Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We like the vibe and houses in Concord. Is it even feasible to commute to Kendall Square, either by car or commuter rail? Or should we stop dreaming and just go back to looking in the more traditional commuter towns of Winchester, Lexington, Belmont (not that there are ever houses for sale here!), Newton and Arlington. Would a commute from Concord really be that much of a difference to say Lexington and Winchester?
It's feasible. I mean people commute to NYC from Pennsylvania. Commuter rail to Porter, Red Line to Kendall. A lot of my coworkers live in Acton and Littleton, which are even further out (I work in Kendall). Driving is feasible if you keep weird hours; it's less fun if you try the 9-5.
The commute is definitely worse than all the places you mentioned. You have to decide whether Concord is worth the commute. It's definitely not impossible, though.
Kendall is pain to get to. The commute from Concord will be a bit longer, but not drastically different from a Lexington commute, especially a North Lexington commute. Belmont is probably better, but I also prefer Concord as a town. It could be worth it.
Edit: I saw from another thread that your budget is $1.3, if you like Concord you should add in Lincoln. Also, I wouldn't spend that kind of money in Arlington.
Last edited by Ninotchka P; 05-02-2017 at 07:09 AM..
Depending on where you are coming from in Concord, you can do the commute via train in about an hour. You can either take the commuter rail to Porter and transfer to the red line or to North Station and transfer to an EZ Ride shuttle. The drive is about an hour but that can vary more and is infinitely more stressful. Traffic immediately in Kendall has become hell during the afternoon rush and you could potentially be stuck for 15 minutes trying to get out of your garage depending on your work hours.
Relatively, a commute from Concord to Kendall isn't too bad for this area. I have friends who often bike in from Concord. The commute from Concord is only slightly farther than Lexington or Winchester.
It could be worse, there is actually a train that would get you to work by 9, unlike Lexington which has no trains at all. You can always drive to South Acton for more train options. But yes, it is leaving your house at 7 to be at work at 9. You would have to do the same from Lexington.
Although I loathe the "metro north" N/S corridors of rt.38,28,129, etc. Winchester is the one place I would consider. It has enough bucolicness to psychologically insulate me from that strip-mall density I hate, and a train with great commuting options right downtown. That said, you are still looking at only a 30 minutes difference between when you would have to leave your house in Winchester to get to work on time. Taking the 7:48 and leaving home by 7:30 to do so. How you get from North Station to Kendall takes a big wad of unknowable time.
Arlington and Belmont are much easier Red Line choices. Arlington has bus service to Alewife and Harvard which buys you yet another 30 minutes in bed and much more flexible options with busses every ten minutes. So you leave at 8 to get to work by 9. Belmont is similar but depending where in Belmont the busses may be less frequent.
Keep in mind bus commuting is always unpredictable with the weather so the closer you are the better. I used to commute by both bus and train from Waltham and train is far preferable.
I forgot Newton! West Newton is a good choice because you can drive to Waltham easily and park at either Brandeis or Waltham Center (buy parking pass) and connect to Porter from there. So from West Newton you leave at 7:45 to be there by 9. Or take the West Newton or Auburndale stops on the Worcester line and go to South Station and back in to Kendall. This has fewer trains so you would leave at 7:15 and get to work early.
Have you looked at Needham? It has less density and more suburban "hometown" feel than Newton and it has a train to South Station that you would leave at 7:15 to ride.
Last edited by SalamanderSmile; 05-02-2017 at 07:49 AM..
My spouse does the Concord - Kendall Square commute via car. Leaving around 7:30 AM, it takes 1 hr to 1 hr 20 minutes. Leaving after 6 PM, it takes 40-50 minutes back home.
Same here. Spouse has the option to work out of a Cambridge office or a Westborough office. He chooses to work in the Kendall Square office. He usually parks at Alewife but sometimes drives in or takes the rail into town. Not so bad for people who leave on the early side.
We briefly considered Concord for a Kendall commute by train and it seemed doable in the morning but the limited trains home in the evening made it a no-go. We ended up finding a house in Needham, close to Hersey station where you switch to red line at South Station. It had a few more trains in the evening commute to make it less ominous to miss your train. Once my husband has the chance to do the commute regularly (we are not moving for another month) I will update on the time door to door.
The explosion of high paying jobs in Kendall square is actually a big part of the housing price spike in Cambridge, Somerville and even Arlington. It can be a pain to get to yet it's becoming a major jobs center for tech and biotech jobs. Gotta say I really appreciate my 13 minute bike ride to Kendall every day.
We looked at Concord when we moved here. My husband had a commute to Lexington, but wanted to retain Kendall Square as a commute possibility, and as it turns out he does commute to Kendall square sometimes. I needed to preserve access to downtown, and I kept hearing that the Route 2 Rotary was a killer in Concord, and someone told me that when the weather wasn't good, his wife had a 2 hour commute from Boston to Concord. And it happened more than occasionally. Keep in mind that is from Boston, and Kendall would be better, but still could be bad. So based on that info on the commute to Boston, we took it off the list.
That said, we did really like Concord, and if we had no need ever for a commute downtown, it would have stayed on the list. As others have said, it's certainly do-able and people endure far worse. It depends on just how much more you love Concord versus other towns, and just how long a commute you can endure.
We're in Newton, and my husband sometimes drives and sometimes takes the T when he goes to Kendall Square. The commute hasn't been bad at all.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
