Concord Vs Lexington Vs Newton Vs Weston (Boston, Waltham: affordable apartments, for rent)

[professeurpablo]

Lincoln is a very small town. The few apartments that there are are mostly clustered in South Lincoln near the shopping center and MBTA commuter rail station, but most of these have strict income guidelines, so the rental process would not be simple - and your budget would mean that you would likely be ineligible. Weston also has few apartment options. Both of these are extremely expensive towns as far as purchasing goes.

Lexington is known for its schools. I am not sure you could go wrong anywhere in the town, regardless of which elementary district you'd be in. Others could chime in with more specifics on the individual schools, but overall, know that all of these towns you're considering have pretty uniformly excellent public schools.

Wellesley could work for you too; I personally find the overall feel of it to be stuffier than most of the rest of the western suburbs, but that could be just me. Next door, Newton's diversity makes it feel a bit more down-to-earth, and access to Boston - and Weston - would be super easy from there as well. Newton also has by far the most apartments of any of these towns. Another town you may want to throw into the mix is Needham, which, though not abounding in apartments, has great schools, easy access to highways (as well as a train to go into Boston) and a small Indian community as well. I would also keep Wayland on the list; it isn't as close to Boston, but highway access, particularly from the southern part of that town, is good, the schools are excellent, and Weston is just next door. Not a lot of apartments, but you can find rentals, particularly in Cochituate village, which has the added bonus of having a few convenient shopping and dining options accessible on foot.

[tribechamy]

I believe Lexington does have the option to request a certain elementary school but there is a bit of a waitlist. But honestly all of the elementary schools in Lexington are pretty good. I have several friends who live there and whose kids go to different elementary schools, town-wide it is a good school system.

When you look at apartments there are a few options besides Avalon. Two other communities I know of are Katahdin Woods (expensive but looks very nice, I think it's in the Estabrook district?) and Captain Parker Arms. But beyond apartment complexes you may be able to find a rental in a home by looking on Craigslist - I do not see many now, but what month will you be moving? The rental season often follows the school year, with more rentals available June-September. These are a lot more common in this part of the country - there are many two/three family homes split into rentals, or sometimes it is possible to find a whole house rental although these are more expensive. In Lexington a whole house rental could be anywhere but a lot of the smaller apartments and two family homes are close to the Arlington line, which would put you in the Bowman district.

Lexington does have a great library and recreation department, Lexington friends (all have children) all very much enjoy living there.

I believe there is one rental community in Lincoln, Lincoln Woods, although the website seems to be down. There also is the possibility of finding a rental in a home but there are fewer of these in Lincoln than in Lexington. You could find more in-house rentals in Arlington, next to Lexington, also a kid-friendly community with good schools, but that will add a bit of time to the commute to Weston.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by precioustwins

I looked at Lexington and looks like there is a satellite center of Children's in Lexington. I called them and they even have Physical, Occupation, Speech, Communication therapies in the center which is a blessing for our daughter. So, Lexington on top of the list now, followed by Weston, Newton, Lincoln and Concord. How about Wellesely?

FYI there is also a Children's Hospital satellite in Waltham not far from the Weston/Waltham border.

Sadly, there's not a lot of information out there to qualify the SP-ED departments of the various school departments. The private ABA that works with my son has relayed her experiences to me about various school departments and basically what she has conveyed is that school systems that are "well regarded" by most who's kids don't need extra attention are also better to deal with in terms of SP-ED. I would imagine it's because these school systems are generally well funded so that don't mind committing resources to kids that need extra attention. So, you should have good luck in any of the towns you mentioned. I don't have any personal experience with the SP-ED departments you've mentioned, but I have friends who have used the Wellesley SP-ED program and spoken well of it.

In terms of finding a rental, they are few and far between here in the 'burbs. Many are not in great shape and each town has one (two if you're REALLY lucky) large, corporate apartment complex where you'll find well kept units but they'll be priced far higher than private rentals and of course apartment living doesn't appeal to everyone. In the more woodsy 'burbs you've mentioned like Weston, Concord, and Lincoln you'll have an even harder time finding a rental property.

Originally Posted by precioustwins

There are not that many apartments to rent in Lincoln, isn't it?
Also even in Lexington, Bowman and Bridge seems to have better ratings than Northeast elementary. But only Northeast elementary has apartment options.. Bowman and Bridge don't seem to have apartment options.. If I stay in, say Avalon at Lexington or Avalon at Lexington Hills, will I be able to go to Bowman or Bridge elementary school?

Any idea about this?

My understanding (I could be incorrect) is that Lexington does not operate under a "school choice" system. Therefore, your child would have to attend the school that your home is districted for. You may be able to get your child into a different school but it would be a seriously up hill battle and unlikely to happen.

[kingeorge]

With OP budget finding single home rental should not be problem in any of these communities; or did I miss something?

[professeurpablo]

Kingeorge, the budget that the OP mentioned is for everything, including food, other bills, groceries, etc. There could be a lot of extra things we're not accounting for such as student loans and the like; coupled with the dearth of rentals in the towns that the OP is considering, it makes for a less than simple scenario that requires some thought.

[precioustwins]

Great advices. Thanks a ton guys
Let me first clear these ones out of my mind.
What are the cons of staying in Concord?
As far as I understand, a. Distance and difficulty traveling to downtown, What else?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by professeurpablo

Kingeorge, the budget that the OP mentioned is for everything, including food, other bills, groceries, etc. There could be a lot of extra things we're not accounting for such as student loans and the like; coupled with the dearth of rentals in the towns that the OP is considering, it makes for a less than simple scenario that requires some thought.

Exactly! If one reads carefully, one can see the housing budget is not $5K-$6K but rather that is the budget for housing, utilities, and groceries which means the actual housing budget is far less. In addition, there is a relatively small number rentals available on an annual basis in the towns the OP mentioned especially when you compare that to availability of rentals in other parts of the country or in more urban sections of Boston. In the 'burbs along and outside of 128 the rental market is quite limited.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by precioustwins

Great advices. Thanks a ton guys
Let me first clear these ones out of my mind.
What are the cons of staying in Concord?
As far as I understand, a. Distance and difficulty traveling to downtown, What else?

Every town has it's own "personality" I like to say. The personality of this town might not appeal to you. For example, the town recently outlawed bottled water. If that's the kind of thing that inspires you and makes you happy then you'll love Concord. If you roll your eyes and think that's ridiculous then you might not like living there.

[precioustwins]

Housing budget for us would be $2500.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by precioustwins

Housing budget for us would be $2500.

Single family homes don't typically rent at this price point in most of these towns, but you said you were open to apartments. I would steer clear of the large corporate apartment complexes like Avalon, etc because you tend to get less for your money there. Most of these complexes that I've been to before the larger units (ex. 1200 sf) start around $3,000/month or more and usually only have two bedrooms. Definitely look at Craig's List as renting from a private party will stretch your dollar. I'm sure you could find a condo in one of these towns to rent. Keep in mind, the more woodsy towns I listed in an earlier post will tend to have fewer condo developments. Lastly, beware of scams on Craig's List. If the rent sounds too low to be true . . . well it probably is.