Commuting from NH into Boston BY CAR (Brookline, Malden: houses, high school)

[moneil]

Hi,
My husband and 2 children (under 5) are moving to New England in 2 months. Husband works in the middle of Boston, Federal Building (I believe). He must drive his car to work. I stay at home with the kids.
We would like to spend no more than 350,000 on a home, that is our upper limit.
Based on everything I've seen ONLINE, we would find the home we want in NH, with a large yard. But I am getting very mixed commentary on the commute.
Here is what I've been "told" (researching)-
Salem, Merrimack, Nashua, Londonderry, Derry will take just over or under an hour IF he leaves around 6.
What about Exeter? Their home page says 2 hours, but I heard someone say 1 hour to Boston?

Then I hear, often, that you would NEVER want to commute from southern NH. His future co-workers have told him that many live in southern NH and get to work within an hour. Why is that on these forums, there are such different estimates?

Also heard that Brookline would be way to far of a commute, but Hollis is doable. ? I like Brookline, is it doable?

When I say doable, my husband doesn't mind driving. He commuted 3 hours a day/3 days a week in North Dakota. GRANTED, traffic was nonexistent and it was not 5 DAYS a week.

Thank you so very much for your help.
We're 1500 miles away and relying on realtor.com, mapquest, and google.

Maggie

[CityGirl52]

Moneil,

I commuted in to downtown Boston for over 15 years from NH's seacoast (Exeter area). I just did two good examples for you to compare the distances. If your husband commutes from Exeter, NH to the Federal Reserve located at 600 Atlantic Avenue in Boston, from the Philips Exeter Academy located at 20 Main Street on mapquest it's 1 hour & 6 minutes @ 53.55 miles.

I wanted you to see what it looks like on a map, so here it is:

Driving Directions from 20 Main St, Exeter, NH to 600 Atlantic Ave, Boston, MA



IF you decide to move to the Derry, NH area of NH instead? I put in Pinkerton Academy in Derry for an average commute down to the Federal Reserve bank building. It's located at 5 Pinkerton Street in Derry by the way. Then this commute would be 54 minutes @ 43.98 miles, yes a little less mileage, yet I know for a fact the commute is the same as if you were going over 53 miles due to the traffic involved on I-93 that he would get day in and day out.

Driving Directions from 5 Pinkerton St, Derry, NH to 600 Atlantic Ave, Boston, MA



The commute from Exeter is a straight run down I-95, YET a lot of people can't stand the Rte 1 part of the snarls, it moves, but it can get annoying, you get used to it though, I even know the shortcuts to get over to I-93 if that happens. If your husband ends up driving in, BUT there's also the commuter rail that's SO convenient right in Exeter, it's the downeaster that's working out for SO many people these days! The thing is, it drops you off at NORTH station the other side of Boston and the Federal Reserve bank building is located near South Station. This is the exact commute that I had because my building was located near this bank building when I worked in town. So all he has to do IF he takes the commuter rail in from Exeter is get off at North Station and take the bus down to the South Station area, there's drop offs there. If he drives all the way in, there's a few parking spots that I can tell him about once you guys get settled. I'm sure his new company has that taken care of right?

Here's the MBTA site so you can see the various routes of the commuter rail and the different buses are on here too:

MBTA.com > Official Website for Greater Boston's Public Transportation System

You know there's all different alternatives, if he leaves really early in the morning, he could even get down to Oak Grove in Malden OR get over to Wellington Station, park the car at either station's lots and just take the MBTA subway, the orange line in to Boston. He can switch over at Downtown Crossing, go downstairs to the subways red line for South Station. It sounds like a long long commute for you I bet, well actually that takes minutes on the MBTA, really, it's only about a 10 or 15 minute commute! He would luck out doing that some mornings and then taking the train home at night from South Station. So that's a thought too for you. I had it down to a science when I did this stuff!
A lot of people are moving to southern NH these days. I don't blame them one bit either, it's tax free NH, the roads are nicer and it's the best of both worlds really, living and working in New England this is how it is for a lot of people now a days. In fact, early in the morning we see SO many many more people now heading down to Boston for work, more than ever before! It's very doable and as long as an hour (or SO) commute doesn't bother you guys, it can be done. I worked the 4 day work week that's how I got thru it. I went thru a lot of cars, but I was spoiled and always wanted a newer car doing all that driving. Now I have one that's got close to 150,000 miles on it and it's staying with me for a while longer! I used to trade them in left and right, NO more...

They just in the last few years built a new high school in Exeter, it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I know for a fact, you will really enjoy the town a lot. YES you will find what you're looking for there under that amount. Even if you see houses in the towns of Kensington OR Brentwood, those are towns right next to Exeter that use the Exeter schools I believe, don't quote me though I don't have kids, but I'm pretty sure that's how it works with that stuff.

Always plan on a 2 hour commute, no matter what. That's why that home page says a 2 hour commute for Exeter to downtown Boston. It's the weather, snow, rain and even snarl tie ups and it could be an accident. You never know what it's going to be like early in the morning or later on in the day.

I'm very used to this type of drive and it doesn't bother me one bit. It's not bad at all. There's good options now, more than ever before. There's also from where I live on the seacoast near Newburyport the commuter rail there too that's working out for SO many people. So no matter where you look on the seacoast or southern NH near the seacoast is what I should say so you won't be confused about the two different areas. If there's a will, there's a way, let's put it that way, it's SO much easier now for people then when I used to commute back and forth.

Good luck and keep us posted, if there's any other questions, don't hesitate to ask them right here. Look for Val's posts, she knows the seacoast well and can explain it to you to a T between the two regions of southern NH.

I know there's thousands on here that prefer the Salem, Londonderry, Derry area of southern NH due to the convenience, but no ones telling me they have less traffic then the ones commuting from the seacoast (Exeter) area getting in to Boston!

[moneil]

Wow. Thank you SO much CityGirl.
We've been on the computer for months and this is the most beneficial input we've gotten.
THANK YOU!!
My husband HAS to take a car to work, he uses for his work once he gets there. Then they provide parking. He can't take the train, that is why I wondered about commuting by car.
Gosh, thanks a lot for all the info.
My husband and I will go over this post several times slowly I'm sure.
Thanks!

[CaseyB]

moneil, you might want to ask the folks in the New Hampshire forum about this. Some of them mght have some experience with this commute or have more recommendations for you. Exeter, Londonderry and Hollis are all nice towns with good schools, I don't know if I would recommend Salem or Nashua, though. You might want to consider Windham.

[moneil]

I will do that. Thanks!

[CityGirl52]

The property taxes are ridiculously HIGH in Windham, be careful of that in this state. Londonderry or Derry would fit the bill for that part of the state with great schools like Exeter, Brentwood or Kensington for the seacoast region. Good luck and YES I think you better go to the NH forum too for more input, since this IS the Boston forum you're in....