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In my previous thread I tried to identify a town that would encourage kids to be able to walk/bike to each other's houses. Winchester, Needham, Lexington and the like are indeed very pricey. So that leads me to ask about Sudbury. It seems that the town has stellar schools, and a great community feel. I sense it is a friendly place to live, not too far away from Boston. Maybe less expensive than the others.
We need sidewalks, wherever we move. It is simply a must for us. I think I can live without a town center, as long as my kids can visit their friends themselves when they get older.
Is it true that Sudbury has no town center, however it has sidewalks everywhere? Can anyone confirm that? I think that could work for us.
If anyone can think of another suburb with excellent schools and sidewalks mostly everywhere, do add that info as well!
There are sidewalks on most of the main roads (Rt-20, Rt-27, Old Sudbury Rd, Concord Rd, Raymond Rd), but not on the secondary main roads like Marlboro Rd, Water Row, Union Rd. Most neighborhood streets don't have sidewalks either, but this is true of almost every other Boston suburb. I live in a cul de sac 4 miles from all the shops on Rt-20 and can walk there using sidewalks the entire way except inside the neighborhood from my house to the main road. I walk with my daughter to her friends houses, playground and tennis courts (she's not old enough to do this on her own yet).
EDIT:
Sounds like South Sudbury would fit you the best; North Sudbury might be a little too spread out for you with no commercial areas nearby (10 min to Maynard and Rt-20 in Sudbury). My top choice was the neighborhood near Loring school south of Rt-20, but we didn't find a house that we liked down there. You are 10-15 minutes from all the stores in Framingham and your kids can walk/bike to the ice cream shops and restaurants on Rt-20 when they get older. If you are a dual-income family with both parents rushing out the door in the morning, Loring also has the added advantage of starting much earlier than the other schools in town (buses pick up around 7:45AM instead of 8:30AM for the other schools).
I disagree with Parsec. There are actually many sidewalks in North Sudbury, which are also snowplowed in winter. Between having kids who bike on the sidewalks, and running frequently in Sudbury, I know there is an excellent network of sidewalks. In some of the neighborhoods, including the one I live in, where the streets are very quiet and the foot traffic is about equal to the car traffic, there may not be sidewalks. However, through many of the busier streets- including much of 117, there are sidewalks.
roadstrailstris - I thought we said basically the same thing? The main roads have sidewalks while the quiet neighborhood streets don't, which is fine because drivers here are trained to watch out for pedestrians while driving in the neighborhoods. I definitely agree w/the network of sidewalks, but you need to be sure to find a house that has access to this network. It will become clearer as you drive around town and go some open houses. This weekend should be great for that!
North Sudbury has plenty of sidewalks along main road as was mentioned. I can think of Morse Road, Mossman, 117, Powder Mill as main roads. Neighborhood roads might not have sidewalks but it is not necessary. Moving to Sudbury a few years ago one of the items that surprised me was how quickly these sidewalks were plowed. The town is very up on plowing sidewalks.
How about getting around with kids on bikes? Are there paths which one could bike on intertwined among the communities? Or would one have to drive to a park first, then bike? My kid is too young to bike on the street. Where we live, he currently bikes on neighborhood sidewalks. Previously we lived in a town that had paths "hidden" behind main roads (Patriot's path in NJ). If we give up the sidewalks, at least kid friendly/safe biking throughout the town would be important. I am also thinking of Natick, Concord, Marblehead and Newburyport.
You can use the sidewalks on the main roads and then bike in the neighborhood. My son is 7 and has been biking on roads since 4. No bike path in Sudbury.
Can anyone please help me. I want to walk from the airport shuttle station at 611 Burr Street Extension, Framingham to Landham Rd. in Sudbury. Tried to use the google map to map out my way but I am not sure if there are some areas where pedestrians can't walk and how dangerous those areas are. Does anyone have any idea?
Once you get onto Rt-126 Concord Rd there's a sidewalk straight up to Landham. I don't know if the side streets between Burr St and Concord Rd have sidewalks, but worst case scenario you just take Rt-30 to Rt-126.
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