Could Winchester be for us?

[holden125]

Since we're bashing towns in jest, it should be pointed out that Lexington, Concord and Arlington have known periods of extreme violence and had very high homicide rates in April 1775 though this has abated with gentrification in recent centuries.

As far as I know, none of them can boast a Heisman Trophy winner as can Winchester. I will not claim NJ Devils winger Jay Pandolfo, who was born at the hospital in Winchester but grew up in Burlington and made me look stupid in PeeWee hockey a few times. Now that he's coming up on 10 years in the NHL and 2 Stanley Cups I don't feel so bad.

[smarty]

holden125... you're too funny. ummm... If I live in Natick, I'll be a football player like Doug Flutie?

TheWereRabbit... OK... Winchester wins. Great to see so much pride... Are you one of the people that chant Yankee s**k? Just bear in mind that these rivalry comes and goes. It will become pointless in a few years. (heard of Celtics and Lakers rivalry?)

[puffle]

Originally Posted by brookliner1

We're currently in Brookline, but want a little more space with a small backyard, but don't want to sacrifice any of the following:

1. Walkable town center / walkable town in general
2. Convenient commute to Boston with good public transportation options as well as the option to drive (less than 30 mins door to door ideal)
3. International element / cosmopolitan feel / diversity
4. Good / close access to nature trails, hiking, biking, etc.
5. Not *too* far from the seaside
6. Strong school system

We get a lot of this in Brookline now, but we just feel too squeezed for space, and hate the thought of paying nearly 7 figures for a decent condo. We're thinking about Winchester as a possibility, but haven't seen many posts about Winchester.

Towns we've visited that don't appeal to us because at least 1 of the 6 criteria are missing: Westwood, Weston, Sudbury, Concord, Scituate, Newburyport.

Is Winchester an option? Are there other towns we aren't considering that we should?

We must have a walkable town, next most important is an internationally diverse community with at least some cosmopolitan flair with as little snobbery as possible!

Thanks!

So what do you think Brookliner? Does Winchester sound like your dream town?

[holden125]

Originally Posted by smarty

holden125... you're too funny. ummm... If I live in Natick, I'll be a football player like Doug Flutie?

TheWereRabbit... OK... Winchester wins. Great to see so much pride... Are you one of the people that chant Yankee s**k? Just bear in mind that these rivalry comes and goes. It will become pointless in a few years. (heard of Celtics and Lakers rivalry?)

You need to relax. I never said living in Winchester would make anyone a football or a hockey player. I said a Heisman trophy winner came from Winchester and an NHL player was born there but grew up in another town. That's it. No need to get testy.

I was trying to have a little fun with the fact that things degenerated into some mild trash-talking between boosters of neighboring affluent towns, which is silly but not virtually criminal as it's being made out to be. I can't for the life of me understand what Yankees s**k or Celtics/Lakers has to do with teasing about Winchester being better than Lexington or vice versa.

You and I are both trying to come on here and give the OP some valuable info on Winchester and other alternatives if they want to move from Brookline. TheWereRabbit thinks it's a good fit but obviously the OP will make that decision. In the meantime we don't have to declare this a no-fun zone.

[Martha Anne]

Winchester, to be blunt, is a classy, formerly upper middle class Protestant town (like Belmont was, one time) and it doubtlessly has a well educated Jewish population and I am sure you would find enough Jews there to not feel left out. It is known to attract highly accomplished academic types and I am almost certain that the schools are great as the parents are very, very well educated. It is an upper crust town. You willl not get a large amount of people from diverse cultural backgrounds there, some,but not more than a smallish minority.

[puffle]

I don't remember reading about needing a town with a large Jewish population from the OP or is that what you consider.....# 3. International element / cosmopolitan feel / diversity?

[holden125]

Originally Posted by puffle

I don't remember reading about needing a town with a large Jewish population from the OP or is that what you consider.....# 3. International element / cosmopolitan feel / diversity?

I hadn't thought they mentioned anything about being Jewish or looking for a Jewish population either. Did you think that because they live in Brookline?

[daveboston]

Brookliner1, where did you end up?

We live in the Back Bay now with a 5 month old daughter and are thinking about where we want to end up. A large townhouse in Brookline would probably be the ideal, but pretty much what we want in inner brookline gets up near $1MM and that isn't in the budget. So we are looking for other places with similar characteristics and a reasonable commute to Boston.

Key desires
#1 some type of town center we can walk to. Pretty much must be able to get there via sidewalk. Generally my test is does it have a Starbucks, at least one good sandwich shop, some type of groceries (ideal is trader joes) and a good gym.
#2 short walk to a nice unpaved place to take a jog. Right now I have the Charles River Esplanade about 100 yards away. I don't expect the same, but something like the Cleveland Circle Reservoir, at least.
#3 close to good public transport option into Boston (though would also like to hear about options without this in case my job changes).
#4 Great public schools - I guess if home prices are cheap enough there and there was an excellent private should, I could consider it, but they would probably need to give away the houses for that to make economic sense.
#5 Affordable - preferably below $300psf to buy a small house / large townhouse

Other Preferences
- diverse population - I know that doesn't necessarily follow my other criteria, it would just be nice
- liberal/reform Jewish population/temple (though the temple could be in a neighboring town). Not so important as there isn't a reason that I could feel unwelcome.
- A decent stock of townhouses. I am way to lazy to deal with owning a single family. If everything else was perfect, I could deal with it though.

My current prejudices:
- Inner Brookline - fits all criteria except way too expensive.
- Outer Brookline (by my definition, more than .5 miles south of the D line) - no town center? Or is there one that I don't know about?
- Newton Center - could work, though still a bit pricey as I understand and the green line isn't the best
- Winchester - I know nothing about it outside what is in this thread and I do really like the fells
- Sharon - too far from Boston and city center doesn't have enough good retail for my taste. Though the price is right.
- Lexington, know nothing about it other than what is near the minuteman trail. It is know to be expensive, but is that becuase people have large homes? Would a townhouse be cheap?
- Arlington, know nothing about it other than what is near the minuteman trail
- Belmont, know nothing about it, though not sure how easy the Boston commute is.
- Milton - I love the blue hills, but I don't know of any city center. I know it is close to Mattapan Center, but that doesn't have my type of retail either. I hear the schools have some type of special french program that is good, but not sure if that will cut it. Also, for the T, there is the mattapan trolley, but that sounds slow and is it safe? I guess I could buy a second car and drive to quincy, but that doesn't sound ideal.
- Quincy - could be a nice place to live for a while, but not known to have top notch schools.
- Watertown - know nothing about it.

Other thoughts?

[kingeorge]

If possible I would stay in Brookline. Before you know kid/kids will be old enough to go around on their own. Yard is very attractive when kids are younger, but before you know it, they are off doing something else with their friends. Winchester as cute, close and suburban it is, it is not in the same league as Brookline. Also figure out what town services are you leaving and what you will be getting for your tax dollar in Winchester. You might get more space but what are you willing to lose? There are very few communities in the US that have same flair as Brookline. Do not kid yourself that you will find similar community in Winchester.