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Trying to identify communities to investigate for our move from Rochester, NY to MA summer of 2016. Will be working in Marlborough, but open to towns within a reasonable commute. Looking for amazing public schools as a key priority. Would love to hear suggestions for places to consider (and share school names as well). Children will be going into 4th and 5th grades (is 5th still elementary there)?
Westborough and Hopkinton are solid options in this price range. Wayland is an option, higher home price (so less for your money) but probably a higher ranked school district.
Is proximity to Marlborough and School district your primary criteria? What about proximity to Boston, amount of house for your dollar, etc? Another component is 'town feel' or 'town density'. Do you prefer rural and sprawling, with large acre plus lots, or do you want a tighter neighborhood, town center, etc. Is townhouse/condo an option?
In my opinion, 'amazing public schools' is a tough thing to pinpoint. When I relocated to the area, we became really caught up in the 'Top 10' school rankings, etc. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that if you get into a 'good or better' school system in MA, you are in one of the best in the country, as MA as a whole is often rated as having the best public school system in the country. Point being, if you find a town that works, and it's ranked in the Top 50 or something, it will be a good system. Don't overstretch yourself to cram into Newton, for example, just because their system is ranked higher.
On that note, I think another component to consider in the equation is economic class/status and demographic. For example, I come from a very blue collar background. My town is a nice diverse mix of blue and white collar, and me as well as my family seem to have integrated into the community well. Even if I could afford a very upper class town, like Wellesley for example, I don't know if it would work well, and imagine I'd have a harder time integrating into the community, because I don't come from that sort of demographic.
Southborough which is just south of Marlborough has very good schools as well.
Some schools systems keep 5th grade in the elementary school and some have them in the middle school. You can check that on the various school websites.
Sudbury borders Marlborough and is one town closer than Wayland is. Since it's further from Boston, your dollar goes much further than it does in Wayland. There is no shortage of good school districts within 30 min of Marlborough. Can you give us some more information about what you are looking for in a town? Will there be 2 commuters in the house? Do you need access to Boston? Most of the towns with good schools near Marlborough will have very few amenities and seem semi-rural to most people coming from other metro areas. Shrewsbury and Westborough would be a good options if you want a McMansion in a more suburban town.
Sudbury borders Marlborough and is one town closer than Wayland is. Since it's further from Boston, your dollar goes much further than it does in Wayland. There is no shortage of good school districts within 30 min of Marlborough. Can you give us some more information about what you are looking for in a town? Will there be 2 commuters in the house? Do you need access to Boston? Most of the towns with good schools near Marlborough will have very few amenities and seem semi-rural to most people coming from other metro areas. Shrewsbury and Westborough would be a good options if you want a McMansion in a more suburban town.
When I saw the OP's budget my first thought was Sudbury as well not only for it's well regarded school system but also because of it's proximity to Marlborough. It would be very helpful to have the additional information you requested though to know if it would truly be a good fit for them. Knowing about how the OP lives and what their commuting needs are is very important when it comes to finding the right town.
to answer some questions: one of us will be commuting and the other is a substitute school teacher (will be getting credentialed to sub in MA). We are very interested in being in a "town" environment. Kids do sports like tennis, golf and skiing (not much into organized team sports) also into the arts and music. We enjoy being a part of festivities (town parades, scouts). We also will be looking for a reformed temple (Jewish) and consider ourselves white collar vs. urban or rural.
Definitely check out Sudbury since it ticks all your boxes and offers a very short commute. It sounds like you're looking for a family friendly town (we have the highest percentage of households with children under 18 in the state). We also have 2 reformed temples and a chabad center that just expanded onto an adjacent 2-acre lot for the growing Jewish population. As far as considering yourself "white collar" I'm not sure what you mean. Every town with a top school district will be predominantly white collar. If you want a homogeneous white collar population then you can probably look at the towns with the highest household or family income. Almost every town in the top 20 is within 30 min of Marlborough because Metrowest is the wealthiest area of the state. Also check out the attached graphic for the population of each town since it sounds like you don't want to live somewhere that's too small/sleepy.
Definitely check out Sudbury since it ticks all your boxes and offers a very short commute. It sounds like you're looking for a family friendly town (we have the highest percentage of households with children under 18 in the state). We also have 2 reformed temples and a chabad center that just expanded onto an adjacent 2-acre lot for the growing Jewish population. As far as considering yourself "white collar" I'm not sure what you mean. Every town with a top school district will be predominantly white collar. If you want a homogeneous white collar population then you can probably look at the towns with the highest household or family income. Almost every town in the top 20 is within 30 min of Marlborough because Metrowest is the wealthiest area of the state. Also check out the attached graphic for the population of each town since it sounds like you don't want to live somewhere that's too small/sleepy.
I'm guessing the OP meant suburban when they said "white collar" as the alternatives were rural and urban.
All the towns in this area have great parks & rec departments and tons of organized sports opportunities. There are Temples sprinkled throughout the area as well. I remember reading once that Boston has the highest Jewish population outside of NY and South Florida. So it really comes down to which town is going to have exceptional schools and give you a reasonable commute.
Sudbury and Southborough are both great choices. Both of these towns are on the quieter end of the suburban spectrum (i.e. larger lots and limited number of shops/restaurants in town). Sudbury is definitely less quiet than Southborough. It's been a while since I've been in Southborough but I believe both towns lack a real town center. Personally, I like a town with a center as I find it's often a hub of activity for the town and often a place where things like parades, concerts, etc. happen. Both have highly regarded schools though and both border Marlborough so an easy commute.
If you're willing to endure a slightly longer commute, you might want to check out Natick. You'd also be compromising on the schools which are great but not quite as well thought of as Sudbury or Southborough. However, the town is quite suburban. Natick also offers better access to Boston in case your commute changes or just for a night out.
It all really just depends on what kind of an environment you're most comfortable with. Most of the towns in this area offer tremendous amenities to their residents.
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