Lexington or Acton-Boxborough (Boston, Cambridge, Newton: apartments, big house, tech job)

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by mwj119

That makes a lot more sense. Concord is very, very Caucasian.

Indians are Caucasian.

[Idontwanttocheckmymessage]

I'm not sure how accurate this is - or, if the OP would even find it helpful - but I stumbled across this site that lists the cities and towns in MA with the largest Indian populations.

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Indians are Caucasian.

No, they are not according to the census and, having lived in a town with a prominent Indian population, deviate culturally from Western-Anglo Caucasians.

Not suggesting any bias for or against.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

No, they are not according to the census and, having lived in a town with a prominent Indian population, deviate culturally from Western-Anglo Caucasians.

Not suggesting any bias for or against.

Some deviate, but scientifically they are the same. Skin color doesn't necessarily have anything to do with race and the census measures ethnicities.

[quantumdots]

Thanks for the additional info regarding Needham.
Bedford is definitely in our consideration.

We are not partial to Asian/Indian population.
Diversity is important but not the over-riding factor for us, and I am sure most cities here are welcoming of different looking people. Most of our 15 years in US were spent in "very Caucasian" cities, in Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon, and the experiences have been very pleasant and welcoming.

We did look at Concord. But our budget is too meager for it. Its actually meager for most places, except Acton-Boxborough.
And at this point, I have removed those cities from our consideration. We have very young children, and I want to spend time with them rather than waste it on commute.

Sigh...it's the same cycle from San Francisco. And makes me wonder, how do people afford to live in a decent place and still have good commutes?
We are very average salary professionals and for that reason I was eager to go back to Columbus, Ohio or find something in Portland, OR or Austin, TX. But we soon realized SF Bay area and Boston are the two places with good job prospects for scientists.

How do others manage it?

[bugelrex]

Here's a listing in Waltham, right on the Newton boundary

473k for single family. Not sure why its so cheap, there'll be definitely something negative about it...
https://www.redfin.com/MA/Waltham/22.../home/11819883

[J1NL1]

Originally Posted by quantumdots

Dear all who replied,
Thanks again.
After stewing in two particularly awful commutes to Cambridge from Lexington, husband has conceded that buying further out in Acton, will be even more terrible.
From all of your replies, however, I didn't see anyone mention Needham.
From my research on schools, I found they too have excellent schools and Redfin shows houses are a bit newer and less expensive than Lexington. Can anyone please provide feedback on Needham? Do you live there? How is the commute to Cambridge?
I appreciate your comments.

Hi there, we moved to Needham last summer and really like it. My husband commuted to Kendall for half a year before he was relocated to Back Bay. We bought a house within walking distance to commuter rail (easy to do as there are 4 stations in town). We ultimately considered Winchester and Needham and it came down to the house.

The commute isn’t awesome but we came from Westchester, NY where an hour commute is considered pretty good door to door. He works long hours and had parking in Kendall so the drive wasn’t bad, typically 45 min leaving around 7am and returning after 7:30pm. During rush hour it took him close to 1hr driving time. The commuter rail only leaves little more than once an hour during peak and has a 2 hour lull midday. Metro-North it is not. That said, a number of people in our neighborhood commute to Kendall. For us it was worth it for the house, community, and schools. There are parts of Needham that are a better commute to Kendall than others. We have quick access to I-95.

As for the community and schools they are fantastic. Very friendly, not so “pressure cooker” imo (we are Asian too) but still excellent and well-funded, and they are building a new elementary school that I think will be done next year which will help relieve crowding that affects some neighborhood schools more than others. A lot of families in our neighborhood are relative newcomers to town (in the last 5 years) which I think helps with openness to making new friends. Tons to do for families around here and many opportunities to get involved in the community. Good luck!

[Steephill2]

Another few options

Assuming you’d like to drive as little as possible.

East Milton. Red line in Quincy is less than 10 minutes drive away.

Westwood near University Ave commuter rail. 35 min or so commute to Kendall square via train/red line. The interesting thing is that same commute will be close to an hour from Needham center

Milton option gives added bonus of downtown/seaport access
Westwood gives added bonus of Back bay/Longwood/downtown/seaport access

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Some deviate, but scientifically they are the same. Skin color doesn't necessarily have anything to do with race and the census measures ethnicities.

Again, no. This notion is based purely anthropological data and was further perpetuated by English racial supremacists wishing to codify India's caste system. Genetically, and of course culturally, there is little commonality with western Europeans beyond the colonial and now global western influence.

Not that I wish to draw racial distinctions given we're all more of less the same genetic material.

The important distinction is culture and in my experience, having coexisted with Indian families, their priorities will deviate quite heavily from your average Concord resident. STEM>arts, SQFT>acreage, HOA>home maintenance, Family>all ... a fine American pursuit, but not one which overlaps heavily with the grand colonial estates of Concord.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by Steephill2

Another few options

Assuming you’d like to drive as little as possible.

East Milton. Red line in Quincy is less than 10 minutes drive away.

Westwood near University Ave commuter rail. 35 min or so commute to Kendall square via train/red line. The interesting thing is that same commute will be close to an hour from Needham center

Milton option gives added bonus of downtown/seaport access
Westwood gives added bonus of Back bay/Longwood/downtown/seaport access

As someone who lives by Route 128 station in Westwood, it’s a nice place to live and not the worst option to Kendall square, but it isn’t 35 minutes. More like 45 there / 55 back. I once made it in 40 minutes, but that was exactly hitting everything perfectly.

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Again, no. This notion is based purely anthropological data and was further perpetuated by English racial supremacists wishing to codify India's caste system. Genetically, and of course culturally, there is little commonality with western Europeans beyond the colonial and now global western influence.

Not that I wish to draw racial distinctions given we're all more of less the same genetic material.

The important distinction is culture and in my experience, having coexisted with Indian families, their priorities will deviate quite heavily from your average Concord resident. STEM>arts, SQFT>acreage, HOA>home maintenance, Family>all ... a fine American pursuit, but not one which overlaps heavily with the grand colonial estates of Concord.

Caucasian is an old racial term that doesn’t have much meaning these days, but did actually include (South Asian) Indians. There was a Supreme Court case that determined that Indians were Caucasian, but they were not white: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit...at_Singh_Thind

Many Indians, especially towards the north, also share a common language family with most of Western Europe. There is believed to be a genetic link, as well. Indian is a very diverse country, but it’s certainly the case that some of the people there are relatively closely related to those in Europe. Culturally, however, they are quite different groups, the divergence being relatively recent on genetic timescales but positively enormous on cultural ones.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-Europeans