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This is the credibility issue...people in MA will say anything in MA is nice so long as its not boarded up and cost a lot of mony. Makes no real life practical sense.
This is the credibility issue...people in MA will say anything in MA is nice so long as its not boarded up and cost a lot of mony. Makes no real life practical sense.
Lots of potential. Imagine electrified rail service on the Boston-Worcester run: Downtown Framingham would be popping; all those lovely parking lots could be developed.
Lots of potential. Imagine electrified rail service on the Boston-Worcester run: Downtown Framingham would be popping; all those lovely parking lots could be developed.
of course...the classic answer
None of the downtown mentioned is nice...or worth anyone's time. Certainly not at 900k for a basic home.
Lots of potential. Imagine electrified rail service on the Boston-Worcester run: Downtown Framingham would be popping; all those lovely parking lots could be developed.
Yeah but is it here, now? Why would you pay that much money to live in a town.. that hasn't fully developed yet.
Tying back to Chicago, just scroll through Zillow and see the cost to own of some of these homes. Its easily 1/2-2/3 as much as their MA counterparts and the towns are absolutely stunning
Yes, I'm taking Rahway NJ over Natick each and every day of the week as a stand-alone town. More walkable, 10x more diverse, way wayy more affordable, more evenly developed. The schools are weaker but I think they're serviceable enough to get a good education with involved parents. You have to live in MA and maybe nowhere else to think a place like Natick is even remotely special or endearing.
None of the downtown mentioned is nice...or worth anyone's time. Certainly not at 900k for a basic home.
Not nice exactly but walkable, has a Brazilian flavor, a brewery... It can take some time to reverse Framingham's 75 year history of neglecting downtown in favor of Route 9 developments but seems they're moving in that direction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by masssachoicetts
Yeah but is it here, now? Why would you pay that much money to live in a town.. that hasn't fully developed yet.
Yes, but then you'd be living in New Jersey. Not helpful if you're in the Boston area. The Rahway new urbanism in the first image looks good but this is the most urban corridor in NJ, between Newark and New Brunswick along the turnpike through Elizabethport, Linden, Edison... Packed with houses, industrial parks, highways, railroads, tank farms, refineries. You can compare anything to anything I guess but your typical rising young executive would find Natick, with its natural landscapes, old-fashioned business blocks downtown and proximity to beautiful country-like areas north and south a lot more attractive than Rahway.
Anyway, no state, Illinois included, can touch New Jersey for walkable town centers connected with good rail transit. It's loaded with them.
Not nice exactly but walkable, has a Brazilian flavor, a brewery... It can take some time to reverse Framingham's 75 year history of neglecting downtown in favor of Route 9 developments but seems they're moving in that direction.
Yes, but then you'd be living in New Jersey. Not helpful if you're in the Boston area. The Rahway new urbanism in the first image looks good but this is the most urban corridor in NJ, between Newark and New Brunswick along the turnpike through Elizabethport, Linden, Edison... Packed with houses, industrial parks, highways, railroads, tank farms, refineries. You can compare anything to anything I guess but your typical rising young executive would find Natick, with its natural landscapes, old-fashioned business blocks downtown and proximity to beautiful country-like areas north and south a lot more attractive than Rahway.
Anyway, no state, Illinois included, can touch New Jersey for walkable town centers connected with good rail transit. It's loaded with them.
As Ive said I make an exception for Framingham I've never thought of downtown as "nice" but it's decent. But it also considered a less desirable city. If not the least desirable in the whole MetroWest, which is ironic. I like Framingham for its socioeconomic diveristy-genuine social and economic diversity, decent access to nature, decent commute, and fairly reasonable home prices. More of MetroWest should aspire to Framingham..or at least Waltham. Just maintain your downtown while at it.
Rahway and the like aren't the prettiest but I dont think a young rising executive care a ton about natural landscapes and country areas. That runs contrary to everything we see today.
I don't really find places like Rahway or Linden to be too different than places like Malden or Medford really. Just a little more industrial which makes sense given NYC is right there. Still more accessible and offering a decent middle-class QOL to many people than to Natick. But this is pretty subjective now. There many fairly urbanized strips in that north jersey area. I cant confirm or deny that little section is the "most urbanized" the connectivity of the street grid you alluded to and transit in NJ makes it enviable to me.
To be fair, this is the center of Concord. And this. From here you can walk to the railroad station, North Bridge, Battle Road trail, Walden Pond, Estabrook Woods, Great Meadows national wildlife refuge. It's a beautiful place for old Yankees like me.
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