Best Boston Commuting Town for Family (Newton, Natick: houses, new construction, school district)

[NYC_Girl]

My family and I are considering relocating to Boston for my husband's job. We are not at all familiar with the Boston suburbs. Can anyone recommend suburbs which are within an hour door-to-door commute by train into Boston (near Downtown Crossing)? We have two little kids, and things that are important to us include a good school district, cute main street area, nice parks, good sense of community, preferably within half hour drive to a beach. Tia!

[brightdoglover]

Am I the first to ask about budget? OK. Budget, please.

[NYC_Girl]

our max is 900K, but preferably lower.

[MikePRU]

You've got a tough list of requests to fulfill. The first town that comes to mind is Hingham. Hingham should be a reasonable commute via public transportation (and taking the commuter boat in the summer is AWESOME). However, commuting by car is a nightmare from there. You either have to leave unreasonably early or be willing to endure a lot of traffic. It gets even worse during the summer months because Rt 3 (the main artery in the Hingham area) is a commonly used road to get to Cape Cod. So traffic is even heavier in the summer months.

With a $900K budget, you could find yourself in some of Boston's most sought after suburbs like Newton, Needham, Natick, Wellesley, etc, etc, etc. However, they're more like an hour drive to the beach.

$900K is a big budget in many parts of the country. However, in some of the towns I've just listed it's either an average or below average budget. So that makes me ask . . . what kind of house are you expecting/looking for?

[NYC_Girl]

Thank! We will definitely look into hingham. For our budget we would like to find a 4 bedroom, which is fairly updated. Out of all our requirements, proximity to the beach is lowest.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by NYC_Girl

Thank! We will definitely look into hingham. For our budget we would like to find a 4 bedroom, which is fairly updated. Out of all our requirements, proximity to the beach is lowest.

If that's the case then I would start with the other towns I mentioned first.

[sal1181]

How about Andover?? You can take the commuter rail in to Boston. Your budget of $900K will definitely get you a new construction or very updated home

[3each4me]

I live in Hopedale and it sounds like what you are describing with the exception that our most expensive homes are well below your budget and the ocean is about 1hr away in any direction though we do have beach front lakes and state parks within about 20mins or so. To get an idea of housing, go to and check out Hopedale, Hopkinton, Holliston, Natick, Medfield, Westwood, Dover for a start. Westwood and Dover are closer to your max budget. Hopedale is a very small, family oriented town of just over 6,000 people. We moved here 7yrs ago as a "temporary" stay and have raised 3 more children here. Good luck in your search!

[NYC_Girl]

Thanks everyone. Does anyone know if any of these towns would potentially have houses within our budget within walking distance to the train?

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by NYC_Girl

Thanks everyone. Does anyone know if any of these towns would potentially have houses within our budget within walking distance to the train?

Hingham would meet all of your requirements, but I suspect the number of houses that are in your budget, have four bedrooms, and are within walking distance of the commuter rail is small enough that there may be very few options. It's probably worth checking out, though.

You're more likely to find a house within walking distance to the commuter rail in Needham. That would meet all of your requirements except the beach. I don't know if you'll get four bedrooms and updated in your budget. If Needham is too pricey Natick might work. Newton and Wellesley would work, with a larger budget or a more modest house. Newton has the added benefit of Green Line access.

Westwood is cheaper than Needham and has everything but the beach and the cute Main Street (although nearby Norwood has a nice town center). The part of town within walking distance of the train station is called Islington and could work. Your budget might even be a bit high for the part of town that's a short walk to the station. Dover/Medfield/Holliston/Hopkinton don't have commuter rail stations. I don't think Sharon or Canton have been mentioned yet. Those are worth considering.

Walking to the commuter rail is a more specific requirement than just a town. When we were first looking we wanted to walk to the commuter rail and so ended up looking in a bunch of different towns. We ended up in Islington in large part because that's where we found a house we liked within walking distance of the commuter rail.