Rural town a reasonable commute to Boston? (Attleboro, Amherst: home, schools)

[muppetmomma]

Right now, we live in a rural town of 4000 people in CT, just a 30 minute drive to my husband's office in East Hartford. We are looking to relocate to Boston eventually--are there any family-friendly towns that would be considered more rural within 45 minutes of Boston where we both hope to work? We love having the best of both worlds! I need real trees and natural bodies of water to stay sane.

Thanks so much!

sabrina

[MagicTouch]

How about Lexington, Bedford, Concord, Burlington, Acton, Carlisle. Both Lexington and Concord have walkable town centers. All have the trees and bodies of water. I'm sure there are many more that other will suggest.

[CaseyB]

There are many towns that we could give you recommendations for, but you really need to know where the job(s) will be located first. It makes a difference whether you should be commuting from the north, south or west.

[Nelly Nomad]

If you are planning to commute directly into downtown Boston, consider taking the train. There are some lovely rural communities on the Franklin route. Franklin (end of the line) is one.

The nice thing about the commuter line (or it used to be when I lived there) was you can hop on the train with your beverage and newspaper or IPod, settle in and relax for 45 minutes or so before getting into town. Very relaxing. I also found the trainride home to be a wonderful destresser after a long day at work. By the time I got to the home, I was totally refreshed!

Again, this was years ago so things may have changed. But it's certainly something to consider.

[Jimrob1]

I grew up south of Boston in the Attleboro area which is about 35 miles south of Boston. Easy access into Boston by interstates and commuter rail. THere are a number of towns from say Canton just outside of Boston to the RI border that are decent, some not so much but many are nice places to live. Foxboro, Norton, Walpole, Mansfield, Bridgewater, Wrentham, North Attleboro. One poster mentioned towns along the Franklin commuter rail line. I agree with that, there are so many towns that either are on a rail liine or nearby you can choose from a multitude of nice family towns with a more rural feeling to them, with shopping, schools and parks all near by. However your choice of places really needs to be based on where the job is. I gave you south of Boston because that is what I know. If your jobs are up in say Burlington north of Boston in that region, I would not set up housekeeping south of Boston. I think when you know where you are working people can help you much better.

[smarty]

Lincoln, Dover, Sherborn are the most rural towns closest to Boston I know.

Dover pop ~5500 Density 363/sq mile
Lincoln pop ~8000 Density 560/sq mile
Sherborn pop ~4200 Density 263/sq mile

Lexington pop ~30,400 Density 1851/sq mile
Bedford, pop ~12,600 Density 917/sq mile
Concord, pop ~17,000 Density 682/sq mile

Town Listing || Welcome to the Center for Rural Massachusetts || A Project of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

[vter]

The North Shore has some rural towns - Manchester-By-The-Sea, Essex, Hamilton, Wenham and Ipswich come to mind. Manchester is 40 minutes to Boston via commuter rail, 30 by car (with no traffic).

[muppetmomma]

Thank you so much for the suggestions--what a relief! We aren't sure where my husband will work yet, but my hope is to one day work at WGBH in Brighton (just off 90). Right now I am a grad student in the educational television industry, and WGBH is a dream organization (I intern there this Fall and will know more). Really, the only options in my industry are NYC, Los Angeles, and Boston--since we love New England, we are going to do all we can to stay here.

Concord and Lincoln look great! We are going to start taking some day-trips to visit friends and get to know the area. You are all so helpful!
Sabrina

[muppetmomma]

it looks like there isn't a train station near GBH---just bus stops!

[merewest]

I'm not sure if Bolton is too far away, but I highly recommend it. I know of several people who commute into Boston.