Work Longwood Medical, Where to Live? (Boston, Newton: best suburbs, rental, townhouses)

[adriennewingfield]

Our family will be moving to Boston in June and would like to know the best suburbs to live in. My husband will be working in the Longwood Medical Area. We have the following needs:

Good schools (2 young children)
Decent commute (45 min and under if driving. Do any trains even stop there?)
Three bedrooms under $2200 per month (we will be renting).

Is it better to look south or north? I love Newton and Brookline but feel they may be a little high priced. Prefer single family or townhome rental.

Thanks for any advice.

[holden125]

Trains stop at Longwood: the D and E of the Green line go there. For that reason Newton and Brookline are really the best game in town for a public transit commute. You could also take the train into Back Bay station and get a Green line D out to Longwood at Copley. Three BRs under $2200 is tough in Brookline, but doable in some decent parts of Newton, where the schools are good, although it would more likely be in a 2- or 3-family home. There are some townhouses but I don't know the rental range.

Driving opens some more options but I would not look south or north, I'd look near 128 in Westwood or Needham. If you're willing to pay the parking you can drive to Riverside and get the D line there, but the total would probably exceed 45 minutes since you're looking at a minimum of 30 minutes on the train itself. You might look west, because the Mass Pike gets you closer to Longwood with less traffic than you'd face on the other roads (though it's still got plenty of traffic).

[adriennewingfield]

Thanks so much for the information. That is definitely helpful!