Tell me about holliston? (Boston, Acton: house, buy, schools)
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Looking at Holliston for a move from the city. We have one young child, looking for a long-term home. Saw an interesting property come on the market. What do you love / hate about Holliston? I work from home, my husband commutes to central sq. From our current home in Roslindale, it takes him about 45 minutes door to door on the orange line. Can he do it in an hour from Holliston?
How about activities, shopping, etc. We are looking for a bit more of a rural experience (Sherborn / Dover would be a dream, but so much less house for the money!) but want the relative convenience of near-ish shopping.
The schools look pretty good, what are they actually like? Thanks in advance!
We were also looking at Holliston, but we eventually ruled it out for two reasons:
-Access to Boston is tough. People living in the area told us that getting to Mass Pike is not easy.
-All other options (e.g., route 9) are quite difficult as well. Especially if you want to go to central square, I would think that Mass Pike is the only option.
Taking the commuter rail is not ideal as well, but might be better for central square (maybe drive to Ashland and then train to south station and then red line all the way to central). But again, red line from south station to central is about 20 minutes. Driving to Ashland is also about 20 minutes and the trip to south station is about 45 minutes (express) and over and 1hr the regular.
What has worked for us is the classic suggestion to try the commute yourself a couple of times, from the house you like to work, the times that you will usually be commuting. An alternative would be to use google maps and change the time (e.g., the "arrive by" option). This will give you a broad, crude estimate, but it is right. For example, I just put Holliston to Central and it says it will take 1h- 1h.50 minutes if one wants to arrive by 8:30. This sounds about right.
-Holliston has an outrageous tax rate ($18.79 in 2016 - although it is going down, but overall assessments are going up).
So, we decided it is not worth it, because of the unnecessary extra costs (mass pike + taxes + time).
If your husband works in central square you might want to look at places that are on the fitchburg line where he can connect to the red line in porter square or some place close enough to drive/bus to alewife. Check out Acton or Concord. Express train from South Acton to Porter is 32 minutes.
If your husband works in central square you might want to look at places that are on the fitchburg line where he can connect to the red line in porter square or some place close enough to drive/bus to alewife. Check out Acton or Concord. Express train from South Acton to Porter is 32 minutes.
I'm seconding this advice. I live in Acton. I've always thought of Holliston and Acton as twins separated at birth.
I think Holliston has a lot to offer and I have friends and relatives that live there and say they love it. This being said, I can't fathom commuting from there to Central Square. Acton is good alternative and has a similar feel to it as others have said. Plus, much better start point for your commute.
Since both places have outrageous taxes, I would go to Acton because they commute on the commuter rail will be better and if you every need to drive in, Rt2 is much easier.
If you dont mind paying daily to park (Acton residents can buy a sticker) look at Stow or Boxborough. They are as far from the S. Acton MBTA as are some parts of Acton itself. Maybe Sudbury as well? Not that familiar with it.
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