Towns with decent commutes to both Waltham and Providence? (Boston: middle-class, house)

[jmsca]

My husband's company is moving to Providence, and as we currently live in Maynard, a move is imminent. However, I love my job in Waltham and want to keep it, so we're trying to figure out a town that's about halfway between Providence and Waltham...however, there's one small problem. I won't drive on the highway - it pretty much gives me panic attacks. So I'm looking for a commute of up to 45 min that's smaller roads (routes are fine - I currently take 117 and am fine. Even something the size of Rt. 2 is fine - it's the 128s and 495s that terrify me!!) into Waltham, while my husband is perfectly fine taking the highway if need be into Providence.

We're currently thinking that the Norfolk area is our best bet. Does anyone have any comments about Norfolk, or suggestions on other towns around there, or suggestions of towns not around there? And can anyone speak to the drive from that area up to Waltham?

Thanks so much for your help!

[CaseyB]

Walpole might be a little easier than Norfolk. Better access to 95 for your husband, you could take Rte.1 into West Roxbury and take back roads to Waltham from there, I guess. Or depending on what part of town, you might take 109.

[ogre]

The best location depends not only on the commute to the two places you need access to, but also factors such as your housing budget, kind of look and feel you'd prefer in a town, and preference or not for access to public transit. For the best access to both workplaces, you might want to live a bit closer to Waltham. Traffic may make for a much longer commute to Waltham than Providence if you live midway between them.

Keeping that in mind, if you could go for a leafy lose-density suburb, towns like Hopkinton and Holliston could be good. They're close to 495 (especially Hopkinton), which would put your husband on the quick route toward Providence, while you'd have a few options, including Newton via 135 or rt. 9, then cutting up through Newton to Waltham. Depending on the best route you could find after some trial and error, you might also find a good commute on local roads by cutting up through Framingham, Wayland, and Weston.

For a more traditional suburban feel in a nice middle-class town, you might try Natick. You'd have access to Waltham via many of the same routes you might take from the H towns, while your husband would have the option of fairly close proximity to either 128 or 495.

[jmsca]

Thanks for the replies!

We were aiming for halfway between, thinking that the traffic down to Providence would be worse than up to Waltham, but perhaps that's a mistaken thought? My hours are slightly before rush hour - I work 7:15-3:15, while my husband's are firmly w/in rush hour - 8-5pm.

As to type of town - we like smaller towns, or at least less densely populated. I'm a country girl at heart, so the more rural the better, for me, though I've gotten accustomed to normal suburbs. We don't have kids and don't plan to, so the school system doesn't really matter. Our budget is probably up to about $425,000.

[mmyk72]

Using 495 is probably better to get to Providence due to the traffic on I-95, plus if you like rural, then you're better off looking at towns further out west / southwest of the I-95 area (Holliston/Hopkinton/etc) where you get more house for your $$.

Rt 135, 16, 20, 27, 30, 9 - just to name a few will get you to Waltham (may need to take local roads to make some connections). These are mostly 1 lane roads, passing thru town centers so you can only drive as fast as the car in front of you and stoplights. Rt 9 goes faster than the rest.

I live in Natick and use Rt 30 a lot to Waltham. You may want to avoid anything that passes Framingham downtown (where 126 and 135 meets) as that's a major bottleneck.

[Gabe1972]

First town that comes to mind for me is Canton.

[QuilterChick]

Originally Posted by jmsca

Thanks for the replies!

We were aiming for halfway between, thinking that the traffic down to Providence would be worse than up to Waltham, but perhaps that's a mistaken thought? My hours are slightly before rush hour - I work 7:15-3:15, while my husband's are firmly w/in rush hour - 8-5pm.

As to type of town - we like smaller towns, or at least less densely populated. I'm a country girl at heart, so the more rural the better, for me, though I've gotten accustomed to normal suburbs. We don't have kids and don't plan to, so the school system doesn't really matter. Our budget is probably up to about $425,000.

Foxboro, Stoughton, Avon, Wrentham, Franklin

[ogre]

Regarding which way you get the worst traffic, I can see how you might expect traffic toward Providence to be worse than traffic through Boston's suburbs if you don't actually go into the city. The reality is that even if you stay in the suburbs you encounter a lot of traffic on the major roads connecting to Boston, as well as sometimes on roads feeding into those major roads. Depending on the location, you might find a route over back streets which would avoid a lot of traffic, but then you'd be slowed down by driving on small local streets.

If you'd prefer somewhat rural towns, I'd suggest looking first in Hopkinton and Holliston, maybe some other less densely populated towns in the general vicinity of Framingham, like Southborough or Sudbury.

[kmann-sherborn]

You can see photos of Holliston at Scenes of Holliston Downtown - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21590926@N07/sets/72157623385271299/ - broken link)

Also, here's an article about Hopkinton & surrounding areas: THE ADDRESS : The Business of Extraordinary Living : Presented by Sotheby's International Realty