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Old 02-28-2009, 04:10 PM
 
15 posts, read 40,033 times
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Hi-

Possibly relocating to Boston (south boston to be precise). Lived 10 years in Gross pointe Michigan and now Cincinnati, High Park Ohio. looking for quiet neighborhood (older, established) with good public schools reasonably close to city or transportation system. My budget is around 600K. Am I dreaming??

Thanks in advance!
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Old 02-28-2009, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Boston, MA
3,962 posts, read 5,710,097 times
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The Dorchester neighborhood(s) in Boston seem to fit your description and price range. Look in the Shawmut, Adams Village, Neponset, Ashmont Hill, Savin Hill, and Lower Mills sections of Dorchester. These parts are generally safe neighborhoods that are mostly close to public transportation (yes Boston does have rapid transit and Dorchester is served by the Red Line), not far from Boston's downtown, and have many older homes and long established families though also a growing number of newcomers too. Many homes have yards as well.

Boston's public schools range from excellent to horrible so do some proper research before enrolling your children in them. If your children are younger than 14 or have not reached seventh or ninth grade yet, be sure to have them take the entrance examination to the exam schools (Boston Latin, Boston Latin Academy, and Boston Technical/John D. Obryant schools). They take in students only in the seventh and ninth grades and are quite competitive but they are genuine college preparatory public schools and the best of Boston. There are a few pilot schools and public charter schools to choose from as well
but again may be competitive and so get information well before deadlines. I would leave the district middle and high schools as a last resort and a few ought to be avoided altogether. I don't know too much about elementary schools other than again the good ones are competitive to get into. Metro Boston also has good private schools such as BC High, Catholic Memorial, and Cathedral High which aren't too expensive and then excellent but very expensive schools such as Milton Academy, Noble and Greenough, and Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols.


Quincy, Medford, Malden, and Revere are a few suburbs with similar price ranges (I believe) and slightly better public education so you might want to consider them too.
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Old 02-28-2009, 08:15 PM
 
Location: Rt 128
42 posts, read 162,054 times
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I would not call Dorchester suburb. For suburban communities close to Boston with convenient commute, Milton, Newton, and Winchester have the best schools. There should be some houses in your price range, but not too many. Good luck!
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Old 02-28-2009, 08:49 PM
 
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I would think there would be plenty of options.
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Old 02-28-2009, 09:18 PM
 
Location: Providence, RI
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There are plenty of options for that price range and Dorchester certainly has varies types of neighborhoods and densities (some of them suburban some of them not so much) as it's a huge area. Hyde Park and parts of Jamaica Plain shouldn't be overlooked either when talking about neighborhoods within the Boston city limits.

Milton, Winchester and Newton are good options as well. I'd also check into parts of Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville.
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Old 03-01-2009, 11:52 AM
 
Location: Boston, MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FellsMom View Post
I would not call Dorchester suburb. For suburban communities close to Boston with convenient commute, Milton, Newton, and Winchester have the best schools. There should be some houses in your price range, but not too many. Good luck!
Newton and Winchester definitely have superior schools but as you had said yourself, there are not too many houses to be bought for 600k in those towns, which is why I did not recommend them. The public transportation choices for both places aren't great either. Milton is a better option as there are a few houses in the 600k price in the areas closest to Mattapan Square (just don't look in Mattapan proper though).

The Boston neighborhoods of West Roxbury, Roslindale, parts of Hyde Park, and parts of Jamaica Plain are also worth looking at. There should be 600k houses in those neighborhoods and most parts of those neighborhoods are safe and pleasant as well. The first three neighborhoods have only buses and commuter rail but at least the buses feed into the rapid transit system.
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Old 03-01-2009, 09:40 PM
 
Location: Rt 128
42 posts, read 162,054 times
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Newton has green line and Winchester has commuter rail, both with excellent access to public transportation system.

I agree with the recommendation on west roxbury and jamaica plain, but only for kids older than 7th grade (potential for exam schools, which are excellent).
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Old 03-02-2009, 08:31 AM
 
2,312 posts, read 7,501,477 times
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If the OP lived in Grosse Pointe I don't think they're going to be happy with the the Boston Public school system for their kids.

And I'm not sure what reasonably close is, but I'll throw out the following: Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, Needham, Westwood, Hingham, Norwell (no public transportation in town). 600K is low end in these towns, but you may be able to find something adequate for your needs. The public schools are good.

These are all west and south. I'm sure there are plenty more. I'm not familiar with the north, but people consistently mention Arlington and Lexington on these boards as good choices, along with Medford. There's also Stonington, but their schools are having a budget crisis.
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Old 03-02-2009, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Metrowest, MA
1,810 posts, read 10,463,279 times
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There are plenty of houses for $600K in all those towns mentioned. The question is expectation.... 60 year old vs new... 1200 sq ft vs 3000 sq ft ...

Every school district has a budget crisis... due to reduction of local aid, increase in health care benefit cost and teacher salaries (contracts)... some are bigger than others... To address this, many towns had decide to put in sport fees ($250-500/sport), bus fees ($250-400/yr/child), activities fees, ... etc. Other towns has decided to eliminate many activities, increase class size, reduce # of teacher/administrators.

[oops... may be not Newton... they are still building the $200million high school palace (originally cost $100million). Hope they have some money left to fix the elementary & middle schools or teachers to fill the school]
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