Need Advise (Moving to MA) (Boston, Lowell: real estate, apartment complex, to rent)

[Vandana2021]

Hi All,


Greetings!


I am moving along with my husband and 2 kids (Age 7 and Age 12) to Boston next March 2022 after my kids sessions are over here in India.


I have been doing lot of research in Google to figure out the best place (suburbs) to live near Boston. I am a home maker and my husband has a permanent work from home so we can live in any suburbs which can fulfill our below requirements :


- Good schools for both of my daughters (One will go in Elementary and another in middle school)

- Avoiding pressure cooker system in school as I am concerned that first 1 year, my daughters may struggle a lot with new education system

- Apartment community is where we prefer to live (2/3 BR) and max rent we can shell out is $3.5k
- Options to enroll daughters to channelize their energy

- Nearby Indian families / Indian communities

- We would like to rent for 1st year and then possibly if credit history is there would like to buy - Max budget could be 800k - 1M.

- My kids are allergic and have asthma issues. So wants to keep them away if possible from pollution and near to nature.


Appreciate your time to read my post and thanks in advance for your suggestions and recommendation.


Based on my research on greatschools.org and niche.com, Westford, Hopkinton are some of the options where the school ratings are good and cost of living is within our budget.



Regards
Vandana

[bostongymjunkie]

Burlington - decent schools, relatively large Indian population.

[scorpio516]

Westborough
Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury has the 3rd highest population of Indians in the state. And a top school district. And low property tax. And much cheaper real estate prices than inside 128. You could rent a house for less than $2000/mo. $1M could get you an older mansion or 4000 sf of lakefront living. There are Hindi and Jain temples. There are a few Indian grocers.

Westborough has the 8th highest population of Indians in the state. Not quite as good schools as Shrewsbury, but still top. Little higher tax rate, little more expensive real estate. Next door to Shrewsbury, so same temples.

8.5% of Shrewsbury is Indian.
10.3% of Westborough is.

Highest population are:
Boston (1.2%)
Cambridge (3.4%)
Shrewsbury (8.5%)
Quincy (2.5%)
Lowell (2.1%)
Waltham (3.7%)
Burlington (8.6%)
Westborough (10.3%)

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Burlington - decent schools, relatively large Indian population.

Ditto. This would be my recommendation. Also right in the middle of all the shopping you'll ever need.
Along with (or because of) the desi population, there are great shops for the typical Indian kitchen, including a brand new supermarket where I tend to go.

Another area with a high concentration of desis, but a bit further out from Boston, is Nashua, NH. Not sure about the schools there, though.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

...

Another area with a high concentration of desis, but a bit further out from Boston, is Nashua, NH. Not sure about the schools there, though.

I gather from a non-parent teacher friend of mine that Nashua schools are not overly good at all. I think the suggestions already made for OP are very good.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Burlington - decent schools, relatively large Indian population.

Kind of congested, though, with 93 and 128.

My recc might be Acton or Westford or other towns in that area. Don’t know much about Stow, Maynard, Littleton, etc, but that area would be where I’d look.

Actually Shrewsbury and Westborough are good recommendations.

[claiz]

Burlington is a very obvious choice I think. A lot of apartment complex to choose from

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

Kind of congested, though, with 93 and 128.

My recc might be Acton or Westford or other towns in that area. Don’t know much about Stow, Maynard, Littleton, etc, but that area would be where I’d look.

Actually Shrewsbury and Westborough are good recommendations.

"That area" isn't overly Indian population, and congestion might not be an issue since OP is a homemaker and husband is WFH. I lived in Littleton for 27 years until 2018. Maybe Acton would be suitable but I think the other recommendations are better.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

"That area" isn't overly Indian population, and congestion might not be an issue since OP is a homemaker and husband is WFH. I lived in Littleton for 27 years until 2018. Maybe Acton would be suitable but I think the other recommendations are better.

Well Burlington has about 3,297 Indians, if I'm reading the census tables correctly, and has a population of 26,377. Acton has 2,855 and Westford has 2,707 with populations of 24,021 and 24,643 respectively.

So I think I stand by my recommendations. You're right, though, that the surrounding towns such as Littleton, Wayland, Chelmsford, etc. Don't have very large Indian populations. So it's really those two towns or bust for the immediate area.

In any case, the OP very much wanted a natural, almost-rural setting with very clean air. With that in mind, I think that they can do better than Burlington especially considering neither will need to commute.

[BruinsGirl]

Please also check Ashland, Hopkinton, Holliston, Franklin.