Medford vs. Waltham (Overall Better City)

[BosYuppie]

Was Medford a dry town at some point? There is no nightlife to speak of.

Medford's city government has some serious issues right now. Medford had the same mayor 1988 – 2016. I didn't follow much about the mayor elected in 2016, but from what I understand, the current mayor (2020-) has attempted to make personnel changes with some long-tenured employees and faced so much pushback that they have in fact unionized with the teamsters. (https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/me...ts/6878724001/) I don't begrudge unions but I think this indicates that things are not exactly harmonious up there.

Here is a recent writeup on "state of the city" for Medford: https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/me...nt/6567698001/

Green Line Extension into Medford Hillside will be a boon for that neighborhood. (I used to live there. It would have been great to have in my 20's) It's a shame more rapid transit can't be added to the eastern side of the city as well (Medford Square, crossing 93 into the dense eastern side)

Waltham - Waltham has had the same mayor since 2004. I haven't seen quite as much press about drama in city government for Waltham, but perhaps because it is still the same long ongoing "administration." From what I hear, the city council is pretty entrenched, there are 1-2 more recently elected councilors who might be described as "progressive" but seem to be drowned out by the established councilors.

Waltham is getting a brand new high school building. The downtown area has some rundown neighborhoods, but there's also a lot of smart transit-oriented development in dense areas going on. Moody street is a blessing. The northern swath of waltham is pretty nice for suburban living as well. There's even some interesting new restaurants popping up on the outskirts in the northeast near 95. Good highway access.

On the whole, I have to go with Waltham. So much so, we are considering moving there from a nearby "gold-plated" town..

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

Green Line Extension into Medford Hillside will be a boon for that neighborhood. (I used to live there. It would have been great to have in my 20's) It's a shame more rapid transit can't be added to the eastern side of the city as well (Medford Square, crossing 93 into the dense eastern side)

It will be a boon (I lived in that section of Somerville, 2 streets over from the Medford line a few years back) and I wish it was there when I was in the area. It's a shame that Medford shot down the Green Line going as far as Route 16 a few years ago (ending right over by UHaul/Whole Foods). That would have been walkable for a lot of West Medford.

[Awalker34]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

Waltham - Waltham has had the same mayor since 2004. I haven't seen quite as much press about drama in city government for Waltham, but perhaps because it is still the same long ongoing "administration." From what I hear, the city council is pretty entrenched, there are 1-2 more recently elected councilors who might be described as "progressive" but seem to be drowned out by the established councilors.

Waltham is getting a brand new high school building. The downtown area has some rundown neighborhoods, but there's also a lot of smart transit-oriented development in dense areas going on. Moody street is a blessing. The northern swath of waltham is pretty nice for suburban living as well. There's even some interesting new restaurants popping up on the outskirts in the northeast near 95. Good highway access.

On the whole, I have to go with Waltham. So much so, we are considering moving there from a nearby "gold-plated" town..

Our mayor has her detractors, some think she takes on too much and has too much power, but overall I think her heads in the right place and cares about the people in the city. She was going to retire but stayed on because she really wanted to push the high school project over the finish line.
The new high school looks to be very very nice ( https://youtu.be/UhPwA5NIToI ) but I think that, unfortunately, people getting pushed out by rising prices will probably help more with walthams education perception than anything else.

[BosYuppie]

Waltham and Mayor McCarthy have indeed done a great job of maintaining economic diversity. Just stroll down Moody St, there will be a bodega across the street from a $35/plate restaurant. ANd everything in between. There's not a lot of areas like that around Boston. There are the divey low rise apartment areas in south waltham, the midcentury tract housing in parts like Cedarwood and then the mansions up in Piety Corner, Bentley area etc.

[Bosford]

Medford High School was built in 1971 in a very strange location, western edge of the city more convenient to Winchester residents than most Medford residents. Did they think they were going to annex Winchester or something?

[Japanfan1986]

Originally Posted by Bosford

Medford High School was built in 1971 in a very strange location, western edge of the city more convenient to Winchester residents than most Medford residents. Did they think they were going to annex Winchester or something?

West Medford has always been the more snobby part of Medford. Even today a lot of folks from that part of the city say they’re from West Medford, as if it was its own town. It makes sense some of the city elite would want to make their high school close by. Let everyone else put up with having their kids commute.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by Japanfan1986

West Medford has always been the more snobby part of Medford. Even today a lot of folks from that part of the city say they’re from West Medford, as if it was its own town. It makes sense some of the city elite would want to make their high school close by. Let everyone else put up with having their kids commute.

I routinely drive through West Medford on the way to Logan. I look at the neighborhoods there, and often wish we'd looked there, instead of in Woburn where we ended up.