MOVE to BOSTON (Worcester, Malden, Watertown: to rent, safe area, school districts)

[nelli]

I am considering moving to Boston from Florida, Anyone have some tips for me. I am trying to make this move during the summer months. I am a paralegal and I am pursuing my BS in Criminal Justice. I have a 17 year old and a 11 year old.

[ogre]

People could give detailed advice with information such as: your housing budget; whether you would prefer to rent or buy; whether you would prefer to get around mostly by driving or by public transit; what activities you and your kids enjoy and would like to have nearby; what you're hoping to find in a new location that would be different from Florida.

There are still some pieces of general information about the area that might give you some picture. First, the Boston area is expensive. It's not quite the most expensive metro area in the country, but it's up there. Realistically, this is something you need to take into account when considering a move to the area.

Something else to be aware of is that there is a lot of vehicular traffic in the Boston area. The adventure of driving in the area is something you would probably find to be a significant change, unless maybe you would be moving from Miami.

Finally, in considering schools for your kids, you would want to look into the quality of schools in individual towns. Local town and city government is highly emphasized in the political structure of all the New England states, and each city and town provides its own arrangements for education, rather than the countywide school districts found in many states.

A little info to get you started. Best of luck in finding the right place.

[nelli]

Thanks for the information, I was looking at a few different ares, they are as follows: Westborough, Worster, Watertown and someone was tellinh me about Bunker Hill. What are your thoughts?

[ogre]

The places you're looking at are different from each other in character. Here are a few basics on these places:

Worcester is a small city, about 45 miles west of Boston, pretty much its own city, with some fringe association with the Boston metro area. There is commuter rail service between Worcester and Boston, and a couple of indoor arenas in Worcester are among the rock concert venues for the greater Boston area, but Worcester is too far from Boston to be a true suburb. I'm not intimately familiar with Worcester. It has a bit of a reputation as a run down, maybe somewhat unsafe city, but I hear that there are nice neighborhoods in Worcester, and that the quality of your surroundings depends a lot on which neighborhood you live in. I can't tell you about the schools there.

Westborough is closer to Worcester than Boston It's on the commuter rail line, and near the Mass. Turnpike, so both cities are accessible from Westborough, though the commute to Boston would be long by many people's standards, over an hour on the train, and probably just as long by road, possibly a bit longer, due to heavy inbound traffic. I don't know a lot about Westborough, but I believe that it is an affluent, less densely populated, maybe a little bit country, suburban town, and I do believe that the schools there are well regarded.

Watertown borders Boston on the west. Even though Watertown is a separate community, it is located in the densely populated core area adjacent to Boston. Physically, Watertown resembles a densely populated outlying residential section of the city proper. The town is a mix of middle class and blue collar, with plenty in the way of basic local shopping, but maybe not a lot of high-end businesses. It's a fairly quick drive to downtown Boston from most of Watertown. Even at high traffic times, you're close enough to downtown for a fairly quick trip. The only public transit in Watertown is the bus, though a short drive would get you to commuter rail stations in Belmont, the next town to the north. I don't know much about the schools in Watertown.

Bunker Hill is in the Charlestown section of the city of Boston itself. Charlestown is a dense, urban kind of place. It has seen some inner-city gentrification since the '80's or '90's. It's not one of the really high-end sections of the city, but is a nice solid, reasonably safe area, with plenty of basic local city neighborhood shopping within walking distance of most spots. As for schools, you would be dealing with Boston city schools. I'm unfamiliar with the way that students are assigned to schools in Boston at this time. At one time, back in the '70's, students were bussed all over the city to promote school integration. Since then, the populations of a number of sections of Boston have become more integrated. I'm not sure whether this has led to a return to neighborhood schools, which would now be more integrated due to increasing ethnic/racial diversity in a number of the neighborhoods. You would definitely want to check into the details about how your kids would be assigned to schools, and which schools they would attend. I don't know much about specific schools in Boston, but I know that there is a wide range in quality, so you would want to check very closely into which schools your children would attend before settling in any section within the city proper.

If you have some idea what schools you would be interested in as possible places to pursue your degree, and where you might look for work, that would be some additional info that would help people give you an idea how conveniently located various communities would be for your needs. So, a little more info, and bit by bit, you'll get a picture of the area.

[nelli]

Thank you, Ogre, you have been very helpful..

[ogre]

You're welcome. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Best of luck with your plans.

[Curious22]

Malden was just rated as the best place to raise children around Boston, so it might be worth looking into. It's 6 miles north of Boston, right on the orange line subway line (a quick 15 minute ride into downtown Boston), and the west side of Malden is a safe, upper-to-middle class neighborhood. There's a large reservation nearby, and easy access to major roads (16, 93, 60).