Impending relocation from New Jersey and need guidance with complicate commute! (Boston: house, neighborhood)

[CJSR10]

Seriously thank you for these thoughtful responses - giving us lots to think about. I have to agree - we would be extremely tight on budget in the Newton, Wellesley areas and while I don't need a ton of land and a 5K sq. foot house, we do desire some space (say 2500 sq. ft. and up). I hate to say but we may be getting a bit sleepy ourselves so moving a little west doesn't scare us. We LOVE Boston but I don't know how much we'll actually go outside of work and my husband definitely does not desire driving to Boston on the days he has to go. And for the record we love Boston a lot more than NYC! Fixer uppers don't normally phase us but odds are that I will stay back with our children until June to finish the school year and he will live in Mass Monday-Thursday in the interim. That's going to be stressful enough so having a home that's ready to roll would alleviate some anxiety. Shrewsbury felt appealing because it was close to Worcester - a big city with lots of offerings - and Hopkinton came up because his hiring manager moved there as part of her relocation. For comparisons sake we'll be coming from a large house in NJ - 5K sq. feet with basement that we definitely don't need quite that much but a smaller yard that doesn't bother us. The taxes are insane ($27K on $859K purchase) so we will save there regardless.

[robr2]

Although Newton is a great alternative, the commute HOME from Springfield might be 2 hours. The traffic eastbound on the Pike can be insane in the afternoon and the surface streets in Newton are congested during rush hour.

I concur that Shrewsbury is a good option. There's lots to do in Worcester in terms of food, theater, museums, college events to satisfy most folks unless they are urbanites and the shopping along Route 9 is the dreaded suburban mall hell but it's what the OP needs IMHO with a family.

[gf2020]

I say Hopkinton or, if you want more amenities, then Natick.

[CJSR10]

We aren't afraid of driving 20 minutes to go to a good restaurant - we do that now because where we live it's BYOB almost everywhere and sometimes you want a martini! What's important to us, considering towns like Hopkinton, Shrewsbury, etc. - is that there's daycare/preschools, a decent supermarket, good kids sports options starting in elementary and yoga (selfishly) within 10 minutes or so. Our kids are young - 7 and 1.5 for context. In towns like these are the dealing with overcrowding? Waitlists and school reassignments within district? That's something we're facing now - pretty intensely - and we don't love it.

[Shrewsburried]

Anyone suggesting Natick over Westborough/Shrewsbury is inherently "inner belt" biased.

All of the amenities OP is requesting can be found in Shrewsbury/Westborough and her husbands Springfield commute will be significantly more tolerable while maintaining good Boston access via rail. Shrewsbury's value is this very scenario - it's why the town is full of dual office and teaching physicians, regional sales reps, med device reps, etc.

Edit: To clarify, choosing, say, Natick over Shrewsbury nets zero gains in school quality, zero gains in tax burden, significantly less house per dollar ... all for questionable improvements in average commute or resale. No thanks.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by CJSR10

Seriously thank you for these thoughtful responses - giving us lots to think about. I have to agree - we would be extremely tight on budget in the Newton, Wellesley areas and while I don't need a ton of land and a 5K sq. foot house, we do desire some space (say 2500 sq. ft. and up). I hate to say but we may be getting a bit sleepy ourselves so moving a little west doesn't scare us. We LOVE Boston but I don't know how much we'll actually go outside of work and my husband definitely does not desire driving to Boston on the days he has to go. And for the record we love Boston a lot more than NYC! Fixer uppers don't normally phase us but odds are that I will stay back with our children until June to finish the school year and he will live in Mass Monday-Thursday in the interim. That's going to be stressful enough so having a home that's ready to roll would alleviate some anxiety. Shrewsbury felt appealing because it was close to Worcester - a big city with lots of offerings - and Hopkinton came up because his hiring manager moved there as part of her relocation. For comparisons sake we'll be coming from a large house in NJ - 5K sq. feet with basement that we definitely don't need quite that much but a smaller yard that doesn't bother us. The taxes are insane ($27K on $859K purchase) so we will save there regardless.

Dont we all. lol.

. also a 859k home in MA would be about 10-12k in property taxes.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Anyone suggesting Natick over Westborough/Shrewsbury is inherently "inner belt" biased.

All of the amenities OP is requesting can be found in Shrewsbury/Westborough and her husbands Springfield commute will be significantly more tolerable while maintaining good Boston access via rail. Shrewsbury's value is this very scenario - it's why the town is full of dual office and teaching physicians, regional sales reps, med device reps, etc.

Edit: To clarify, choosing, say, Natick over Shrewsbury nets zero gains in school quality, zero gains in tax burden, significantly less house per dollar ... all for questionable improvements in average commute or resale. No thanks.

I suggested Natick because I dont know much about the borough's and Shrewsbury.

[Lampert]

Hi! A few years ago my wife was working in Westfield (Springfield area) 5 minutes from the Pike exit. I was working in Boston (longwood area). We were living in Grafton (Worcester area) about 10 minutes from the Pike. 1:10hr commute for my wife, 1:20hr commute for me. Both driving, both door to door. We both were able to drive at off hrs.

I agree with the ones saying Shrewsbury. Schools are great, commute is reasonable, plenty of stores and ok city-amenities.
Newton would be too far for the commute to Springfield (although I know people commuting from Longmeadow to Boston every day..)

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

I suggested Natick because I dont know much about the borough's and Shrewsbury.

Yes, and this is my point. A significant portion of this forum maintains a "Boston or bust" mindset which dismisses extremely viable towns which best suite a given poster's constraints.

Given OP's budget and wants, they can either live in a top-tier Shrewsbury or Westborough neighborhood or live in middling Natick neighborhood or middling home with very few tangible benefits.

If you don't know the towns being discussed, either don't comment or heavily qualify your response with notes like "I think Natick would be serviceable for X reasons. Also, I'm ignorant to the 'boroughs which should also be considered".

[scorpio516]

You could get some amazing houses in Worcester for $800k. Or a whole lot less. Some good private schools too. But Shrewsbury or North/West/Southborough gets you very good schools.

For the record, I wouldn't suggest Worcester itself for someone with a 7 year old