Rate these towns from best to worst (Boston, Cambridge: house, schools)

[readymade]

Hey, can you rate these towns from "best" to "worst" in regards to schools and general feel? i.e. where would you live given the choice assuming you had a newborn? And why? (and you have to choose from the below... no adding Arlington or Winchester in there, heh).

Malden
Medford
Somerville
Melrose
Stoneham
Burlington
Wilmington
Woburn
Wakefield
Revere

[xS☺B☺s]

Malden 2
Medford 3
Somerville 9
Melrose - 1.
Stoneham 8
Burlington 6
Wilmington 7
Woburn 4
Wakefield 5
Revere 10

I ranked these w the assumption you are staying there through the newborns school years. I balance safety, cleanliness with proximity to the city. If easier city access ranks higher, bump SV & RV up. Burbs like BUR & WIL I ranked lower cuz they are way out there.

[RedSoxFan13]

In regards to schools and general feel, I believe the top towns would be:
Burlington, Melrose, Wakefield, and Wilmington

[redpanda]

Malden
Medford
Somerville
Melrose
Stoneham
Burlington
Wilmington
Woburn
Wakefield
Revere

Ok, rearranged in order of my preferences from best to worst:

Melrose - Great feel, decent schools. Love Melrose!
Medford - Super convenient, Medford Family Network a great source of family-friendly stuff to do, decent schools. Love Medford!
Wakefield - Further out, more suburban feel, but very pretty and seems friendly, decent schools, less transit. Really like Wakefield!
Stoneham - Less "personality", but decent schools, suburban feel, close to the previous 3, less transit. Like Stoneham!
Somerville - Great town as long as you're planning to move before your newborn goes to school. Love Somerville but won't move there with my toddler.
Wilmington - Way less convenient, further out, but seems nice/suburban.
Burlington - Enh. Further, less convenient, way too many SAHM's in Juicy Couture sweatpants for my taste, but decent schools.
Woburn - There's that whole superfund site thing, but otherwise it seems Ok...just not in the main downtown area.
Malden - You might not get mugged. There's good transit there. There aren't THAT many needles at the public playgrounds.
Revere - No.

Hope that helped!

[readymade]

Wow. It looks like Melrose wins! I, too, like Melrose a lot. Even though I grew up mostly in Malden, I realized I don't really know much about the towns around me in regards to raising a kid. Malden schools were pretty awful when I went, but I didn't know if they'd gotten any better.

It seems like the further out you are (Burlington), the more woodsy it got. my cousins grew up in Burlington, and their backyard was totally woods. It was pretty awesome. BUT, at the same time, they never went into Boston/Cambridge/Somerville (the few times I took them, they were scared) and ended up staying in the burbs their whole lives (so far). They had kids way too young, etc... (although I'm having MY kid "too old" so what does that say, heh)

I took the T into Boston all the time growing up (alone, which is something I'd NEVER let my kid do). Went to museums, shows, played out in my band, etc... It was pretty great, actually. But much more urban and definitely more dangerous (definitely had some scary moments on the T).

I'd like to find a good balance of the two that was still somewhat affordable, and Melrose might be it. Now, if only I could afford a house there! There are currently TWO in my price range (under $400K).

Thanks, guys, for your comments.

[Cliff Clavin]

Have you considered Saugus? I'd say it would rank somewhere between Melrose and Malden, and not nearly as far out as Burlington. I've seen plenty of listings under 400k as well.

[readymade]

Originally Posted by Cliff Clavin

Have you considered Saugus? I'd say it would rank somewhere between Melrose and Malden, and not nearly as far out as Burlington. I've seen plenty of listings under 400k as well.

Yeah, I really don't know anything about Saugus other than Route 1. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks.

[redpanda]

If I revised my list to include Saugus, I'd put it somewhere between Woburn and Revere.

ETA: How old is "too old" to have a kid? Most of my friends with kids my son's age are in their mid to late 30's at least. 40's also is far from unheard-of, I have several friends in that situation. When I had my son at 32, my OB teased me about being "just a baby having a baby". Boston is not an area where people rush into having families...people around here seem to mostly start once they're set and comfortable in their careers.

[MiddlesexLG]

Since when are Wilmington and Burlington are "way out there." They are both on major highways and only about 15 miles from downtown.

[readymade]

Originally Posted by redpanda

ETA: How old is "too old" to have a kid? Most of my friends with kids my son's age are in their mid to late 30's at least. 40's also is far from unheard-of, I have several friends in that situation. When I had my son at 32, my OB teased me about being "just a baby having a baby". Boston is not an area where people rush into having families...people around here seem to mostly start once they're set and comfortable in their careers.

Well, that's why I put "too old" in quotes. I'm 36, which is CERTAINLY not too old. I was sort of being facetious. (my Burlington cousin, who is my age, had her first at 19... and her last in her 30s. In her defense, even when we were little kids, she was dying to have kids. I, on the other hand, announced more than once that I would NEVER have a baby, heh.) Given that, if I had to do it all again, I would probably choose to have a baby at 34. It's not exactly fun to have your doctor mention your "advanced maternal age" more than once or have down syndrome testing, etc...