Canton work move - what's new? =) (Boston, Newton: real estate, rent, house)

[movestoomuch]

Hello all,

Obviously as you can tell from my forum name I am in "moving mode" again. *sigh*

One of the opportunites I am looking into is with a company located in Canton.

I'm white, 50, married - we are both extremely fit for our age, one adult child (not living with us) and we're totally suburban type people. (Jez, I feel like I'm signing up for a dating site...)

At this time I live in Cool Springs, TN and *love* it. I'm not xain, it has nothing to do with the country music either (yuck) but it is as suburban as it gets and other than Scottsdale, Arizona (where we raised our 2 children) it is the cleanest place I have ever lived.

Where have I lived before? Funny you should ask...
Not including where I lived whilst in the military:

Amherst, NY (A suburb of Buffalo, NY)
Las Cruces, NM
San Antonio, TX
Coral Gables, FL
Richmond, VA (Midlothian)
Scottsdale, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA (Peter's Township)
Franklin/Cool Springs/Brentwood/Nashville, TN

If anyone has lived in or knows any of the above mentioned places and can relate areas in/around Boston that may match those listed above, please leave a comparison of cities for me. I would be forever thankful.

Price range should we buy (we'd rent first) would be at least 450K, and we can easily go up to 850K. Which I am realizing is not much of a home in the Boston area. But at our age, I'm thinking that putting a lot of money into a house that we won't be in forever (never say never!) is probably a stupid idea. We'll have around 600K to put down on the home.

It would be great to score a home with at least 3000 sq ft, but from what I've looked at that may not be possible . *Unless* the MLS does not include the basement with total square footage. (PA did not)

Places that we lived in before and disliked - Midlothian, VA because it was far removed from everything else. Too far to the highway, shopping, no street lights, no shoulder of the road, no neighborhood sidewalks etc.

Pittsburgh, PA was a difficult move for us also. Too rural, too dirty, too far from the highway, too far from everything, crappy shopping shopping, no street lights, no shoulder of the road, no neighborhood sidewalks etc. And the city (other than the sports arenas) was SOOOOO dirty and the streets were a nightmare to navigate and the city had absolutely nothing to offer -- even though all the recent media coverage would lead one to think otherwise. (Yes, they have a rocking sports lineup)

The people in all of the cities mentioned above were all fine. Getting along with and meeting people doesn't seem to be a problem for me. *Imagine that after all my complaining* (I'm still friends with people in all the above cities.) Convenience and living in a nice, clean, up-to-date area seems to be really hard to find in the gorgeous (usually rural or millionaire row) northeast areas.

I've done quite a bit of research, but other than actually going there (which will happen soon) and seeing with my own two eyes what it is like (not really Boston proper, since it is a *city* and I'm not looking for that - yet quite frankly, I've heard Boston is a GREAT place to live (if you can afford it) - especially if you are going to college or have a job with one of the many wonderful universities) I am asking people who actually live or have lived there. Realtors lie, so I'll deal with them if we dicide it's where we would like to relocate to.

Our best friends have a son who is a professor at a university there and he and his wife absolutely LOVE living there. Again - university life, youthful, no kids... *not us.*

Please understand I am NOT saying anything negative about Boston. Boston has its good areas and bad. I'm looking for suburban life so I think finding what I am looking for may be easier than I am anticipating.

I mean, Boston! Boston man! I'm just excited about living near an NBA team again!

Out drive time we are comfortable with would be from 1/2 to 3/4 an hour.

I'm seriously hoping I haven't turned a ton of people off on City-Data since I am asking for suburban area advice. If we were younger, this would be a no brainer. But being the age we are and having lived in so many other places, we know what makes us most comfortable.

Thank you City-Data crew. I've used these forums before and it has usually steered me in the right direction so I can gather the rest of the needed information on my own.

Once again, thank you all.

[snatale1]

You've got the price range, you should do fine. I can only compare to Midlo since I don't live far from there (Henrico) Newton, Natick, North Framingham, Southborough, Dedham, Needham, West Roxbury (Boston). There are many others but all of those are noce and very close to the way Midlo is. Also just after looking at your previous states, if your a gun owner there some stuff you'd need to know before moving in to MA. Feel free to PM me if thats the case.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by snatale1

You've got the price range, you should do fine. I can only compare to Midlo since I don't live far from there (Henrico) Newton, Natick, North Framingham, Southborough, Dedham, Needham, West Roxbury (Boston). There are many others but all of those are noce and very close to the way Midlo is. Also just after looking at your previous states, if your a gun owner there some stuff you'd need to know before moving in to MA. Feel free to PM me if thats the case.

I'll write a longer reply when I have more time, but for now I'll just say be cautious about some of the towns mentioned in this post. The school systems in some of them are not thought of well and if you move a lot that's a key to resale value and speed here in MA (and I'm sure across the country).

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'll write a longer reply when I have more time, but for now I'll just say be cautious about some of the towns mentioned in this post. The school systems in some of them are not thought of well and if you move a lot that's a key to resale value and speed here in MA (and I'm sure across the country).

With the exception of West Roxbury want to explain this? All of the listed towns have very good school systems.

[SoFresh99]

My vote is Needham. Much of what you may consider "suburban" Boston is not typically suburban. Very few planned neighborhoods with sidewalks, etc. Since most of the area was settled so long ago. Needham however, has a town center, is well sidewalked pretty much throughout, has good schools (for resale as previously mentioned) and would be a reasonable commute to Canton and is clean.

[movestoomuch]

Originally Posted by snatale1

You've got the price range, you should do fine. I can only compare to Midlo since I don't live far from there (Henrico) Newton, Natick, North Framingham, Southborough, Dedham, Needham, West Roxbury (Boston). There are many others but all of those are noce and very close to the way Midlo is. Also just after looking at your previous states, if your a gun owner there some stuff you'd need to know before moving in to MA. Feel free to PM me if thats the case.

Thank you for the comparison. Although Midlothian was building up when we moved away from there, I found Henrico to be a better fit for us. We never lived in Henrico because we left VA after just a little over a year.

Any areas more like Henrico?

[movestoomuch]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'll write a longer reply when I have more time, but for now I'll just say be cautious about some of the towns mentioned in this post. The school systems in some of them are not thought of well and if you move a lot that's a key to resale value and speed here in MA (and I'm sure across the country).

You are definately correct about good schools and resale value!

[movestoomuch]

Originally Posted by SoFresh99

My vote is Needham. Much of what you may consider "suburban" Boston is not typically suburban. Very few planned neighborhoods with sidewalks, etc. Since most of the area was settled so long ago. Needham however, has a town center, is well sidewalked pretty much throughout, has good schools (for resale as previously mentioned) and would be a reasonable commute to Canton and is clean.

Yeah, I figured that even the suburbs would be unlike what I am used to and prefer. The quaintness that an older area offers doesn't usually include streets on a grid system. Bummer for me.

Since most of the neighborhoods don't have sidewalks, where does ne teach a kid how to ride a bike or how do you walk your dog without getting hit by a car?

Are most of the streets one lane each way or are they generally one lane each way (not Boston Proper). I'm sorry, I know they sound like a ridiculous questions.

How is the driving around the city? The only place I found really difficult to get around was Pittsburgh because of the vast amount of bridges.

Does anyone know of a website they can recommend that would give me an idea of what the city streets and suburbs are like? The maps I've found are useless.

Just wondering - would it be better if I asked a mod to move this to the Boston part of the forum?

Thanks again.

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by movestoomuch

Thank you for the comparison. Although Midlothian was building up when we moved away from there, I found Henrico to be a better fit for us. We never lived in Henrico because we left VA after just a little over a year.

Any areas more like Henrico?

The Closest you could get (kinda) is RT9 area in the Natick/ Framingham Stretch. It would be the same in the sense that there close enough (20 min) to the city and tons of shopping, restaurants, etc. But not like Henrico / Short Pump area. With never ending places to live and Mall on top of Mall behind some other mall effect that the West End has. Worst thing from living here is now I'll always compare other places to it. Keep in mind that area is a lot older and doesn't have the same nice look that Henrico has, but for New England it's cool. When (if) I move back that's most likely where I'd go.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by snatale1

With the exception of West Roxbury want to explain this? All of the listed towns have very good school systems.

The Framingham school system is having a lot of problems as well.

Originally Posted by movestoomuch

It would be great to score a home with at least 3000 sq ft, but from what I've looked at that may not be possible . *Unless* the MLS does not include the basement with total square footage. (PA did not)

Unfortunately, there's not a hard and fast rule in the area MLS as to whether or not you can include below grade square footage in the living area total. Some agents do and some don't although often there is a note somewhere (not always visible on all websites) as to whether it is included in the total or if there is additional square footage in the lower level.

Originally Posted by movestoomuch

I am asking people who actually live or have lived there. Realtors lie, so I'll deal with them if we dicide it's where we would like to relocate to.

Clearly, you've moved a lot and probably dealt with a lot of real estate agents. If you're making a blanket statement like this, you've clearly had a bad experience or two. I'm sorry to hear that, but don't give up on Realtors just yet. There are agents out there who will give you the truth and not just what you want to hear.

As for your question, I'm not familiar with many of the places you list as I've lived almost my entire life in MA. I did go to college in Coral Gables, FL and can honestly say there's probably not a town like it here in MA. There are plenty of nice suburban towns though that won't be a terrible commute to Canton like Newton, and Needham. A level down would be towns like Dedham, Canton, and Natick. There are other nice towns in the area but they're either further out like Southboro or really sleepy towns like Wayland and Subdury. Then there are towns that are even more pricey like Wellesley & Weston.

Personally, I live in Needham because I think in this area it's a decent value. The town has a solid school system, well kept neighborhoods, easy access to Boston via car and public transportation, and a quaint town center. It's not as expensive as Newton, Wellesley, or Weston either. It's a short drive to Natick and all the malls as well.