Recommendations for MA town - Commuting Distance of Woonsocket with Good Schools? (Boston: houses, high school)

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Chicagoliz, sometimes you confuse me.

You have said in the past that you would not, in good consciousness, recommend Concord to someone working in Boston. Yet, you are suggesting that Newton to Woonsocket is a possibility.

I only mention it because my neighbor does it every day in less than an hour -- often she has said it is closer to a half hour. I can't really argue with her because she is the one who actually experiences it. On the other hand, when I have spoken with people who live in Concord, I have heard about 2 hour commutes that happen far more frequently than they should.

When I lived in Philadelphia, the commute from the town where I lived to downtown was regularly 2 hours. (If there was no traffic, it would be about 40 minutes.) I took a job in another town that a lot of people thought was quite far away, but the commute was reliably an hour -- it could, on a good day, be 45 minutes. It was never, ever, even on the worst day of snow and ice, more than an 1 hr. 15 minutes. I would take that commute over the commute to Philadelphia any day. Certainly others would feel differently.


I throw it out there because it's not something that everyone would necessarily think of. The suggestion might help OP or lead to other ideas that she might not have thought of otherwise.

(Incidentally, Concord could work fine for someone working in Boston if they had a very, very regular schedule, didn't mind the train, and didn't care about ever going into Boston otherwise.)

[CaseyB]

There is no way someone could commute from Newton to Woonsocket in half and hour. Your neighbor is fibbing.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

There is no way someone could commute from Newton to Woonsocket in half and hour. Your neighbor is fibbing.

Maybe her neighbor drives REALLY fast.

In all seriousness, if you were to live in Newton very near I95/RT128 and there were no traffic and you were speeding this is probably a 45 minute drive.

I used to live in Cumberland, RI (right next door to Woonsocket) and I often drove from there to Newton Center to visit my parents. I was also in my late 20's, driving a Honda S2000, and often being stupid so I drove expeditiously and that was a 40 to 50 minute drive on the weekends when there is no traffic.

[chicagoliz]

It was definitely more than half an hour, and we aren't far from 95. I certainly wouldn't want to live near the Watertown border and do it. But there might be more options than are immediately obvious -- perhaps certain parts of Needham, or even Westwood might work. I don't know what the other considerations are for OP, but the options might be more than the obvious. (I probably would not have pursued a job in Woonsocket, so I was surprised that the commute was very do-able for her.)

[Volitans]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

I only mention it because my neighbor does it every day in less than an hour -- often she has said it is closer to a half hour. I can't really argue with her because she is the one who actually experiences it. On the other hand, when I have spoken with people who live in Concord, I have heard about 2 hour commutes that happen far more frequently than they should.

(Incidentally, Concord could work fine for someone working in Boston if they had a very, very regular schedule, didn't mind the train, and didn't care about ever going into Boston otherwise.)

I remember this being discussed on another thread somewhere. 2 hr commutes from Concord to Boston are an absolute exception, perhaps during blizzard like conditions with accidents everywhere. Otherwise it's normally 60-90 min depending on if you take commuter rail or drive and where your office is in the city. Concordians also have easy access to Boston during off peak hours, and even easier access to Cambridge via Rte. 2.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by Volitans

I remember this being discussed on another thread somewhere. 2 hr commutes from Concord to Boston are an absolute exception, perhaps during blizzard like conditions with accidents everywhere. Otherwise it's normally 60-90 min depending on if you take commuter rail or drive and where your office is in the city. Concordians also have easy access to Boston during off peak hours, and even easier access to Cambridge via Rte. 2.

This has definitely been discussed (multiple times) and it isn't really relevant to this thread, but the problem with commuting from Concord (or someplace similarly situated) every day in a car is that if you really need to be downtown by a particular time in the morning (because you have an important meeting or a court appearance or something like that), you need to leave 2 hours early due to the fact that it *could* take two hours, even though it often doesn't.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

It was definitely more than half an hour, and we aren't far from 95. I certainly wouldn't want to live near the Watertown border and do it. But there might be more options than are immediately obvious -- perhaps certain parts of Needham, or even Westwood might work. I don't know what the other considerations are for OP, but the options might be more than the obvious. (I probably would not have pursued a job in Woonsocket, so I was surprised that the commute was very do-able for her.)

The ride to Woonsocket is not that bad. It's a bit of a reverse commute as a lot of people are headed in the other direction.

It really depends upon what the OP is after here. Do they want to feel connected to Boston? Would they prefer to be closer to Providence? Do neither of those things matter? What's their housing budget? How important are schools (i.e. do they feel they have to be in the #1 ranked district or is number 40 OK?)? How important is having a short commute vs. all of these other factors? It's a complex question that only one family has an answer to.

I do agree with you though that there are a lot of options aside from the 3 mentioned those just seemed like the most obvious choices based on the information at hand. When I worked in Smithfield, RI my boss lived in Walpole which has a lot to offer. Westwood and Needham are great as well but will definitely stretch the commute as Newton would.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

The ride to Woonsocket is not that bad. It's a bit of a reverse commute as a lot of people are headed in the other direction.

It really depends upon what the OP is after here. Do they want to feel connected to Boston? Would they prefer to be closer to Providence? Do neither of those things matter? What's their housing budget? How important are schools (i.e. do they feel they have to be in the #1 ranked district or is number 40 OK?)? How important is having a short commute vs. all of these other factors? It's a complex question that only one family has an answer to.

I do agree with you though that there are a lot of options aside from the 3 mentioned those just seemed like the most obvious choices based on the information at hand. When I worked in Smithfield, RI my boss lived in Walpole which has a lot to offer. Westwood and Needham are great as well but will definitely stretch the commute as Newton would.

Yeah, OP indicated they did not want Wrentham or Foxborough, and also said they were moving back to the east coast, although my guess is Boston is not where they were originally from. But they did mention Boston, so it seems possible to me that they might want something closer to Boston, although I'm far from certain about that. Hopefully they give us a little more info about what is important to them.

[west_to_east_transplant]

Thanks for the responses. I grew up in RI, with all family still in RI, in the east bay (20 minutes from PVD on way to Newport). Currently considering East Greenwich but would like to consider MA towns as well. Good quality public school system is very important, but does not have to be #1. Housing budget under $900K for four bedroom. Current jobs would have my husband in Woonsocket with me working from home (but being able to commute to Boston one day in the future if my job changes would be a positive). We are a Jewish, multi-racial family with elementary school kids who are not super into sports and are more artistically oriented so that has had us looking toward Sharon as a possible good fit but I also don't want to view that as the only choice, especially given the longer commute for my husband (also concerned slightly by the expensive, dated housing in Sharon). He currently has a 20-30 minute commute but is open to slightly longer. Thanks for the thoughtful responses!

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by west_to_east_transplant

Thanks for the responses. I grew up in RI, with all family still in RI, in the east bay (20 minutes from PVD on way to Newport). Currently considering East Greenwich but would like to consider MA towns as well. Good quality public school system is very important, but does not have to be #1. Housing budget under $900K for four bedroom. Current jobs would have my husband in Woonsocket with me working from home (but being able to commute to Boston one day in the future if my job changes would be a positive). We are a Jewish, multi-racial family with elementary school kids who are not super into sports and are more artistically oriented so that has had us looking toward Sharon as a possible good fit but I also don't want to view that as the only choice, especially given the longer commute for my husband (also concerned slightly by the expensive, dated housing in Sharon). He currently has a 20-30 minute commute but is open to slightly longer. Thanks for the thoughtful responses!

While I'm sure many of the towns mentioned (Franklin, Sharon, Medfield, Newton, Needham, Westwood, and Norfolk) would work for you, based on everything you've said it seems very clear that Sharon or Franklin would likely be the best fits.

Let's start with why Sharon might be the best fit. First, Sharon has FOUR Jewish Temples. That's quite a lot of temples for a town of this size (sorry as a licensed real estate agent I'm not allowed to identify where populations of protected classes tend to cluster however I am able to offer you this information). Sharon by Boston area standards is also pretty diverse. Only about 85% of it's population is Caucasian according to C-D. Sharon also has a very highly regarded school system. Plus, it's about midway between Boston and Providence. So very commutable location to Boston if work shifts up that way and still close to your family in RI. According to MBTA.com it's about a 30 to 35 minute train ride to South Station. Sharon is probably a 30-50 minute car ride to Woonsocket.

Franklin is also a good choice. The town has 1 Jewish Temple. It's not terribly diverse (about 95% Caucasian according to C-D). The schools there are solid (US News has the High School ranked 90th in the state for example). It is closer to Woonsocket and your family. It's further from Boston than Sharon. However, there is a commuter rail stop in town. So still very commutable to Boston. About a 65 minute train ride according to MBTA.com In Franklin, your housing budget will afford you a newer/larger home than it would in Sharon. Franklin is probably a 20-30 minute car ride to Woonsocket.

Neither is perfect so it's going to come down to what's more important to you. The town with the shorter Woonsocket commute but longer Boston commute, the nicer house, and the shorter drive to see your family or the town with more diversity, more temples, more highly regarded schools, and the 20 minute longer Woonsocket commute but the 30 minute shorter Boston commute.