Waltham/Watertown/Medfor/Arlington? (Boston, Cambridge: renting, houses, neighborhoods)

[JEP]

My husband and I moved to East Arlington this past July. We are currently shopping for a house. We still don't know the different areas well enough to decide where the best place to move. We realize Arlington is a little pricey, but my husband likes public transit; so where ever we move, it needs to be available. We don't want to spend more than 450k on a house; any suggestions?

Thanks!

[scarletfire]

What are you looking for in your new town/city? where do you work and how long of a commute is ok? I don't think Waltham has any train or subway service, just bus I believe. You can find a home in that price range. They tend to be rather close together. I like the neighborhoods off of Lake St (Amherst Ave, Mokema Ave, etc) but someone else might be able to chime in that knows that area better. I don't live there but have family there.

[smarty]

I agree... it depends on how long of a commute is acceptable. For that money, how big and new of a house do you expect. I can only suggest...Go look.

Waltham is a city (fairly big) has a commuter train stop near downtown... Bus to watertown... express bus..

Watertown has bus to Cambridge and express bus to Boston...

Medford has buses also... but may be easier to go to Malden/Wellington to pick up the T subway.

As to prices, there are houses in that price range... but there is a big range within Waltham... For example, Closer to Bentley college (Forest St) is very nice; near downtown (Rt20/Moody St) is not so nice.

Watertown has a very high Armenian population. A little rough on the outside but very nice people.

In terms of schools, Arlington is still the best...

[charolastra00]

I personally love Waltham and Watertown. They're a bit more "working class" than Arlington, but that's part of the appeal IMO. Waltham actually has two commuter rail stops- Waltham and Brandeis/Roberts. The Brandeis stop has more parking spaces open generally than Waltham proper because it's mostly used by students who walk there. In addition to the bus to Watertown, there's also a bus to Newton. However, it could be a fair walk to get to either the bus or the commuter rails from residential areas because, as smarty said, it is a city and is rather large.

Watertown also has decent public transportation depending on where you live. I have a friend who walks 15 minutes to the bus stop every day for work. It can be a bit of a drag in the snow or rain, but better than the commute!

[elijahwilliams]

I'm in the same boat as you. We're currently renting in Arlington and have about the same budget hoping to buy a single family. We'd like to buy a single family but the ones in that budget in Arlington are small and fixers.

Are you concerned with the school systems? Seems like Arlington has the best reputation of the ones you listed. West Medford has some nice houses but might be out of our range and the schools aren't so hot.

I'm curious to see what you come up with. Good luck!