working in worcester & boston - where should we live? (Framingham: apartment, insurance)

[runningirl]

hi!

looks like my husband and i may be moving back to MA (we went to college in worcester). one of us will be working in worcester and one of us will be working in boston (near thompson square/bunker hill). ideally, we'd like our commutes to be about equal and realize we're probably going to need to live closer to boston for that to happen. the one commuting into boston is open to public transportation to avoid the headaches of rush hour traffic. the other would be reverse-commuting, so i'm guessing driving wouldn't be an issue? any thoughts on this? so, ultimately, where would the best place to live be considering commuting time? the drive time from the two places is about 50 minutes with no traffic (but we know there's basically no time when there's no traffic into boston). thanks in advance for any input!

[MikePRU]

Right off the top of my head, I'm thinking Natick or Framingham would be good choices. However, you haven't given enough information to get an informed reply. Do you have kids? Are schools important? Are you looking to buy or rent? Do you want to live in a house, townhouse, or apartment/condo? What is your budget for housing? What do you like to do for fun? What type of environment do you like to live in (urban, semi-urban, suburban, semi-rural, or rural)? Do you need shopping nearby? Perhaps you like a town with a developed town center?

It would be great if you could give more detail aside from your commute.

[missionhill]

I think you're right about the drive to Worcester from points east-- not too much of a problem. Mike suggests Natick or Framingham-- there you have the train into Back Bay with a change to the orange line to Charlestown. Someplace like Maynard along the Fitchburg commuter line could work as well with a train to North Station and a walk or short bus ride to Thompson Sq from there.

[runningirl]

thank you both for your input. Mike - ideally we'd like to buy a house, but recognize we will be limited because housing is quite expensive the further east we go. we'd be open to a townhome, but the fees need to be reasonable. we don't have kids (yet), so schools wouldn't be too important for this move, but perhaps in the future if we stay in that area. we do have a dog, however. she's about 35-40 lbs, doesn't bark, and is one of the most well-behaved dogs i've ever known (doesn't destroy anything or eat ANYTHING when not instructed even if we leave food out). if we buy, we'd want to keep our house payment (including taxes, insurance, etc.) around 2,000 per month. we do have some savings and would be able to put a down a decent downpayment. resale will be very important. we're probably looking for something more suburban than anything else (i grew up semi-rural in central MA and he grew up more suburban). we both love to hike and bike - we're more outdoors-type of people. i'm an avid runner and would really like to live in a safe area where i can step out my door and run (maybe even have some trails close by). i'd like to have a grocery store and a gym close by, but don't really need shopping really close (within 30 mins would be fine). a nice town center would be great - with small shops, restaurants, etc.

[runningirl]

also, how long are these different commuting options you're speaking of?

[Boston_Burbs]

Given the job is in Charlestown, your train should go to north station. I would look for
Towns on the south acton commuter rail line

[gf2020]

Stow or Maynard would work. Short drive to the Acton commuter rail mentioned above and a reasonable drive down 290 to Worcester.

[MikePRU]

Upon further thought . . . I would like to change my recommendations to Maynard & Acton.

[runningirl]

Okay, what made you change you recommendation? I'm just curious about the different areas - I'm not really familiar with eastern MA. Any input would be great!

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by runningirl

Okay, what made you change you recommendation? I'm just curious about the different areas - I'm not really familiar with eastern MA. Any input would be great!

If you took a map and drew a straight line starting in Boston and ending in Worcester, you'll find the middle of the line falls exactly in Framingham and Natick. So, immediately I thought of these two towns. However, driving from Acton/Maynard is roughly the same time commitment as coming from Natick. However, the train commute from Acton/Maynard to the area of Boston you want is better than the commute from Natick/Framingham. In terms of home prices, Maynard is roughly the same as Framingham and Natick is roughly the same as Acton. So when I thought about it some more, I gave Acton/Maynard a slight edge.