Medfield, Mass, Barrington RI, or ???

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by Spiral

Hello-

My spouse was offered a job in Woonsocket, RI and we are starting our initial search for homes. We are not from the area and wanted to know which area would be the best for us.

The details:

-Parents are early 40's with one apprehensive 4th grader in tow
-Have some experience living in urban areas (Chicago, MPLS, Miami) but have become suburban and enjoy backyard cookouts, walking around the 'hood while being close (within 3hours) to adventurous and interesting places.
-Schools are very important
-Would love some diversity though
-Budget is $400-500K
-Looking ahead, college choice and in-state pricing is preferential so Massachusetts makes sense here for greater potential selection

From our initial search we like what we hear about Medfield and Barrington schools, but aren't sure what to make of the whole RI v Mass thing. Are the schools/quality of life really that disparate or is this some petty geo-psychological warfare stemming from a long standing feud between neighboring states?


Any help and insight would be welcomed and appreciated,

Thanks!

If there is a MA vs RI "thing", MA isn't aware of it.

Seriously, as far as UMass or URI, it depends on what your child's major. I was at a graduation in MA this year and was surprised many of the top students chose UMass over Ivy league schools, but even more of the "next tier" students were choosing URI. So, it seems like both schools are very competitive. Your budget of $500K will not go far in Medfield. How important is diversity? None of the top districts have much diversity, sans a few Asian kids. Other than that, diversity and great schools do not mix well in New England. The closest I can think of if maybe North Providence. Other than that, all top school districts are about 85-95% non-hispanic white.

I agree with other posters that Franklin or Wrentham might be a better choice. Other highly rated districts not previously mentioned would be Lincoln and North Smithfield in RI and Mendon-Upton in MA.

[WillRunForBeer]

While a long way off if you have a 4th grader, it should be noted that UMass (Amherst) is a far better school than URI. While it is an admittedly flawed ranking system, the US News rankings are pretty indicative of the schools' relative reputations: UMass at #74 among national universities and #27 among public universities, vs. #159 and #83 respectively for URI. UMass' non-flagship campus in Lowell is rated higher than URI.

That said, I'd echo one of the other posters recommending Franklin-pretty easy commute to Woonsocket, good schools, slightly more diverse than Medfield (not by much though).