raising a family in Boston metro - suburb recommendation (Cambridge: new home, private school)

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by Lampert

You will still need to be quite far out. Shrewsbury may be a good bet, great schools, Indian community and far enough from Boston that prices are a bit lower.
Commute is not going to be fun.

Shrewsbury is not a realistic commute to Cambridge.

[r_p]

For 600 you should be able to find something in Shrewsberry or Westborough. Both are good towns but commute to Cambridge can take some time. You can also try Melrose, e.g., https://www.redfin.com/MA/Melrose/19.../home/11785964

[massnative71]

Commuting to Cambridge though? What about Acton or Westford? I'd think a $600K budget is plenty enough for those towns.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

Shrewsbury is not a realistic commute to Cambridge.

But he said he will be mostly working from home and about 1:30 is ok.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

Shrewsbury is not a realistic commute to Cambridge.

OP says he's working mostly from home. Shrewsbury is fine for occasional visits to unspecified employers in unspecified locations.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Commuting to Cambridge though? What about Acton or Westford? I'd think a $600K budget is plenty enough for those towns.

Neither has a large Indian community, which seem important to OP.

Also I don't know how much newish you can find that fits OP's request.

It's sad to say but I think 600k is still not enough. OP needs to either lower the bar or go around 1 mil if he wants to be closer to Boston.

[chicagoliz]

For $600K, you could probably get a decent place in Chelmsford. Probably not as diverse as you'd like, but that will be tough to find. Schools are good.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by Lampert

Neither has a large Indian community, which seem important to OP.

Also I don't know how much newish you can find that fits OP's request.

It's sad to say but I think 600k is still not enough. OP needs to either lower the bar or go around 1 mil if he wants to be closer to Boston.

Many of my Indian coworkers live in Acton. They seem to think there's a community there.

Seems out of budget, though.

[yesmaybe]

IIRC Acton is more Chinese than Indian.

[rsnsmh]

based on all the feedback, i made changes to the initial requirement as follows:
- within 50 miles of Cambridge, MA - commute time ~1 hr no traffic, ~2 hours during rush hours (i will be working mostly from home though)
- school is very important, public school with ratings of 8 or higher for middle and high school
- house budget -$600K for a single house - is this possible? 3+ bed room, 2 bath, 2 car garage, built after 1980 (newer ~ post 2000 preferred), huge lot or backyard is NOT a requirement.
- suburb with diversity