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^Mmhmm. Affordability is clearly Chicago’s ace in the hole for this particular comparison.
Which is why it is a slam dunk winner in a best place to raise a family thread. The housing in any strong school system suburban town with a non-soul crushing commute to the Boston and 128 jobs isn’t affordable on middle class income.
I used to live in Andover. Lawrence is invisible. For retail, you shop in tax-free New Hampshire. I’ll bet that 90% of Andover residents don’t set foot in Lawrence in any given year. It’s a failed city with no retail. A classic example of socioeconomic segregation.
Really!? That’s too bad.
I just moved up here a few months ago, and I’ve been a handful of times. Lawrence has some great restaurants, and on Essex Street in particular there are some beautiful old buildings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
Which is why it is a slam dunk winner in a best place to raise a family thread. The housing in any strong school system suburban town with a non-soul crushing commute to the Boston and 128 jobs isn’t affordable on middle class income.
Ain’t that the truth. (I just cast my vote for Chicago) Something really needs to change, but I’ll save it for the threads in the MA or Boston subforums.
Last edited by Boston Shudra; 01-15-2020 at 07:16 PM..
^Mmhmm. Affordability is clearly Chicago’s ace in the hole for this particular comparison.
Definitely. But that alone wouldn't make Chicago a better place for families unless it were up against somewhere obscenely unaffordable like San Francisco (as opposed to sonewhere merely pricey like Boston).
Definitely. But that alone wouldn't make Chicago a better place for families unless it were up against somewhere obscenely unaffordable like San Francisco (as opposed to sonewhere merely pricey like Boston).
for a lot of people Boston is obscenely unaffordable. You just named the only place more expnenisive.
Convenience, if you'd call that an amenity. There's more of everything, and often closer. Chicago communities maintain density- commercial and residential- far further than Boston suburbs. 95 towns in Boston, if it were like Illinois, would be as dense as Newton.
this. Most Boston suburbs have dismal practical amenities in my opinion. Even compared to metros that are far worse in QOL.
this. Most Boston suburbs have dismal practical amenities in my opinion. Even compared to metros that are far worse in QOL.
It's a big gap, no doubt.
But despite the NIMBYism and refusal of chains and box stores and just general commercial activity in a lot of 95/495 suburbs, I think Boston has the amount of amenities and luxuries that you'd expect from an MSA of it's size.
Well Newton has 13 separate villages, many of which have their own main street/square, which gives it a considerable amount of walkability. But, Newton is an anomaly in this way, and functions more like Evanston in Illinois.
Not sure if I’d list Auburndale or Waban high on my list of top 50 MA urban nodes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeignCrunch
Definitely. But that alone wouldn't make Chicago a better place for families unless it were up against somewhere obscenely unaffordable like San Francisco (as opposed to sonewhere merely pricey like Boston).
Eh. You might be underestimating the difference in affordability. Remember men’s Deerfield/Andover comparison. The homes were almost twice as expensive.
Well, if this were baseball, Newton is batting .750 for walkable vs. unwalkable areas to live.
I'd draft Newton over 95% of other Boston suburbs, based on this criteria.
I disagree pretty strongly with this, but this probably isn’t the thread to launch into Waltham vs Watertown vs Newton arguments.
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