Best Boston suburb for commuting to Boston University (Worcester, Newton: houses, neighborhood)

[runningman1976]

Hi everyone,

I recently accepted a professor position at Boston University, and will be moving to the Boston area with my family (wife is a classical pianist, and 2 boys, age 4 and 5). We are looking to purchase a single family home in the Boston suburbs with a budget of up to $1 million, but obviously hope to spend less if possible. We are hoping to find a larger house where my wife can set up her piano studio (accommodate 2 concert size grand pianos), and possible room for growth (we are considering a 3rd child).

Our wish list are: (1) good public schools, (2) relatively short commute (<1 hour each way by car or train), (3) easy access to town center with cafes, restaurants, groceries, (4) hiking/running trails, and (5) community that is welcoming to newcomers.

So far, we looked at Needham (which we love), Newton and Arlington, but have found the available housing stock in our price range to be much smaller and less updated than we are used to (we currently live in the Atlanta area). We are open to moving further out from the city, but don't want to feel completely isolated.

Can anyone offer any suggestions for possible towns and suburbs that might better fit our criteria?

Thanks so much!

[tysmith95]

Gets way too much love on this site, but Natick would work for you. Easy commute by train to Yawkey.

[missionhill]

Natick isn’t bad at all. Not like Atlanta but it does have glitzy malls and big box stores along the Worcester turnpike and a more traditional town center too. Arlington should be good but the houses may not be spacious enough. Wellesley separated from Needham way back because Needhan wasn’t select enough for Mr. Hunnewell and friends but I guess Needham is getting as expensive as Wellesley now. You might consider the West Roxbury section of Boston. Schools are the issue within the city but not so much at the elementary level and depending on your tenure at BU a few years there could be ok before the boys face middle school. Nice neighborhood, big old houses, convenient train to back bay. Westwood has fine schools, lots of houses, close to many natural areas (in Dover and Medfield) and has the train. No town center however. The far southwest area around Franklin MA has the kinds of houses you want and a train but you’ll be well over the hour commute ceiling getting in and out of BU. Melrose has experienced some of the same patterns Arlington has, of becoming more professional, less working class. It has the train and is close to the orange line subway too, sidles up to the Fells reservation and has some sidewalk life along its Main Street. Anyway, congratulations on the job; that’s a big deal. Boston area should be very congenial for the pianist too!

[brainbree]

Natick is actually the best option for you in this case. BU (and areas along the green line in general) is pretty inconvenient transportation wise. That being said, from what you're describing its possible that even Natick won't be an option depending on how nice of a house you want exactly. You'd need a minimum of 4 bedrooms just for your family, not counting the piano room, which sounds like it would need to be at least 300 sqft to comfortably fit 2 grand pianos. So at a minimum you're looking at a 2500sqft place.


In any case, there are plenty of houses that fit your criteria. What'll matter now is the nature of the house:
https://www.redfin.com/city/29757/MA...qft=2.25k-sqft

[runningman1976]

Thanks for the great suggestions. Natick sounds like a good option for us. Is there a particular part of Natick that is considered more kid-friendly (i.e. easy access to playgrounds, parks, library etc.)? Also, if anyone has first-hand experience with Natick elementary schools, it will really help us as well. My kids are going to be first grade and Pre-K next year.

Also, what is Sherborn like? We saw a few larger houses in our price range there but are worried it may be too rural and isolating for us. Northern Sherborn seems convenient to the Natick commuter rail stations and town center. Perhaps that could be a good option. Anyone hear anything about the Pine Hill Elementary School in Sherborn?

[CaseyB]

My daughter and her husband live in Sherborn. Their kids go to Pine Hill. Sherborn shares a middle and high school with Dover. One of the best school systems in the state (that's why they moved there).

Sherborn is a very small town, a little over 4,000 people.

[chicagoliz]

If I were in your position, I'd go to Natick, although I would also seriously consider compromising on size and age of the house to be in Needham or Newton.

[panchilly]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

If I were in your position, I'd go to Natick, although I would also seriously consider compromising on size and age of the house to be in Needham or Newton.

From strictly a commute standpoint, i'm not sure Needham is worth the price differential to Natick. Newton you have more of an argument since the commute will be much better.

Also important to note: not all areas of Newton are considered equal. It is a very large town and when considering a driving commute to boston university some areas will be significantly better than others. Take a look at Newtonville or Newton corner. PRices are VERY high there. You might have to spend 1.3m to get a decent quality SFH that is ~2200 sq feet.

[runningman1976]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

If I were in your position, I'd go to Natick, although I would also seriously consider compromising on size and age of the house to be in Needham or Newton.

We are definitely still considering Needham and Newton. But the available houses in the 800k-1million range seem to sell so quickly and often above asking price, that we don't even think we can get anything at all LOL!

My wife also likes Winchester, Lexington and Concord further north. Anyone have experience commuting to BU area from these towns by car or train?

[runningman1976]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

My daughter and her husband live in Sherborn. Their kids go to Pine Hill. Sherborn shares a middle and high school with Dover. One of the best school systems in the state (that's why they moved there).

Sherborn is a very small town, a little over 4,000 people.

We heard about the highly rated school system in Dover-Sherborn. Do your daughter's kids enjoy Pine Hill? Are the Dover-Sherborn schools high pressure for kids in general? Also, where would Sherborn residents typically go to shop for groceries, household items etc? Thanks.