Time to settle down: tell me about Lexington vs. Winchester (commute, kids)

[Allharv]

Originally Posted by superleggera

I would look at the towns on North Shore because of your commute. You will not like driving in the snow in the winter for that kind of distance.

I would completely prefer to have a shorter commute, since I've had a short one for most of my life; right now, I'm able to walk to work! However, the right community for the family comes first. Interestingly, many of my future coworkers commute from Newton to Danvers--which would be too long even for me--so I would actually have one of the shortest commutes. Due to a job change, my brother has to commute 45 miles/45 minutes each way, and again, though not ideal, he's done ok.

[superleggera]

Originally Posted by Allharv

WestonMassSAHM: You raise good points. I'm ok with the commute as long as it's best for the family, and I would prefer to have acceptable access to Boston as well as the south end of the I-95 loop since I have family there. I've timed the drive for places I've looked at to be around 30 minutes, I have a nice set of snow tires, and I drive conservatively. However, the location restriction of my search is affected by the unfamiliarity of me and the people I've asked with the towns you mentioned. I expect my job situation in Danvers to be stable and likely longterm. I'm not an outdoors/nature person and value convenience to stores and Boston more, so I feel the natural beauty of some of these places you mentioned is best saved for people who will appreciate it more.

I consider access to I-93 and/or I-95 to still be important, so Marblehead, Hamilton, Wenham, Manchester, Boxford, and Hamilton are less desirable. Lynnfield is interesting though, since it has good highway access, is close to Danvers, yet has acceptable access to Boston. Can you or anyone else educate me about Lynnfield schools? How are they doing nowadays, and how much worse are then considered to be compared to Lexington and Winchester? How would one characterize the character of the town? It looks like there isn't too much diversity, but it at least has ~5% minorities like Winchester?

Cheers.

Lynnfield is definitely not as competitive as Lexington but it is consider very good school besides there are only so many students those Ivy league school takes anyway. As long as the town has a really good school (doesn't need to be the best for me) and most importantly good emphasis on education which could all be found in Lynnfield. I personally think Lynnfield has what you are looking for (easy commute, close proximity to Boston and good school). You should be able to find a really good house in Lynnfield with your budget. If you live in Lexington, you will most likely encounter some traffic near the 93 exits on hwy95 which could be unpredictable. You will be very surprised with what you can get in Lynnfield especially if you already consider Lexington. Winchester is easier commute to Danvers but I think the low housing inventororder is against you not to mention the amount you have to spend to update the house. Good luck. It must be a very exciting time for you!

[claiz]

In terms of racial diversity in school, Lynnfield has 90% of white in enrollment last year, Winchester has 79% and Lexington has 56%. All and more data can be found in department of education website

Student Data&

[superleggera]

Originally Posted by Allharv

I would completely prefer to have a shorter commute, since I've had a short one for most of my life; right now, I'm able to walk to work! However, the right community for the family comes first. Interestingly, many of my future coworkers commute from Newton to Danvers--which would be too long even for me--so I would actually have one of the shortest commutes. Due to a job change, my brother has to commute 45 miles/45 minutes each way, and again, though not ideal, he's done ok.

I don't mean to scare you but think driving next to plow truck in the winter. If you know Danvers is a long term job for sure then you should cross out Metro-west especially you are already used to short commute. You should look at Wenham because it is practically next to Danvers and your commute would be only 5 minutes not to mention it's reputation for school. May I ask whyyou need to be close to 93? You can also take route 1 from Wenham and be in Boston in 35 minutes without traffic.

[WoodyWW]

Originally Posted by Allharv

Has anyone had experience with modular homes, and do you have a builder that you'd recommend (yep, I saw the few past threads that were here)? Given the prices of newer and good condition homes in these areas, I've looked into the possibility of buying an old house on a 0.25-0.5 acre piece of land and just doing new construction/extensively remodeling. I have simple taste, but want at least 2600-3000 sq ft. of living space. I've been given estimates of at least $200-300/sq ft for construction, and so the cost of doing this doesn't seem feasible when one considers the ~$400k for just the old house & land (pre-demolition), plus whatever unexpected delays or budget surprises come up. Modular homes, at least based on my preliminary research, seem to offer a decent quality home for much less, which is a bit unsettling. However, it's definitely something I'd consider despite the higher rates for a construction-->permanent loan since it'd be a new home in an expensive area that could still be customized for our taste.

Thanks in advance!

Do you have any experience in buying a lot, picking out a builder, & custom-building the house? Let alone a Modular home? Do you really want to take all that on? Deal with all the possible issues with getting permits, & dealing with the builder, etc? And yes, Modular homes have a place, but I don't think I'd pay $900K for one.

That may be partly why newly built McMansions in nice parts of Lexington go for $1.3 mil. or so. And they sell fast. Also, .3 to.5 acre lots (tear downs) routinely sell for $530-550K or so. BTW, I just did a search of properties in Lexington between $800K to $1 mil. Truly depressing--I can't believe some of the crummy houses at that price level. Oh, & the property taxes are insane in Lexington.

It's not all bad tho, the garbage pick-up is excellent......

[WestonMassSAHM]

Originally Posted by WoodyWW

Do you have any experience in buying a lot, picking out a builder, & custom-building the house? Let alone a Modular home? Do you really want to take all that on? Deal with all the possible issues with getting permits, & dealing with the builder, etc? And yes, Modular homes have a place, but I don't think I'd pay $900K for one.

That may be partly why newly built McMansions in nice parts of Lexington go for $1.3 mil. or so. And they sell fast. Also, .3 to.5 acre lots (tear downs) routinely sell for $530-550K or so. BTW, I just did a search of properties in Lexington between $800K to $1 mil. Truly depressing--I can't believe some of the crummy houses at that price level. Oh, & the property taxes are insane in Lexington.

It's not all bad tho, the garbage pick-up is excellent......

Great post! You will not get much with $900k in Lexington and those new build home with 1.3 million dollars were even selling quickly 2 years ago. Some of those houses were sold a few weeks nefore there were finish building. Reputation point provided. Good job!

[WestonMassSAHM]

To OP, it would make sense to buy in Lexington if you work in Waltham given a short commute is definitely easier on your family (think kids activities or if there is an emergency where you need to step in other than your spouse). You might change your perception as well as life style after you visit or settle down in the North Shore area. You will need to make a lot more sacrifices if you chase after the school in Lexington. I personally think every region in Massachusetts has its own character but I would want to live close to where I work.

[Allharv]

Originally Posted by superleggera

I don't mean to scare you but think driving next to plow truck in the winter.

Why would I drive next to it instead of behind it?

Convenient access to highways would make it easy to see family, as well as to go to Boston, where my company has another location which I may need to go to from time to time. I forgot about Route 1 to get into Boston, which would make Hamilton/Wenham a bit less painful. We visited Lynnfield recently, and the homes were nice, but overall the town didn't feel right.

I appreciate the suggestions for a shorter commute, but for me, anything around 30 minutes is still reasonable. Though I expect my future job to be long-term, it's still safer for my family to get a house in a town closer to Boston since it offers better stability in case I need to transfer to the Boston office or change companies. There are several good options in the greater Boston area if needed, whereas not so many in the North Shore.

[accufitgolf]

Originally Posted by Allharv

WestonMassSAHM: You raise good points. I'm ok with the commute as long as it's best for the family, and I would prefer to have acceptable access to Boston as well as the south end of the I-95 loop since I have family there. I've timed the drive for places I've looked at to be around 30 minutes, I have a nice set of snow tires, and I drive conservatively. However, the location restriction of my search is affected by the unfamiliarity of me and the people I've asked with the towns you mentioned. I expect my job situation in Danvers to be stable and likely longterm. I'm not an outdoors/nature person and value convenience to stores and Boston more, so I feel the natural beauty of some of these places you mentioned is best saved for people who will appreciate it more.

I consider access to I-93 and/or I-95 to still be important, so Marblehead, Hamilton, Wenham, Manchester, Boxford, and Hamilton are less desirable. Lynnfield is interesting though, since it has good highway access, is close to Danvers, yet has acceptable access to Boston. Can you or anyone else educate me about Lynnfield schools? How are they doing nowadays, and how much worse are then considered to be compared to Lexington and Winchester? How would one characterize the character of the town? It looks like there isn't too much diversity, but it at least has ~5% minorities like Winchester?

Cheers.

If working in Danvers, look closely at Andover versus Lexington or Winchester. Similiar towns.

[DG001]

I chanced upon this discussion. For what its worth, I live in Winchester, and commute to Danvers.

OK, first off, trash pickup is not a problem. Couple of good companies in town, I pay $16 per pickup, very prompt - and you don't have to leave the trash on the curb - they get it from the side of the house! Expensive yes, but I believe taxes in Winchester are lower than Lexington - at least they were when we bought the house.

I live very close to the Winchester-Lexington border, and can talk about the commute. To be honest, both these towns are kind of a hassle to get to Rt 128 - you have to take inside roads, adds 15 minutes. But door to door is probably around 25 minutes for me since its all reverse commute. The only problem is if there is an accident on 128 - inside routes can take as much as 45 minutes.

The schools are awesome - teachers, parents, afterschool, all of it. Winchester just went through a re-districting for elementary, so some parents were disgruntled to be shuffled, but all the schools perform well. A new elementary school building is scheduled to open this September for Vinson-Owen, which is a blue-ribbon school. I don't have any experience with middle and high schools, though there is a plan to have a new building for the high school as well. My neighbors seem happy with the middle school.

Something to consider is Lexington High has around 2000 kids - its like a small college! So of course it will be higher pressure. Winchester has about 1000 kids in high school. Lexington also has the Hayden center which has a pool, Winchester does not have that (Woburn YMCA is close by, though).

No natural gas in my street either. A neighbor got a petition going, but NStar quoted each house at $70K, which is ridiculous! My neighbor has a propane tank, seems to work out pretty well for him. I hate having oil though!

OK, enough - hope that helps!