVEL 4 - MATHEMATICS- Weston 43 41 13
GRADE LEVEL 4 - MATHEMATICS- Cambridge 35 35 27
GRADE LEVEL 5 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS- Weston 34 49 16
GRADE LEVEL 5 - ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS- Cambridge 46 54 0
GRADE LEVEL 5 - MATHEMATICS- Weston 44 36 14
GRADE LEVEL 5 - MATHEMATICS- Cambridge 75 14 7