Moving to MA (Newton, Brookline, Braintree: houses, schools, place to live)

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by mwj119

I could keep doing comps all day long, but there aren't really any suburbs with a material black population that are "highly regarded". It sucks.. There's no Flossmoor equivalent, for example.

There are just not that many non-hispanic black that live in Boston metro. It is the 3rd group at 7.5% and half live inside the city Boston, which means that excluding the city metro Boston has 200k non-hispanic black on a 4 million population, 5%. That's less than Minnesota overall.

[Moving2020-21]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Belmont/Winchester would be like Wilmette. Newton would be more like Skokie x Oak Park x Evanston, but without any real pockets of socioeconomic diversity. Needham would be like Glenview or Western Springs. Wellesley would be most like Hinsdale or Winnetka. Natick would be like Downers Grove.

I could keep doing comps all day long, but there aren't really any suburbs with a material black population that are "highly regarded". It sucks.. There's no Flossmoor equivalent, for example.

Thank you for this - it was helpful for my husband. I am from Champaign so I understood some of these and some of these suburb names went over my head. But he is from Chicago so he appreciate references

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by Lampert

There are just not that many non-hispanic black that live in Boston metro. It is the 3rd group at 7.5% and half live inside the city Boston, which means that excluding the city metro Boston has 200k non-hispanic black on a 4 million population, 5%. That's less than Minnesota overall.

Milton is the only suburb with a higher black population (14% or so) and decent schools.

[Moving2020-21]

One question about schools for anyone who may know. Do they usually start in September in MA or was that just because of COVID? I can start a new thread with that question as well or ask on Facebook I just thought someone on here might have some insight into that

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by Moving2020-21

One question about schools for anyone who may know. Do they usually start in September in MA or was that just because of COVID? I can start a new thread with that question as well or ask on Facebook I just thought someone on here might have some insight into that

They usually start the day after labor day. This year labor day was very late in the year, so schools in my town were actually going to start the week before. With COVID, schools are permitted to start a couple of weeks later, which most are doing. Schools in my town start next Monday.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

I would recommend you drive thru the side blocks of Nonantum village of Newton sometime. Plenty of three deckers and other rental units, You’ll see occasional rusted out cars and unpaved ways. Maybe not skid row by any means but not the West Newton Hills mansions that most people on the forum and at large seem to think compose the entirety of Newton.

There’s one down by Needham Street, Upper Falls I think that has some very “lived in” neighborhoods as well.

What I’m saying is that Newton is a large city and the vibe can really vary village by village.

To be fair, in a prior post on this thread, I said the exact same thing.

Some villages/areas in Newton feel more legacy middle class.. Not aesthetically as nice as the sticker price would lead you to believe. Coming from the Midwest, those villages that you mentioned above might feel like "a lot". Triple deckers, unpaved ways, wires hanging in all directions. It's something that we noticed when we moved back to the Boston area, after spending a lot of time away. For that reason, my wife was never a big fan of Newton (in our price range).

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Milton is the only suburb with a higher black population (14% or so) and decent schools.

My ignorance.. I didn't realize Milton had a material black population. Very good info.

OP, Milton is great. Very good school system, train into the city, and at $1.3M, you should be able to live in some of the more upscale parts of town. The major drawback of Milton is that it doesn't really have an active downtown/main street. And, you'll be looking at a 45 minute+ commute during normal rush hour.

So, based on this thread, it sounds like folks are really suggesting Belmont to the north, Newton/Needham, or Milton to the south.

[Moving2020-21]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

They usually start the day after labor day. This year labor day was very late in the year, so schools in my town were actually going to start the week before. With COVID, schools are permitted to start a couple of weeks later, which most are doing. Schools in my town start next Monday.

Great thank you. Schools where we are moving from start after Labor Day too and I didn’t realize a lot of districts still did that. So I wasn’t sure if that was just a situation with everything going on this year - thank you

[Moving2020-21]

Originally Posted by mwj119

My ignorance.. I didn't realize Milton had a material black population. Very good info.

OP, Milton is great. Very good school system, train into the city, and at $1.3M, you should be able to live in some of the more upscale parts of town. The major drawback of Milton is that it doesn't really have an active downtown/main street. And, you'll be looking at a 45 minute+ commute during normal rush hour.

So, based on this thread, it sounds like folks are really suggesting Belmont to the north, Newton/Needham, or Milton to the south.

Thank you for the recap it is honestly a very overwhelming move this time around having older kids and I appreciate everyone’s advice. It really has helped us narrow down where we will look when we are able to come up so we don’t waste that time. I think the four you mentioned are what we are going with and hoping to narrow it to two before we come up house hunting. But it made our list much smaller so thanks again everyone!

[G-fused]

We are a racially diverse family too (white/black) with a middle schooler. Lived in Brookline for about 10 yrs and recently moved to the burbs. I am pretty familiar with Newton and some others towns. I do not consider Newton diverse. Schools are very good however. Frankly, there aren't many diverse areas in New England. A 20 min commute is hard around here. Traffic has been a ton better the past few months however (pandemic related).

Best of luck and welcome.