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Thanks for everyone's responses. We are basically looking at every possible place within a decent commute, using every crunchable factor, then will visit each town. What a job we have ahead of us. Honestly, there are so many great towns, it will be hard to pick. Commute is of high importance. My husband complained so much when he had to drive from here (NJ) to CT for a year. It was an hour and a half on a good day, but most winter days were over two each way. He could handle a longish train ride, but a long car ride was tough.
I am not too worried about making friends..I think you make as many friends as you set out to make, generally speaking, I love meeting new people. I don't need the biggest house or the best yard, in fact, at this point in my life I would like something smaller so that I can keep it longer. Not have to downsize when my kids go off to school, which isn't that far away.
I think the coastline of Massachusetts and Maine is very beautiful. Some towns are too quiet, literally just summer towns, but Swampscott and Marblehead (and others I am unfamiliar with) seem to have a decent amount of year around residents. I mostly care about clean air, good schools, and a good bang for the buck. Oh, and commute. Commute to Cambridge...so feel free to throw out your opinions, I am open.
Thanks also for the town center and walkability comments. We have a town center now, my kids have so much 'safe' freedom and it is a huge part of our life we would miss. Not at the top, but near it.
Have you looked at Manchester By The Sea if you are looking on the shore?
My favorite town is Manchester by the Sea. So beautiful and the schools are excellent. It would be a long commute for your husband but not a difficult one - the train to North Station and then the EZ Ride shuttle. You should visit Manchester it really is amazing!
I agree that the commute to Cambridge is getting worse in general. There is a huge biotech boom which is great, but there are so many more people commuting into Cambridge because of it and the streets are so clogged, and there is so much construction. I've been commuting from Melrose to Cambridge for 15 years and in the last 2 years the traffic has gotten so bad that my commute is almost 50% longer then it used to be.
But I would definitely commute from the North Shore towns to Kendall Square versus the western or southern suburbs. Going across Cambridge from towns like Belmont/Lexington/Arlington to Kendall Square is nightmarish.
My favorite town is Manchester by the Sea. So beautiful and the schools are excellent. It would be a long commute for your husband but not a difficult one - the train to North Station and then the EZ Ride shuttle. You should visit Manchester it really is amazing!
I agree that the commute to Cambridge is getting worse in general. There is a huge biotech boom which is great, but there are so many more people commuting into Cambridge because of it and the streets are so clogged, and there is so much construction. I've been commuting from Melrose to Cambridge for 15 years and in the last 2 years the traffic has gotten so bad that my commute is almost 50% longer then it used to be.
But I would definitely commute from the North Shore towns to Kendall Square versus the western or southern suburbs. Going across Cambridge from towns like Belmont/Lexington/Arlington to Kendall Square is nightmarish.
Beantown--mama you are kidding? Right?
"Nightmarish" commute from Belmont and Arlington?
Those two are best places to be if you are bound to Cambridge and have kids in schools. Somerville, Medford and Watertown are convenient too, but non-stellar schools often eliminate many families with kids.
People in some Belmont neighborhoods CAN WALK to Harvard Sq. in 20 minutes, or bike in 10. Same in Arlington to Alewife or Davis Sq. Depending on which side of Belmont or Arlington you find yourself at, and unless you go right with the worst school-drop off/rush hour traffic at 8:30 or so, you are in Cambridge in 15-20 minutes.
Yes, it is more crowded around here than it used to be because people are looking to stay close, but it is because commute is ideal. Numerous buses take you to red line either at Harvard stop or Alewife. In Belmont you also have two train stops that take you to Porter Sq in 10 minutes or less. North Station in 15-20 minutes (unless dreaded glitch).
Bike baths are everywhere as well, and many people use them for even easier commute. Bike culture is very big in this neck of the woods. Cambridge leading in efforts, of course.
Unless you live right in Cambridge, you can not be more convenient to it than from Arlington, Belmont, Watertown or Medford. Brookline is also not bad, but its more urban living makes some people avoid it if they think they would rather buy SF with yard.
Why do you think prices are going crazy in this areas neighboring Cambridge? Even Medford and Watertown are becoming unaffordable despite schools being so-so. Somerville is unaffordable for a while now and people will escape to better school system or use private schools.
Please, please people think when you write these posts, and confuse people who are coming from the outside of MA. Anybody reading these comments will be very confused. I would be.
I am not trying to confuse the poster. She is talking about commuting to Kendall Square. Trying to drive from the Alewife area to Kendall Square is a nightmare, I have done it many times. If you are planning to drive to Kendall Square, it is much easier to come from the North, where you can come down Route 28. Even taking the train, unless you live within walking distance to Alewife or Harvard Square (and not many people do from Belmont or Arlington), it requires you to drive to Alewife (getting through that terrible rotary again) or a bus over to the T. So it isn't that easy that way either.
I think they are about the same commute times, so I am not sure why you are being argumentative. You make it sound like it is a piece of cake getting from Belmont to Kendall Square but my point is that it can be 45 minutes, easily, to try and make your way across Cambridge these days, and Kendall Square is on the opposite side of Cambridge then Belmont or Arlington. Also, there is not an easy commuter rail option from those areas. From the any town on the North Shore, you can take the commuter rail to North Station and then the EZ Ride Shuttle over to Kendall Square.
I don't think it really matters since the original poster wanted to live along the shoreline anyway.
I think they are about the same commute times, so I am not sure why you are being argumentative. You make it sound like it is a piece of cake getting from Belmont to Kendall Square but my point is that it can be 45 minutes, easily, to try and make your way across Cambridge these days, and Kendall Square is on the opposite side of Cambridge then Belmont or Arlington. Also, there is not an easy commuter rail option from those areas. From the any town on the North Shore, you can take the commuter rail to North Station and then the EZ Ride Shuttle over to Kendall Square.
I don't think it really matters since the original poster wanted to live along the shoreline anyway.
I echo kingeorge and Shizim's comments. You sound knowledgeable about the commute from North of Boston, but your comments about Belmont/Arlington don't make any sense. Belmont has 2 commuter rail stops. It's about 5-10 minutes to Porter on the commuter rail, then another 10 minutes from Porter to Kendall on the red line. Sounds pretty easy to me. From Arlington it's a little longer, but you have the bus that takes you to Alewife. Then it's a straight shot on the red line into Kendall. From the furthest part of Arlington it's still about 35 min, but closer to 30 min from most parts of town. Not to mention you also have the Minuteman trail right in town. It takes 30 min to ride your bike from Arlington Center to Kendall (or ride to Alewife and take the red line into Kendall if you don't feel comfortable riding on Beacon/Hampshire). No need to drive from either town so traffic is not an issue.
Those two are best places to be if you are bound to Cambridge and have kids in schools. Somerville, Medford and Watertown are convenient too, but non-stellar schools often eliminate many families with kids.
People in some Belmont neighborhoods CAN WALK to Harvard Sq. in 20 minutes, or bike in 10. Same in Arlington to Alewife or Davis Sq. Depending on which side of Belmont or Arlington you find yourself at, and unless you go right with the worst school-drop off/rush hour traffic at 8:30 or so, you are in Cambridge in 15-20 minutes.
Yes, it is more crowded around here than it used to be because people are looking to stay close, but it is because commute is ideal. Numerous buses take you to red line either at Harvard stop or Alewife. In Belmont you also have two train stops that take you to Porter Sq in 10 minutes or less. North Station in 15-20 minutes (unless dreaded glitch).
Bike baths are everywhere as well, and many people use them for even easier commute. Bike culture is very big in this neck of the woods. Cambridge leading in efforts, of course.
Unless you live right in Cambridge, you can not be more convenient to it than from Arlington, Belmont, Watertown or Medford. Brookline is also not bad, but its more urban living makes some people avoid it if they think they would rather buy SF with yard.
Why do you think prices are going crazy in this areas neighboring Cambridge? Even Medford and Watertown are becoming unaffordable despite schools being so-so. Somerville is unaffordable for a while now and people will escape to better school system or use private schools.
Please, please people think when you write these posts, and confuse people who are coming from the outside of MA. Anybody reading these comments will be very confused. I would be.
Who is confusing who here? According to Google maps, the shortest possible walk from Belmont to Harvard is 42 minutes, and that's if you live right on the edge here: https://goo.gl/maps/R4Hw2
I have a good friend that lives in Arlington, works with me in the same building, and I have 45 minutes more time with my family every day due to my shorter commute.
And schools - the reality is that most people have no clue how to gauge a school. Most people look at a score on greatschools.com, and average MCAS scores, which actually says nothing about the school except for that is it demographically homogenous. What many Somerville parents know today, and which will become common knowledge in 5 years - is that the West Somerville schools are now AT LEAST on par with the elementary schools in Arlington. The influx of very highly educated families into the schools since 2008 is making a huge difference. The parents of my children's friends are non-profit founders, Harvard and MIT faculty and staff, and software and biotech workers with great commutes to Kendall (like me). But enough with the anecdotes - here is some DOE data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1O...ew?usp=sharing
Who is confusing who here? According to Google maps, the shortest possible walk from Belmont to Harvard is 42 minutes, and that's if you live right on the edge here: https://goo.gl/maps/R4Hw2
I have a good friend that lives in Arlington, works with me in the same building, and I have 45 minutes more time with my family every day due to my shorter commute.
And schools - the reality is that most people have no clue how to gauge a school. Most people look at a score on greatschools.com, and average MCAS scores, which actually says nothing about the school except for that is it demographically homogenous. What many Somerville parents know today, and which will become common knowledge in 5 years - is that the West Somerville schools are now AT LEAST on par with the elementary schools in Arlington. The influx of very highly educated families into the schools since 2008 is making a huge difference. The parents of my children's friends are non-profit founders, Harvard and MIT faculty and staff, and software and biotech workers with great commutes to Kendall (like me). But enough with the anecdotes - here is some DOE data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1O...ew?usp=sharing
And click play here (this doesn't even include the exceptional new 2014 data): mcasdata
I don't doubt your kid's elementary school has great teachers, but most families still prefer to live in Arlington over Somerville for other reasons. Great teachers will have a hard time teaching your smart kid if they need to spend most of their time and energy on the 75% of kids who just don't give a damn. You're screwed if your kid becomes best friends with a hoodlum kid who lives in a housing project. The chances of that happening are 10x greater in Somerville than in Arlington. Diversity is great, but not at the expense of my own kid's future.
EDIT:
semiurbanite: I was just reading what I wrote again and I'm sorry if it sounded harsh. I wasn't trying to attack you in any way, just stating my opinion which is very different from yours. I've been reading your posts which repeat that same story about Somerville test scores adjusted for low-income students for some time now. The fact is, those low-income kids still dominate the classroom by a 2:1 ratio and that's the real reason why many families prefer Arlington over Somerville. Will your kid grow up just fine and get into a good college? Probably. But I wouldn't use my kid as a guinea pig in a school system that's still undergoing gentrification. I'd rather play it safe and raise my kid in a town with an "established" school system. Especially if I'm paying the same amount of money for a house in either town.
sarascout: Just so you know what we're discussing, it's like comparing the school systems of JC and Short Hills. Trade-off of good established schools in Short Hills for the quicker commute in JC. I know many upper middle class families are staying in JC and taking a chance on the public schools because of its convenience to NYC. If you personally wouldn't consider living there, then you can rule out Somerville too. And no, McNair doesn't count
Last edited by Parsec; 11-02-2014 at 08:16 PM..
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Have you looked at Manchester By The Sea if you are looking on the shore?
