Relocating from MO, prettiest small towns around Boston? (Cambridge, Waltham: condos, house)

[scratchie]

Originally Posted by Gatorman4017

Bases on the info so far, I've decided to concentrate my search more on the Reading area with a commute radius of about 45 minutes or less for my wife. Possibly Newburyport, but I just don't want to get there and feel like I'm so far out of Boston that I'm not a part of it at all.

Newburyport is a great town, though. Beautiful colonial-era downtown and a vibrant arts scene. It's also close to Portsmouth, which has a lot of arts and music.

So you would be disconnected from Boston to a certain degree (although my buddies and I used to drive from northern Essex County into Boston on weekends all the time when we were in high school, but we had a lot more free time back then, too). But there would be things to do a lot closer to home, which you might not get in a town like Reading or Wakefield (not to denigrate the fine cultural offerings of the Lord Wakefield).

[Gatorman4017]

Thanks, scratchie

I'm paying much more attention to the commute times when looking at places. I've decided that most online resources that purport to give info about commutes are BS. So let me ask about specific commutes and see if anyone can offer an opinion...

On cities out west...
The consensus is that the trip in on the turnpike is easier than coming in from up north, but what about going from metro west to north shore?

Specifically, what about Natick or Framingham to Reading?

I also read someone on another thread talking about how awesome Northampton was so I checked it out and got really excited...until I zoomed out a little and realized it was on the other side of the damn state. Google maps can be cruel.

[traffic_lover]

Natick to reading during rush hr is 1 hr at least. Metro west to north Shore is not something you'd like.

[traffic_lover]

Did anybody suggest swampscott to this gent??? 20 minute train to north station. great community ON THE OCEAN. 100% walkable & solid schools. Its a good compromise if you like marblehead Better access to outside world ie reading

[alidmc]

Swampscott is great, except his wife has to commute to Reading. I lived next to Reading and had to drive to Swampscott on weekends (no traffic) and it took me 40 minutes. I would avoid that kind of commute.

I would also avoid commuting from Metro West to Reading. The pike traffic used to be slightly better, but with the construction project and increase in commuters in Metro West towns, it has gotten significantly worse over the past couple of years.

[Dm84]

Perfect commutes are often sought after and rarely achieved in this area. Whatever Google maps says for drive times, add at at least 10-15 minutes extra.

I do agree that metrowest to Reading sounds bad.

[Gatorman4017]

I have looked at Swampscott, and it's on my list to check out. It seemed like an even tighter real estate market than some of the other places though.

Disappointing to hear about the west to north commute. So going north on 95 from the turnpike in the morning is that bad? It seems like it would be against the general flow of traffic heading into the city.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by Gatorman4017

I have looked at Swampscott, and it's on my list to check out. It seemed like an even tighter real estate market than some of the other places though.

Disappointing to hear about the west to north commute. So going north on 95 from the turnpike in the morning is that bad? It seems like it would be against the general flow of traffic heading into the city.

There are a lot of office parks in the Waltham and Lexington areas that are only accessible by car. This causes some serious traffic on 95 from the mass pike all the way to route 3 in Burlington.

[traffic_lover]

Originally Posted by Gatorman4017

I have looked at Swampscott, and it's on my list to check out. It seemed like an even tighter real estate market than some of the other places though.

Disappointing to hear about the west to north commute. So going north on 95 from the turnpike in the morning is that bad? It seems like it would be against the general flow of traffic heading into the city.

Re: swampscott: make sure you check out Olmsted district, lynn shore bike/walkway & park, and area near marian court college. And if you like it in march it's 100x better come june

[dravogadro]

Coming from the Midwest, there is no city or town with a feel exactly like what you are looking for. It just different here.

Anyway, I'm going to be more upbeat on Waltham for you. Reading personally gives me the heebie-jeebies.

- I think the commute to Reading could be fine, depending on what the work schedule is. 128 is right next to Waltham, so you can head north and be there in 20 minutes. It is a morning reverse commute so the traffic will be a bit lighter (except around 3 which is always congested).
The return commute will be worse than the morning but if your wife's schedule isn't fixed, I think you can make it less painful.

- You will probably want to look at neighborhoods near 128, which takes out Warrendale, a perennial favorite. You may be able to slide into a fixer-upper in Cedarwood, but I doubt it. You will probably have better luck on the northside, unfortunately a more car-dependent area. I've heard that families settle in the Hardy Pond area.

- I don't know the real story about schools. Some neighborhood schools have lower test rankings because of the percentage of ESL students Waltham has.

- If you have to get into the city, you have several options. You can take the Pike in, which is 1-2 stops away from Waltham. There are also various back road tricks. You have the option of several bus lines and a commuter rail stop. It's a short drive if you feel the need to take the green line in, or even the red line. There is also a separated bike trail that runs straight into Boston. There is another being planned to head into Cambridge.

- Waltham is not Mayberry but it has a walkable downtown with many good restaurants and interesting museums. I would not use the words quaint or pretty. Work-in-progress.

- For being so close to Boston, there is a lot of greenspace. Plenty of trails for hiking.

- There is a Farmer's Market. And a farm. Yes, a farm in Waltham where you can get more veggies than you can deal with most of the year.

- Chickens are currently not permitted but they have been discussed. I think it could get passed but there isn't enough interest to muster up the political support. I have seen chickens around so I know they exist.

- Low property taxes