Moving to Boston (Cambridge, Newton, Brookline: house, neighborhood, best school)

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

Newton is more diverse than Wellesley, and it is closer to the city.

Newton is hardly what I'd call a diverse place, and from a few quick checks it is barely different than Wellesley. I'd cross Newton off the list for anything but commute. And 15min (even 30) is only possible from select areas anyway.

[Tryingtomakeit14]

Ok thank you we won’t look to hard at Newton then.Appreciate the help

[simplexsimon]

I only know less than a handful of affluent black professionals and they all live in Milton. A driving commute won't be bad if your husband's long hours means he's working from 7am-7pm or something. $1 million will get you a decent house and the schools have a good reputation.

This reminds me of an article the NYT put out a couple of years ago charting cost of living, school ratings, and work commutes for cities like NYC, Boston, SF, and a few in the Midwest.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...eet-spots.html

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

Newton is hardly what I'd call a diverse place, and from a few quick checks it is barely different than Wellesley. I'd cross Newton off the list for anything but commute. And 15min (even 30) is only possible from select areas anyway.

Not especially. but it is one of the more diverse towns in the Boston area. It's more diverse than many others. One totally anecdotal piece of info (so take it FWIW), is that two of the eight school committee members are black women (who happen to be married to white men). One member is Chinese, and one other is a member of the LGBTQ community. That's a much more diverse school committee than in many other towns, and WAY more diverse than the school board was in my previous community in another state.

[Tryingtomakeit14]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

I only know less than a handful of affluent black professionals and they all live in Milton. A driving commute won't be bad if your husband's long hours means he's working from 7am-7pm or something. $1 million will get you a decent house and the schools have a good reputation.

This reminds me of an article the NYT put out a couple of years ago charting cost of living, school ratings, and work commutes for cities like NYC, Boston, SF, and a few in the Midwest.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...eet-spots.html

Thank you we will look into Milton as well and thanks for adding the article

[Tryingtomakeit14]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

Not especially. but it is one of the more diverse towns in the Boston area. It's more diverse than many others. One totally anecdotal piece of info (so take it FWIW), is that two of the eight school committee members are black women (who happen to be married to white men). One member is Chinese, and one other is a member of the LGBTQ community. That's a much more diverse school committee than in many other towns, and WAY more diverse than the school board was in my previous community in another state.

Thanks for letting me know about the school board that actually is very helpful. Even if the communities in Boston seem less diverse having a school board that understands all groups is important. We are moving from MN so obviously just as non diverse as MA (I was hoping on the east coast might be different). We are originally from NC and miss how diverse the living area and schools were.

[id77]

Originally Posted by Tryingtomakeit14

He is looking at 30 min at the most (preferably 15). We would have a car but used the train when we lived there before so I know he would prefer that. We would prefer public school I work in a school now but I probably won’t when we move but still am partial to public schools.

We would love a brownstone style townhome but probably not an easy find. So otherwise detached home the most we would want to budget is 800-1 million tops. Right now our home is 5 bedroom 5bath 4500 sq feet. Something comparable would be great but we also know that isn’t always found in Boston in our price point. We would love to have a community feel that our kids can make friends quickly and be part of groups. Our youngest plays basketball and AAU in the summer.

Thanks for explaining Wellesley to me I had t found information that was being given to us online about diversity but thought maybe it had a more recent turnover

You *can* have most of this in your budget, but be prepared for sacrifices in size. $1 million will get you something in a brownstone with an easy commute to downtown/Pru/Cambridge, but you'll be packing your family into 700 square feet on a single floor with 1 bathroom and share the building with 2-4 other owners. Racial diversity isn't a problem in most neighborhoods. Boston schools are ok; I'm of the mind that families really make the kid instead of the school. Average schools can't make a smart kid dumber just as the best schools can't make average kids smarter.

If you enjoy the space and size you have in MN now, well....kiss that goodbye on your budget unless you give up most other wants you have to get it.

[J1NL1]

I’m originally from MN, maybe I can help compare cities (to the extent possible) if you can give me an idea of what you like/don’t like about where you currently live.

[Tryingtomakeit14]

Originally Posted by J1NL1

I’m originally from MN, maybe I can help compare cities (to the extent possible) if you can give me an idea of what you like/don’t like about where you currently live.

Thank you I appreciate any insight - we live in Maple Grove right now. We like how it has everything we could possibly need and the diversity in the past few years has actually grown but our neighborhood is mostly white (which I would think the only place that would have a lot of Black professionals is ATL so we know the limitations). We like the size of our home because we are not cold weather people so we need the space (which we also understand in the Boston area isn’t common). Safety is important since my husband would be working a lot and ease of getting to things restaurants, shopping ect would be helpful. I also stated early on in this thread we did live in the Boston area when my husband went to law school up there so we understand space is a high cost. But we had a young child at the time so schools weren’t important to us where now we have a junior and 6th grader and would prefer public schools.

We also are originally from Raleigh so moving to the cold has been brutal and we hate driving in the snow so the idea of being near a T would be great

[J1NL1]

Originally Posted by Tryingtomakeit14

Thank you I appreciate any insight - we live in Maple Grove right now. We like how it has everything we could possibly need and the diversity in the past few years has actually grown but our neighborhood is mostly white (which I would think the only place that would have a lot of Black professionals is ATL so we know the limitations). We like the size of our home because we are not cold weather people so we need the space (which we also understand in the Boston area isn’t common). Safety is important since my husband would be working a lot and ease of getting to things restaurants, shopping ect would be helpful. I also stated early on in this thread we did live in the Boston area when my husband went to law school up there so we understand space is a high cost. But we had a young child at the time so schools weren’t important to us where now we have a junior and 6th grader and would prefer public schools.

We also are originally from Raleigh so moving to the cold has been brutal and we hate driving in the snow so the idea of being near a T would be great

Where in Boston will your husband work? Close to South Station or North Station or somewhere else? That would be the main driver of my recommendations, since not having a soul crushing commute is important for you.

As far as diversity, I think you will find most Boston suburbs to be no worse than Maple Grove (I grew up as one of the only minorities in school so I get your concern). IMO, Edina would be the closest thing to Wellesley in terms of vibe, with Edina being more crowded, less picturesque but more convenient to the city.

The biggest adjustment will probably be the size and newness of home you can get in your budget. I’ve lived all over, from the Twin Cities, to London, and before moving to Needham, MA we lived in Westchester, NY. Things like attached two car garage, central air/heat, and a nice backyard are not a guarantee at 1mm. Boston area is similar to the Twin Cities in that the public schools are overall very good relative to the rest of the country.

Looking forward to your response and hopefully I can help with some specific town recommendations.