Finding a good community outside of Newton

[CaseyB]

Most people who live in Belmont own a car. It is suburban.

[Brave Stranger]

Lol, Arlington & Belmont are suburban. My property in Arlington near the Lexington line might as well be in the woods with all the parks & trees.

[timberline742]

Most everyone in Belmont owns a car. That said, a lot of people do take the T to work. I can't blame them. When I lived there I walked the mile or so to Alewife or took the bus in to Harvard instead of driving. Driving is a pain, and when you can avoid it, lots of people avoid it.

[anniefinboston]

Originally Posted by bostonsearching

Hi, new to this blog. This post is not meant to bash Newton, as I am sure it works great for the highly educated, PHDs, and MDs (of which we are not.) My wife and our kids have lived in the Newton Center (near BC) area for 4+ years now. We are originally from the midwest and had a great community there. Since moving to our neighborhood in Newton our neighbors are all very to themselves and unfriendly, but that didn't seem to matter while our kids were in private school, we had a good community sourced from there and it made it feel like home. Since our kids have moved up to Public schools here, we have totally lost that feel. Though we try to be involved with the PTA no one seems to get together and its a difficult and lonely place for us socially as of now. Playdates are nearly impossible because it seems most parents are putting their kids on some sort of fast track or they have Nannys that don't want to bother. Its tough to have your kids playing alone in the yard with no neighborhood interaction day in and out (some nearby neighborhood kids sit in their houses and stare at my kids playing outside but never come out!) Since I work from home and only occasionally have to get into Boston, we are starting to wonder what we are doing in this area. We have given it a fair chance and it just doesn't feel like a home for us. Most of my coworkers and friends scratch there head and ask us why we are in Newton at all. We have friends that have moved to Wellesley and have liked it. Bottom line is we need a place that is friendlier, more suburban, good schools and access to a good, solid community. Looking towards Wellesley, Natick, and south shore towns like Hingham, Cohasset, Norwall...Would love the advice from those of you that have been around the metro area for a while.

Wellesley does have a very different vibe and its school system is comparative to Newton's. I'd say this is a nice lateral move, socio-economically and school performance-wise, with a very different feel to the community itself. I have some friends who recently moved to Wellesley and they love it. They actually rave about the friendliness. I have another family friend that has lived in Wellesley for over 20 years and they, too, love the community.

If you're looking for just a tad (and only a tad) more "working class" feel, consider Needham. That town is still pretty strong - academically and socio-economically, though IMO it's a town that's a tad more regular (than Wellesley, Newton, etc.).

You also mentioned Natick, Hingham, and Cohasset - these are nice towns as well, though I can't speak to the community appeal as I have no knowledge of it.

[ElenaS]

MikePRU I do not call you to live in Belmont, I am sharing their impressions. In the Belmont many buses and they run frequently. We chose between Needham and Belmont. My eldest son has to go to college by public transport and Belmont in this respect it is more convenient