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So to sum it all up, if I am reading through all of this correctly, there is no real difference between the villages in any tangible way other than being more or less urban/suburban and commuting times?
The quality of schools(and buildings) can vary alot between villages. Possibly political leanings may vary slightly between villages.. veering between left of center and far left of center
I can say this, residents seems to stick around for long time. Not sure if its because of schools or because houses/location to boston are generally good enough that there is no need to "trade up"
So to sum it all up, if I am reading through all of this correctly, there is no real difference between the villages in any tangible way other than being more or less urban/suburban and commuting times?
Incorrect. The villages vary quite a bit. The classic divide is North side vs South side. The Mass Pike is the mason-dixon line. North Side is seen as the more working class side, though you can certainly see that it's not cheap up here either. Everyone is buying the school system.
Some of the north side villages, particularly Nonantum and Newton Corner are more densley populated, with a lot more multifamily units. Still safe, still good schools. Newton North HS cost like 100mil to construct not too long ago. These villages feel a lot more like bordering Waltham, Newton and Brighton. Newton Upper Falls on the southside has a little of this feel as well.
Nonantum is a little special edge case too because it used to be "the Italian section." Swaths of multi family units, grid system roads, etc. There is an annual Italian/catholic festival similar to in the North End along with a full scale carnival. Someone paints italian flag color lines on the streets. However today it seems to be the most diverse section to me. My wife and I are American but our adjacent neighbors are working class Asian/South Asian or European imigrants, I think one hispanic family just moved in as well. Nice little village center with some great restaurants (All sorts - italian, mexican, moldovan, irish, seafood, new american..) I'm pretty sure all the cops, firemen, and the contractors and tradespersons who build the mansions in the rest of Newton live here.
Waban, Newton Centre, Chestnut Hill are the crown jewels of Newton if not the area. Large, majestic victorians/colonial houses that haven't been chopped up into multifamily, boujey shopping options etc. Oak Hill Park/Thompsonville are going to be a little more postwar construction, generally high cost professional areas.
Newton Highlands, Newtonville, to a certain extent West Newton are being rapidly developed by developers putting in large, transit-oriented developments. The apartments will be welcome to help cushion housing prices but I'm not sure about the retail - there is a lot of underused retail space in Newton already and I'm not convinced these new spaces won't just become banks or salons.
I'm sure I'm missing a few villages and maybe others can chime in.
Good post from BosYuppie. I'm speaking here from someone who has lived in the Boston area for 15 years and moved to Waban last year. My spouse also commutes to Cambridge.
I would also say the first thing you need to understand Newton is that it's ass-backwards: the density is in the north, but the T is in the south. The north has commuter rail and bus. The second thing to understand is to think of it in three slices. North of the Pike is the densest; South of Rt. 9 is the least dense, post-war and centered around the automobile and not walkable to much of anything. In-between Rt. 9 and the Pike is the filet and where most of the choicest locations are.
It's frustrating but there is no real perfect location. You can't be near everything. You can be near the T or commuter rail/bus, but not both. Newton Centre comes closest to having it all, but you will pay a significant premium to be within a half mile of it.
If walk-ability is important to you, try to be near a village center. Proximity to village center is big driver of prices. Think about how much you'll really walk. I'd rather be a half mile to a little than a mile from a lot, since I'll be more likely to actually do it.
With all that said, there is no good public transportation option from Newton to Cambridge, so you will probably end up driving no matter where in Newton you are. Pre-COVID, it can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes to Kendall on an average day based on where you are coming from. Nowadays, it's closer to 20 minutes. Where we'll be in a year is anyone's guess. The further north you are, the shorter the commute to Cambridge, though right now with little traffic there isn't a huge difference no matter where in Newton you're coming from.
Incorrect. The villages vary quite a bit. The classic divide is North side vs South side. The Mass Pike is the mason-dixon line. North Side is seen as the more working class side, though you can certainly see that it's not cheap up here either. Everyone is buying the school system.
Some of the north side villages, particularly Nonantum and Newton Corner are more densley populated, with a lot more multifamily units. Still safe, still good schools. Newton North HS cost like 100mil to construct not too long ago. These villages feel a lot more like bordering Waltham, Newton and Brighton. Newton Upper Falls on the southside has a little of this feel as well.
Nonantum is a little special edge case too because it used to be "the Italian section." Swaths of multi family units, grid system roads, etc. There is an annual Italian/catholic festival similar to in the North End along with a full scale carnival. Someone paints italian flag color lines on the streets. However today it seems to be the most diverse section to me. My wife and I are American but our adjacent neighbors are working class Asian/South Asian or European imigrants, I think one hispanic family just moved in as well. Nice little village center with some great restaurants (All sorts - italian, mexican, moldovan, irish, seafood, new american..) I'm pretty sure all the cops, firemen, and the contractors and tradespersons who build the mansions in the rest of Newton live here.
Waban, Newton Centre, Chestnut Hill are the crown jewels of Newton if not the area. Large, majestic victorians/colonial houses that haven't been chopped up into multifamily, boujey shopping options etc. Oak Hill Park/Thompsonville are going to be a little more postwar construction, generally high cost professional areas.
Newton Highlands, Newtonville, to a certain extent West Newton are being rapidly developed by developers putting in large, transit-oriented developments. The apartments will be welcome to help cushion housing prices but I'm not sure about the retail - there is a lot of underused retail space in Newton already and I'm not convinced these new spaces won't just become banks or salons.
I'm sure I'm missing a few villages and maybe others can chime in.
This is largely correct, yet parts of Newton Highlands and West Newton have large houses on some large pieces of land that feel as suburban as Waban. And there are high rise apartments in Chestnut Hill. And multi-family units in Newton Centre. I think even knowing the general qualities of the various villages is helpful, but you really won't know much about a particular piece of property until you go look at it, see what the street feels like and what the surrounding neighborhood is like.
Yes, some of the schools have been rebuilt, and there is a continuing list of schools that will be rebuilt. One of the schools that was rebuilt and is essentially a brand new building was around in the 1800s and had been to deteriorate to a shocking degree -- water leaked into the building and ruined some computers. Lots of classes and pull-out lessons had to be conducted in the hallway, some of the bathrooms were unusable.
It is one school system and there is an ongoing discussion about equity issues and how much some PTOs can raise. But the schools ultimately feed into 4 middle schools and the 2 high schools. In terms of ranking and quality, at this point the two high schools are indistinguishable and I would be perfectly content to send my kids to either one. I was very happy with our middle school and have generally heard good things about all the middle schools. And whenever anyone asks, it seems that almost all the parents love their elementary school, regardless of which one it is.
Incorrect. The villages vary quite a bit. The classic divide is North side vs South side. The Mass Pike is the mason-dixon line. North Side is seen as the more working class side, though you can certainly see that it's not cheap up here either. Everyone is buying the school system.
Some of the north side villages, particularly Nonantum and Newton Corner are more densley populated, with a lot more multifamily units. Still safe, still good schools. Newton North HS cost like 100mil to construct not too long ago. These villages feel a lot more like bordering Waltham, Newton and Brighton. Newton Upper Falls on the southside has a little of this feel as well.
Nonantum is a little special edge case too because it used to be "the Italian section." Swaths of multi family units, grid system roads, etc. There is an annual Italian/catholic festival similar to in the North End along with a full scale carnival. Someone paints italian flag color lines on the streets. However today it seems to be the most diverse section to me. My wife and I are American but our adjacent neighbors are working class Asian/South Asian or European imigrants, I think one hispanic family just moved in as well. Nice little village center with some great restaurants (All sorts - italian, mexican, moldovan, irish, seafood, new american..) I'm pretty sure all the cops, firemen, and the contractors and tradespersons who build the mansions in the rest of Newton live here.
Waban, Newton Centre, Chestnut Hill are the crown jewels of Newton if not the area. Large, majestic victorians/colonial houses that haven't been chopped up into multifamily, boujey shopping options etc. Oak Hill Park/Thompsonville are going to be a little more postwar construction, generally high cost professional areas.
Newton Highlands, Newtonville, to a certain extent West Newton are being rapidly developed by developers putting in large, transit-oriented developments. The apartments will be welcome to help cushion housing prices but I'm not sure about the retail - there is a lot of underused retail space in Newton already and I'm not convinced these new spaces won't just become banks or salons.
I'm sure I'm missing a few villages and maybe others can chime in.
THANK YOU! Finally the type of response I was hoping/looking for.
Very much appreciated
This listing sums up the current state of Newton housing market
Sold a few days ago for 925k. Looks updated inside but its literally inside a graveyard (look at google streetview). Really nice view of tombstones from upstair windows..
This listing sums up the current state of Newton housing market
Sold a few days ago for 925k. Looks updated inside but its literally inside a graveyard (look at google streetview). Really nice view of tombstones from upstair windows..
This listing sums up the current state of Newton housing market
Sold a few days ago for 925k. Looks updated inside but its literally inside a graveyard (look at google streetview). Really nice view of tombstones from upstair windows..
If you can afford close to 1M to live in a graveyard (with views to tombstones).. granted, that cemetery is actually quite nice and so is the interior of the home
I suppose if the same house was just 2 blocks over it would sell at 1.3 to 1.4M
If you can afford close to 1M to live in a graveyard (with views to tombstones).. granted, that cemetery is actually quite nice and so is the interior of the home
I suppose if the same house was just 2 blocks over it would sell at 1.3 to 1.4M
Eh, I guess. When we were house hunting for my previous house, one of the houses we saw had a view of the nuclear power plant. So, the graveyard isn't so bad.
Really nice kitchen and graveyard > horrible small kitchen and no graveyard. In a town like Newton, there's always tradeoffs. Unless you're spending over $2 million, there's going to be something you don't like.
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