Neighborhoods in Winchester/Lexington/Belmont (Boston, Wellesley: insuring, elementary school, living in)

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by smarty

Wow... I did not realized that Winchester is only 20 minutes more than Franklin to Hopkinton... interesting... 50 miles vs 15 miles but only 20 minutes more... I was thinking that Winchester to Hopkinton is 55 minutes each way on a good day.

I wonder how long will Dover Sherborn to Hopkinton. Probably still 25 minutes on local roads.

According to google, it's 34 minutes!
from: dover, ma to: hopkinton, ma - Google Maps

If you like living on the edge you could always speed...

[TheWereRabbit]

Winchester to Hopkinton sure isn't an easy commute. My dad does Winchester to Marlborough and takes route 3 to 495 which is actually about 10 minutes faster than 128 to the pike (about 50 minutes). I would say the Hopkinton commute will be about an hour but there are plenty of short cuts you will come to know (off hand there are some roads through Lincoln and Weston that are great ways to avoid 128 back-up.

There really aren't many neighborhoods right on Wedge pond since part of it abuts Main Street near the Stop and Shop, Borragard Beach, the Packer tennis courts, and some condos (possibly elderly housing) along Palmer st. The neighborhood in between Church st. and the pond is a very nice neighborhood (streets: Grassmere, Curtis, Glengarry, Pine, Dix). One of the best locations in Winchester in my opinion. I know some people who live on the water there and they have a dock for a canoe but I don't think they swim from their backyard (you probably COULD but I get the impression a lot of the pond is shallow and has weeds growing in the water near the short as opposed to beach.

Hmmm and as far as Panthers question about my favorite elementary school: I really can't make an unbiased decision. I went to Muraco (long before it was anywhere near #1 elementary school in the state) and I loved it, but at the same time you really can't glorify a school that is "across the train tracks from the dump". And ya, it literally is. I would base my decision more on the neighborhood you like than the school. I was going to give a run-down of the schools when I realized I was pretty much doing it from a kid's perspective and not a parents (i.e. Lincoln has seperate Cafeteria, Audtorium and Gym and is close to downtown but has a small crappy area for recess) which is probably not what you are looking for. They're all great schools though!

[4panthers]

I'm taking a look at Lexington tomorrow, with a realtor. She is going to show me Concord too. I love Concord but am unsure about being in a rural town. Does it feel any more rural than Lexington? It has such a great center. Maybe having a great center offsets the rural factor. Anyway, I looked at houses with a realtor this week in Winchester, but the supply is limited. If we want to buy a house soon we need to expand our search. Can anyone comment on Concord vs. Lexington as far as what it is like to live in either place, schools, town vibe?

Winchester to Hopkinton sounds exhausting. Lexington or Lincoln would be better but still far. I don't know about the Bridge school, but I have heard only great things about the elementary schools.

[elisemarie]

4panthers -

I was just wondering how your search is going??

Have you settled on a town?

We've seen a few homes in Lexington and Belmont but nothing that we're wild about.

[puffle]

Hi. I have had the experience of living in Lexington with my son going to Diamond Middle School, which was great, belonging to the Rec Center, doing sports and belonging to the Newcomers Club which is almost all stay at home mom's with young kids. Loved it there and after school the middle and high school kids go to Starbucks or Rancatories Ice Cream or the Candy Store or the park,etc.
We now live in West Concord and my son goes to Concord Carlisle High. Although there is much more land and space here, it doesn't seem rural to me. I can walk to restaurants,cleaners, gourmet health foods, ect. from my place and then you have Concord Center with so much more charm than Lexington because they have much strickter policies to keep Concord from being commercial. I have a train station I can walk to and there is another one in Concord Center. The high school kids go to a couple of Pizza places, the park or Dunkin Donuts after school. It's definetly safe and the place to be if you are a teen. There is a Newcomer's Club here too which is the same as I described for Lexington. We have a Shop and Stop a few miles away plus a Shaws, and a few other's. Skiing is only 15 minutes away in Nashoba/Littleton.
Let me know if you have any questions.

[trionetriathlon]

Originally Posted by elisemarie

Thanks for the insights!

Airedaley - since you live in Lexington can you tell me a little more about the people? I know that you can not stereotype any town but one thing our realtor has said (in part b/c I think she's more comfortable selling Belmont vs Lexington because that's what she knows!) is that Lexington has a lot of academics (Harvard, MIT, etc) while Belmont has more folks in business and "regular folks". Another friend said that Belmont has a lot more stay-at-home parents than Lexington.

Again, I know it's hard to generalize but the town we live in now has so many stay-at-home moms that there is a 300-member moms club and there are always parents w/kids to do something with. Kids play outside and most neighborhoods are pretty active - even during the week. I noticed that neither Lexington nor Belmont has a Moms Club (and Belmont doesn't even have a Newcomers Club...Lexington does...) We are trying to find a great public school system near a walkable town center (don't want to drive for everything) that has activities for the "dying breed" of stay-at-home moms w/young children . I know that both Bel and Lex meet the first two criteria but I'm wondering if we have a better chance of finding stay-at-home parents in other towns???

We really like the town where we are now except for the fact that we have to drive everywhere and the schools are solid but not great and access to private schools is limited. Other than those two biggies, the town is friendly, extremely active and whatever family structure you have (stay-at-home or 2-career) there is something for everyone (the town is Franklin). People are actually out and about in their yards, the playgrounds, walking, shopping during the weekdays. I love that. I know that by moving closer to Boston we'll get lower car-dependency and better public schools and greater access to all sorts of private schools. But I'm wondering if the lack of Newcomers Club and/or Moms club says something about what I and my two young kids may experience on a day-to-day basis.

Our budget is up to $2M so we have some financially flexibility but we're just spinning our wheels in terms of feeling really good about either town from a fit perspective...advice please!!!

Have I the house for you!!! I grew up in the "Flats" and if we weren't so settled, I'd move back there in a second... I grew up on Dartmouth Street which is adjacent to Winter Pond. My old neighbor's house is for sale. May be a bit large for a family of four, but great for kids. Has a huge hill that we used to sled down as well as boating and skating on the pond. Last I looked, the house was priced at 2.4. I think it is number 4??

Not sure about stay at home moms versus working moms... do call chamber of commerce as they can be a huge help. I am a stay at home mom as well, and I found all of my friends by taking my kids out for walks, to the YMCA, etc. In smaller more compact towns, it is sometimes easier to meet people because we aren't all spread out! Best wishes in your search and do let us know where you end up?

[Irena.M]

"Can anyone comment on Concord vs. Lexington as far as what it is like to live in either place, schools, town vibe?"

Concord despite the downtown is still a suburb, not very dynamic and laid back. You need a car everywhere you go and the shops are smaller, pricey, family owned businesses. You do need to belong to a group to get to make friends. For some reason the people are very private and do not venture out to meet and great.
Plenty of organic farmers and fresh produce though. Alcott is an excellent elementary school that feels like a private school. Principal Sharon Young is an awesome person, and you can tell that teachers love their jobs and do them well. I am unsure of the other schools since my child is at Alcott for now.
Belmont Hills has plenty of stay home moms you just need someone to introduce you into the circle. You won’t see many of them outside since they like to meet at each other homes and generally prefer to stay inside (at least the ones I know). And yes it is an exclusive community where the Joneses are competing with each other. They all speak highly of the schools and the most loved ones are the Belmont Hill School and the Armenian Sisters Academy (Lexington). (Most people there send their kids to private schools).
Also Belmont prefers to keep its potholes and pass overrides to fund fire stations and police stations (know someone who is on board). One side of the Cushing square( from CVS on Common down to Starbucks on Trapelo) is about to get demolished and rebuilt to help raise tax revenues.
Hope this helps a bit.

[Skwidy]

Wow! this is the most civilized post I've ever seen...so much so that I had to register and use my first post just to note it.

I do have some comments regarding the towns too!

My stay at home wife and I just moved our two kids (5 & 1) from Acton to Lexington this spring. We also looked at the Flats and Belmont Hill. It seems that you are concerned about all the same things we were. All three are great towns with good schools and upwardly mobile, highly educated, liberal to moderate populations.

Essentially, you can't really go too wrong with the neighborhoods that you're looking at, and I think the differences you're looking at are marginal (and can only go "wrong" if you choose a bad house...).

Also, consider that you didn't see many moms, etc, walking around because it was early/mid April, and while there were a few warm days around that time, there will definitely be more people out and about as the weather gets better.

While I work in downtown Boston, we chose Lexington because it was closer to "rural" Concord and Acton, where we had just moved from, but my commute is now half of what it used to be . So regarding Concord, I guess it would depend on where in Concord you live and where you are commuting to. The traffic lights on Rt 2 are brutal; so the farther east, the easier the commute to Boston will be. If you're not headed that way, then it might be right for you.

Again, great thread everyone, and Wererabbit, you sound far wiser than 19...is that the "Were" part showing through?

[TheWereRabbit]

Originally Posted by Skwidy

Again, great thread everyone, and Wererabbit, you sound far wiser than 19...is that the "Were" part showing through?

Thanks a lot, but I think if you saw some of my other posts you'd change you're mind.
Without the full moon my maturity struggles.

[4panthers]

Hi EliseMarie,

I tried to PM you, but you aren't able to receive them. I haven't found a house yet! I'm looking for a summer rental in Maine as a distraction.