Good Suburb in Metro West Boston?? (Newton, Brookline: houses, neighborhood, buy)

[Investor03]

Hey you all!

I was wondering what will be a good Family Suburb of Boston with Diversity, Kid and Family Friendly with alot to do. My wife and I have one daughter who is 3 and another one on the way, Money we are willing to spend are 1M-5M for a House. We would prefer a good size yard for our children to play, privacy, something that is within the proximity of BC because that's where my wife will be working, also we want something with excellent schools whether they are private or public, We were Looking at Wellesley, But read alot of bad reviews about Multi racial Families being in that town and not feeling welcome, Can anyone give us Suggestions of surrounding towns or Tell us more about Wellesley??? We are very open to other places such as Newton, Natick, Needham, Weston. Could someone give us some Advice??

Thanks! I hope to hear from everyone with there opinions and suggestions!

[MikePRU]

Quick question . . . is your price range $1M-$5M or $1M-$1.5M? Your answer would affect my response to your question.

Here's my best answer given what I know so far though . . . I've never heard of any of the towns you mentioned being not very accepting of anyone. Granted, according to the statistics on City-Data these towns are all predominanty caucasian usually at least 80%. So, I don't think any of them will really satisfy your diversity requirement. If your budget does go up to $5M you may want to take a look at Brookline for more diversity. Typically, the biggest knock I hear about Wellesley is that people are snobby and that there is a big "keeping up with the Joneses" atmosphere in town. Personally, I think the snobby reputation of the town is a bit over blown.

Of the towns you mention, I would say Weston is the most different from the others. They annually have one of the best regarded school systems in the state. However, there is absolutely nothing within town limits except houses for the most part. If you like to go out to dinner, shop, etc you're going to have to go out of town for that. Some people like that and others don't. Lots tend to be bigger in Weston as well but almost all the homes have septic systems. Basically, there are things to like about Weston and things not to like. The town doesn't appeal to everyone. It's also one of the more expensive towns on your list of already expensive towns.

Wellesley and Needham tend to be pretty comparable. The schools are considered better in Wellesley and their town center shopping district is bigger but Needham offers a lot of the things Wellesley does. I've also had a lot of people tell me Needham is a lot friendlier and laid back.

Newton is a city with a lot of different villages each with its own character. Newton goes from a more urban feel to a highly suburban feel depending on which village you find yourself in. If diversity is high on your list, C-D quotes a slightly less than 80% caucasian population in the city. So, this is the most diverse of the towns on your list. The schools are great on paper but we see a lot of threads on this site from people who live in Newton complaining about them. I've also read a number of Boston Globe articles stating that the town's elementary schools are in need of replacement/repair.

All-in-all I think all these towns are great places to live. It's more a matter of what's a better fit for your lifestyle. For instance, how do you like to commute and where do you commute to? If you like to take the train into Boston, Weston is not a great choice as there are no train stops in town. A lot also depends on what kind of house you want. Your money will buy quite a bit more in Natick than it will in Weston.

[DeaconBlue79]

Hi,
The last poster made some great points. Weston is a place to go if you want an acre+ lot and privacy but don't care about having a town center. If you like that type of town, Wayland, Sudbury, Dover and Sherborn are similar as well. If you want a more dense, neighborhood-oriented town, then Wellesley and Needham are for you.

My wife and I just moved to Needham and we love it. Needham is a lot like Wellesley, but is still a bit more "up and coming" and about 10% cheaper. Needham has a lot more small older homes than Wellesley, but many (many!) of them are being torn down so Needham has more options if you want new construction, particularly in the $1m-$1.5m range. Wellesley has more options if you are looking to spend $2m-$5m.

The general consensus is that Wellesley has a bigger/better town center than Needham, but personally I liked Needham's better because it had few, if any, chain stores. Wellesley's town center reminded me more of a resort town, with lots of stores that are nice for visitors (clothing, jewelry) but not really stuff I care about living close to. Needham seemed to have a lot more restaurants in the town center, but frankly both towns offer an incredible assortment of food options as far as suburbs go.

As far as diversity, you aren't really going to find it anywhere around Boston, but all of these towns are filled with highly-educated, open-minded people so I wouldn't worry at all about race. People are more likely to separate based on education/income levels rather than race or religion or anything like that. For the record, Needham has a much larger Jewish population than Wellesley, so if you happen to be Jewish you'll find a strong community in Needham.

I do get the impression that Needham is more friendly and welcoming. Wellesley is going to attract the kind of family that is willing to live in a slightly smaller house just to have the "right" address and I've heard from several residents that it is an extremely competitive, "keeping up with the Joneses" type culture.

Best of luck, you have a lot of great options!

[MikePRU]

Welcome to Needham DeaconBlue! Hope to see you around town.