Looking for info on Needham, Westwood, Medfield (Cambridge, Norwood: house, neighborhoods) - Massachusetts (MA) - City-Data Forum

confusedincambridge · 12-10-2009, 12:43 PM

Hi,
I am interested in learning more about what life for a young family is like (schools, neighborhoods, friendliness, town center or not, recreational areas/social life) in Needham compared to Westwood compared to Medfield. One of us also will be commuting to Cambridge for work and I wonder about the realistic (i.e. with traffic) commute time from these locations (i.e. How bad is rt 109 to get to 128?). Thanks for any info you have for me!

kmann-sherborn · 12-10-2009, 03:06 PM

Needham is a terrific town with a great center and shopping. My brother and wife lived there when their daughter was small and loved being able to take the stroller downtown, walk to lots of things, including the train. They found it easy to get to know people, as there were a lot of community activities. I'd say if you can take the train from there instead of driving I'd do it. Getting on 128 in the AM can be brutal.

The MBTA has a pretty handy trip planner tool you can use to find the best public transit routing (although I have found once in a great while the site is a bit buggy). MBTA Trip Planner > Find the Best Way to Get to Your Destination

kmann-sherborn · 12-10-2009, 03:08 PM

About schools, Needham schools are considered very reputable. I've heard good things about Medfield schools in recent years as well. Actually their high school was just named a Silver Medal school (one of the best in the country) by U.S. News & World report.

JBTD · 12-12-2009, 09:56 PM

All 3 towns have wonderful schools. I will say that if you live in Medfield, you'll have to drive rt 109 through Westwood to get to rt 128. That could be a nightmare if you don't leave your house by 7am. Westwood is nice, but is severly lacking in terms of a town center. Needham has it all, in my opinion.

camer · 12-14-2009, 05:20 AM

Definitely Needham all the way.

haberstroh · 12-14-2009, 05:33 PM

I love all three towns but when we moved here in 07 we could not afford any one of them. Needham I would say is the most affordable but also most dense town of the three. Then comes Medfield then comes Westwood. They have top ranking schools. I second that Medfield has a very good High school.
We settled for Walpole. By no means cheap but we found a newer 4 Bedroom Colonial on half an acre for the same price as a 2 Bedroom starter cape that needed to be completely re-built in Westwood. Walpole is also very family friendly and there are hundreds of kids in this town. (Love it!)

Now I know you did not ask for affordability and hopefully it is not an issue for you. I think community wise all three towns are very active, Needham probably the most since it is the biggest. For some that is not always positive, some people like to live in a more secluded town with a little more open spaces. (Medfield would fit then). Needham is also the closest regarding your commute. It has a real down town, followed by Medfield and then Westwood.
I wish you good luck and don't forget to check out Walpole ;-)

rek992001 · 12-20-2009, 09:40 AM

We live in Millis (next door to Medfield) and my wife use to commute to Cambridge. Although it was a difficult commute, she could do it in about 45 Minutes. The key thing is leaving early enough (which is what she did) or I would think a second shift type hour would also be ideal. Other than that, Needham would probably be the lesser of the commuting evils.

confusedincambridge · 12-20-2009, 09:59 AM

Hi,
Thanks for everyone's feedback about these towns. Needham seems like a good choice for us. In researching it, more I see that there are large tv and radio broadcasting towers (around Rt 9 and 128) fairly close to many of the neighborhoods and schools (i.e. under 1 mile). Does anyone know if there been any related health concerns identified (i.e. increased cancer or other disease rates) due to living so close to these?
Thanks for any info.

KathyMA · 12-20-2009, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by confusedincambridge

Hi,
Thanks for everyone's feedback about these towns. Needham seems like a good choice for us. In researching it, more I see that there are large tv and radio broadcasting towers (around Rt 9 and 128) fairly close to many of the neighborhoods and schools (i.e. under 1 mile). Does anyone know if there been any related health concerns identified (i.e. increased cancer or other disease rates) due to living so close to these?
Thanks for any info.

I haven't heard anything about this, and in Mass the odds are if there were concerns, people would be all over the issue.

jayrandom · 12-20-2009, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haberstroh

I love all three towns but when we moved here in 07 we could not afford any one of them. Needham I would say is the most affordable but also most dense town of the three. Then comes Medfield then comes Westwood. They have top ranking schools. I second that Medfield has a very good High school.
We settled for Walpole. By no means cheap but we found a newer 4 Bedroom Colonial on half an acre for the same price as a 2 Bedroom starter cape that needed to be completely re-built in Westwood. Walpole is also very family friendly and there are hundreds of kids in this town. (Love it!)

Now I know you did not ask for affordability and hopefully it is not an issue for you. I think community wise all three towns are very active, Needham probably the most since it is the biggest. For some that is not always positive, some people like to live in a more secluded town with a little more open spaces. (Medfield would fit then). Needham is also the closest regarding your commute. It has a real down town, followed by Medfield and then Westwood.
I wish you good luck and don't forget to check out Walpole ;-)

I don't know why people think this, but Westwood is way more affordable than Needham. Just look at the median home prices in both towns:

Needham: $736,051
Westwood: $695,474
Medfield: $573,194

There are some pretty affordable areas of Westwood. If you're looking to commute in to the city, the Islington neighborhood has great rail access, quick access to 128 (< 3 min), and is more affordable than other parts of town.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBTD

All 3 towns have wonderful schools. I will say that if you live in Medfield, you'll have to drive rt 109 through Westwood to get to rt 128. That could be a nightmare if you don't leave your house by 7am. Westwood is nice, but is severly lacking in terms of a town center. Needham has it all, in my opinion.

Westwood has no real town center, but Norwood center is just as close to most of Westwood as Needham center is to much of Needham. Depending on where you live in Westwood you don't have to deal with any part of 109. The trains through Westwood are also a lot quicker than the Needham line.

That's not to say Needham isn't great. My wife and I just couldn't afford much there but are very happy with what we were able to afford in Islington.