moving to shrewbury, westboro, or southboro (Boston, Worcester: rental, condo, daycares)

[zandrah24]

can someone tell me which of the 3 is best for a family with a 3 yr old and an infant. I really appreciate all the help and any suggestions for preschools and local area activities. We are looking to rent a house as well if anyone knows anything. my husband will be commuting to worcester. we really are looking forward to the new experience. also, do we need a big suv with 4wd to survive the winter??? thanks,

[Sheina Maydela]

hey - we live in Shrewsbury, and it's the closest to Worcester, literally across the bridge. It is a nice upper-middle class town. The Boros are probably a little more upscale, especially Southboro. Southboro is the most sort of rural/exclusive one, and the one furthest from Worcester (but closest to Boston) and Westboro has the nicest little down town area of the three. Other than that, I feel like they're very similar. All three are cut in half by a large road, route 9, which goes all the way to Boston, and has all the big box stores and chain restaurants you can find. With traffic, your longest commute shouldn't be more than 30 min from the furthest point.

As far as winter... I'd say, big storms are big storms everywhere. It's fairly civilized in that sense out here where we live, at least, and in general, the major roads get cleaned up pretty quickly. Some of the smaller ones tend to be problematic. I hear my coworkers complaining about living on a hill where the trucks never come and stuff like that. But I personally don't think that SUVs are a prerequisite for winters around here.

PS We'll be leaving at the end of August, and we are renting right now, in a very nice townhosue condo community with a pool and gorgeous view of the Quinsigamond lake. We have one infant. House has 2 ginormous bedrooms and a large loft... garage... walking distance to Shaws, Panera, the gym... Just saying...

[Sheina Maydela]

oh - schools systems are comparable. There are also plenty of daycares and preschools. There are two Kinderkares (large chain daycares), and a bunch of smaller private ones. If you or your husband will be working for Umass medical or the med school, I HIGHLY recommend the Bright Horizons run daycare center on the University campus. Brand new, beautiful facility, and absolutely amazing staff of teachers. I love it there, I'm sad that the baby will have to say good bye...

Activity wise... I moved here from Boston, so for me, it's kind of dull, but objectively speaking, it's not so bad. Worcester can be rough in some parts, but overall, it's a decent blue collar town. Actually, city. 3rd largest in New England, I guess. Worcester has an art museum, the Ecotarium (like an indoor botanical garden? we've never been, baby too small), the Armory museum. There's a YMCA. A Border's with playgroups and story time. Hanover Theater has shows and plays, some of it for families. There's canoeing on the lake in the summer. Dean park in Shrewsbury is beautiful. For grownups, there is actually a decent number of good restaurants, and some nightlife in Worcester. Boston is also only an hour away.

[AdaminMA]

Agree with all posts so far - you cannot really go wrong with any of these towns. My opinion (and I am biased as I bought a home and live in Westborough) is that, if you are going to rent for awhile, plop down in Shrewsbury and decide for yourself. It is cheaper and closer to your husband's work. If you are going to buy, I would lean towards Westborough or S'boro. We moved here from the mid-Atlantic 4 years ago and when through the exact same evaluation. There are tradeoffs with each town - my (again biased) opinion.

Southboro - will be most expensive to rent or buy (far fewer rental options vs other 2 towns). Great schools - you can get caught up in all of the scores but I wouldn't, it will drive you crazy. Farthest from your husband's work though and you will go to W'boro (or Framingham) to do ANYTHING. Shopping, gym, etc.
Westborough - similar expense to S'boro, slightly less expensive...depends where you buy or rent. Great schools - arguably as good as S'boro (depending on school). Closer to your husband's work (varies depending on what side of town you are on). All the amenities you would want and pretty nice downtown area. All of our S'boro friends have to drive 10-20 minutes to get to anything in Westboro...we are literally <5 minutes from everything.
Shrewsbury - less expensive than both, property taxes a lot less as well. Schools are good, but not as good as South and Westboro (again, varies by school, the HS is great but a few of the elementary and middle schools are "iffy"). Closest to your husband's work.

Again, you really cannot go wrong. I am being overly critical. Shrewsbury is great, but I honestly think the schools in W'boro and S'boro are better. I have a few good friends in Shrewsbury that send their kids to private school.

Preschools - Lilliput in Shrewsbury is good (i hear). We sent our last 2 kids (i have 4) to Miss Tanyas in Westborough center - GREAT Preschool. My wife is an educator (former) and she swears by it. Our first child went to S'boro Village Preschool in Southboro center. Some people swear by it but we changed schools for a reason...just wasn't working for us (the instruction). We have one more to put through (a 2 year old currently) and we will certainly send her to Miss Tanyas.

Car - don't get hung up on getting the SUV. We have a Sienna front wheel drive and get around just fine. They are so good at clearing the roads around here that by the time you head out, the roads are clear enough not to need 4WD. I honestly needed the 4WD more in MD than MA!

Hope this helps.

[zandrah24]

Thank you so much everyone!!! This was very helpful. If anyone knows of a good rental in the area that would be great.

[kmann-sherborn]

I might know of 1-2 places. What size home & price range are you looking for in a rental & when are you looking to move?

[Sheina Maydela]

Like I said:

We'll be leaving at the end of August, and we are renting right now, in a very nice townhosue condo community with a pool and gorgeous view of the Quinsigamond lake. We have one infant. House has 2 ginormous bedrooms PLUS a large loft, could be playroom, another bedroom, office ... garage... walking distance to Shaws, Panera, the gym... Just saying... Landlords are great, live nearby, responsive whenever there's any issue. Not that we've had that many, just the occasional repair. Let me know if interested, I'm sure the landlords would appreciate if we find them candidates before we leave.

[zandrah24]

well we would like something around 2500 to 3000 sq ft

[zandrah24]

we have decided on shrewsbury and hopefully everything will work out. do you happen to know of a ballet class i could get my 3 yr old involved in? we are looking forward to the experience

[kmann-sherborn]

For ballet classes, it might be worth checking with the Shrewsbury Park & Recreation Department. They offer a lot of different programs. Or Dawn's School of Dance next door in Northboro offers preschool dance lessons. Home Page