Work in Concord, live where? (Boston, Cambridge: for sale, renting, condos)

[Spindletop]

I'm considering relocating from Virginia with my wife, 2-year-old and infant. Wife stays home with the children. Job is in Concord, and I'm trying to figure out what would be a good place for us. Looking for a 3-bedroom house, but would consider a condo if it's close to parks/playgrounds. Could go up to 400k, but would prefer to stay within 300-350k.

We'd like an area that has other stay-at-home moms, and has a walking neighborhood feel. We currently live in Richmond, not downtown, but in a city neighborhood. We can walk to the local cafe, beer store, dive bar, market, etc. and would like something similar. Safety is important (of course) and while we've been thinking about homeschooling, good public schools would be great too. I don't want to have to drive forever to get to Concord, and commuter rail would definitely be an option for neighborhoods closer to Boston.

[ogre]

Right up front I have to say that the choices for the kind of neighborhood you're seeking will be limited with your housing budget. Most of the Boston metro's decent towns that are densely packed locales closer to the city have very high housing costs. Concord is out in the exurbs. Lots of woods and orchards and winding roads through that area.

Though the choices are limited, there are possibilities. One town that comes to mind is Arlington. It's out in the same general direction from Boston as Concord (northwest, roughly), but closer to the city. Nice town, located in a spot where urban shifts over to suburban, so it has a lot of those real neighborhoods like the one where you live now, and its housing costs are surprisingly low--by Boston-area standards--for such a nice area. Arlington would be at the top of your budget, and it would be more convenient to drive from there to Concord than to take commuter rail, but it's a town you should consider.

A more suburban town that might fit at least some or your needs is Natick. It too is likely to be toward the upper end of your budget for housing. Natick has a variety of neighborhoods, from classic '50's ranch-house suburban, to older areas with modest, quaint Victorian houses. It even has some areas that are a little out in the country, but many areas are more compact real neighborhoods. From Natick you'd definitely be looking at a driving commute to Concord. One drawback I see to Natick, given your description of what you'd like to keep that's similar to your current neighborhood, is that it's a town with a local economy centered heavily around malls and chain restaurants. Natick has a nice clean downtown area, but most of downtown closes up by early evening. Still, it's a town that might squeeze under the wire in terms of housing costs, that does have areas with a neighborhood feel, though largely residential, without so many small local businesses right in the neighborhoods.

You might also consider Maynard, which is right next door to Concord. Maynard is an anomaly in that otherwise exurban area. It's an old textile mill town, as densely populated as a small city. It has seen some gentrification in recent years, so it's now kind of a mix of longtime blue-collar residents and newer arrivals who are more toward the middle class. Overall it has kind of a gritty feel, older housing stock, not exactly a garden spot, but definitely not a slum. Depending on how long you expect to live in the area, specifically whether you're likely to still be there when your children start school, this could be a concern in Maynard, as the schools there had a so-so reputation the last I knew. It's not the first town I'd recommend to most people, but it's worth putting on your intitial list of possibilities because it does have a collection of local businesses, of the sort you described in your post, very close to residential neighborhoods.

Hope this helps get you started. Best of luck, and welcome to the Boston area.

[ogre]

Another thought I've had is Waltham. It's a small city at the fringe of the dense inner core of suburbs. I'm not sure what you mean when you say you currently live in a city neighborhood, but some sections of Waltham may be similar to what you describe.

If I have the right picture of Richmond, there are dense old-city residential neighborhoods surrounding downtown, and then you can basically see a timeline of the history of suburbanization as you go west from downtown, with the moderately dense, but single-family kind of neighborhoods close to downtown on the west, and more sprawling, post-World-War-Two kinds of neighborhoods the farther west you go. If you live in one of the neighborhoods close around downtown or one of those older suburban kinds of sections just outside the central city toward the west, if that's the kind of area you're seeking here, you might find it in Waltham.

I don't know a lot about what is available in Waltham in the way of condos, other than the fact that I know there are some fairly new condos associated with some downtown rebuilding, but Waltham itself may have the kind of character you're looking for. There are a few sketchy areas near downtown, and some more suburban neighborhoods north of downtown, but it's possible you might find something that would work in a nicer area near downtown. If so, another advantage of Waltham is that it's on the same commuter rail line as Concord. The possible down side is that school quality might be an issue.

[Irena.M]

[SIZE=2]Are you going to work on the base?
I would suggest Bedford, Westford, Acton or Littleton. Commute to Concord is fast, almost no traffic, you can also look in Concord or West Concord, there might be some possibilities for your housing needs.
Those are suburbs and have no real downtowns and you do have to rely on your car, but the schools are excellent, plenty of stay at home moms, plenty of things to do for kids.
You can send me a pm and perhaps I could help you more.
Welcome to Mass!
[/SIZE]

[Spindletop]

Ogre, I think you have the idea. We actually live on the North side of the city, but still within the city limits. Most of the houses date from 1920-1940 (ours was built in 1940) and are fairly close together, but still have good sized yards. The neighborhood has streetlights and sidewalks, and is probably one of the original "suburbs." Maynard and Waltham are actually two of the areas I identified as candidates just by looking at realtor.com. We'd prefer an actual house over a condo.

Irena, the place I'm looking at is a company actually in Concord, not the military base. A downtown-less suburb is actually what we'd like to avoid. We'd definitely prefer an area that's more gritty and authentic than a Stepford-type environment, provided that safety isn't an issue.

Thanks to both of you.

[MagicTouch]

Concord and the surrounding towns will give you the feel you are looking for. Your price range is what will be the issue, but with everything the way it is you may find a condo or if your lucky even a house in your price range. Another website to check is Zillow.com, it will show the cost of the homes that are for sale in the area and give you some basic information.

Have you visited Concord, the town center is very walkable with a lot of history. I live in Bedford and work in Lexington. All three are very safe and have good public schools. In fact I know the Bedford PD is very quite, I look check the weekly police reports and the worst crime this year was purse snatch a few weeks ago. This is the suburbs and the houses, for the most part are older. You may want to see about moving and renting a place for a few months and see where it would be best area for you and your family to buy and settle in.

Best wishes to you on your new job and relocation.

[puffle]

You can get a condo or townhome in your price range in Concord. I live in West Concord within walking distance to the rail, stores,banks, market,etc. We live in a condo complex with a pool, tennis courts,a small gym surrounded by lakes and trees. I have seen two bedrooms around $300k or you might consider renting first just to try out a town before you buy. If you want to stay close in a good school district I would be in Concord or Acton and you would still find something and be near the rail. Maynard is not where you would want to live when your kids are school age unless that is not a concern. Definitely grittier. Gritty and safe with good schools usually do not go together. By the way, we lived in Fairfax,Va. and moved here.

[ogre]

I think that schools in Maynard and Waltham would be more the issue than safety. There are a few seedy areas in Waltham, but even those aren't dangerous the way the South Bronx is dangerous, and the rest of the town is reasonably safe, even if some parts are kind of old-city gritty. Again, you might want to add Arlington and Natick to your initial list of possibilities. Of those, Arlington is probably closer to what you're looking for, as Natick is more suburban, but both towns are probably worth considering in the early stages of a search.

By the way folks, I'm a little bit familiar with Richmond, and I'm pretty sure people have it wrong when they say that Spindletop can find the desired kind of area in the small exurban towns around Concord, like Littleton, Westford, Acton, etc., even though they are nice towns. I believe the area where Spindletop's family lives now is a somewhat older (like early 20th century) section of single-family houses, but densely packed singel-family houses, with a variety of urban neighborhood amenities close by. The rough equivalent in the Boston metro area would be outlying neighborhoods of the city of Boston itself, like Roslindale, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park. A pretty far cry from Littleton, eh?

[Irena.M]

"Stepford-type environment” Love it!!!! It actually fits well.
I only thought of these because you mentioned that you would like more stay-home moms around. Not many of those closer to the city (not a bad thing). And the schools are good and kids do have fun out here.
I never liked Waltham, just because it has parts that are un kept and look dirty and shady.
Watertown / Belmont could be another option for you too.

[Spindletop]

Originally Posted by ogre

By the way folks, I'm a little bit familiar with Richmond, and I'm pretty sure people have it wrong when they say that Spindletop can find the desired kind of area in the small exurban towns around Concord, like Littleton, Westford, Acton, etc., even though they are nice towns. I believe the area where Spindletop's family lives now is a somewhat older (like early 20th century) section of single-family houses, but densely packed singel-family houses, with a variety of urban neighborhood amenities close by. The rough equivalent in the Boston metro area would be outlying neighborhoods of the city of Boston itself, like Roslindale, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park. A pretty far cry from Littleton, eh?

I think you have it. For what it's worth, we live in Bellevue, on the north of the city just above Ginter Park. Lots of single-family homes on 1/6 - 1/5 acre lots with detached garages. We can be downtown in 5-7 minutes. I think that ideally we'd like somewhere like Cambridge, but I realize that's out of the price range. I've seen some nice places in Jamaica Plain and Hyde Park, but I'm not sure about how kid-friendly those places are, and they seem like a bit of a commute, even by rail. Somerville was another area recommended to us. Like I said, we'd prefer a 3-bedroom house, but an equal-size condo would be OK if there are parks or playgrounds within a few blocks. How is Medford?

Thanks again to everyone. I'm coming up again next week for a second round of interviews, so we'll see what happens.