Young Family Looking at Boston Area - from Tx (Worcester: middle-class, apartments)

[staub81]

Hi,
Me, my wife and 4mos old son are considering a move from DFW, Tx to the Boston area. Looking for the perfect town or neighborhood. We are extremely flexible, but have some factors that come into play. Hope you guys can help!

- My wife works in the medical field, so somewhere with Hospitals, Doctor's offices, medical centers would be nice. Commuting is not an issue as long as the time is less than an hour.
- I currently work from home, and do not need a job. However, if for some reason I change jobs, I do work in IT, so an area with technology jobs wouldn't hurt.
- Being from Texas, we're used to a cheaper cost of living. Affordability is important to us.
- We're a young family, looking for a community with other young families.
- Looking for down to earth people, not a snooty or elitist community.
- Several people have recommended us moving to a community along 495. They say the cost of living is much cheaper away from the city and there are many more transplant families, like us, that we may have more in common with than natives.
- Some of the towns that have been suggested are Plymouth, Marshfield, Mansfield, Chelmsford.


So which community would you suggest?
Looking forward to hearing yoru suggestions.
Thanks!

[gf2020]

Does your wife already have a job lined up? Where is that located? That will help us offer up more specific recommendations because there are big differences in commuting depending on where you need to get to.

Are you looking to rent or buy? What is your budget?

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by gf2020

What is your budget?

This is KEY: how much money can you spend? You will want to spend less...and you'll look at houses at that lower price range, and be shocked at how little that buys you...and then you'll figure how much you're able or willing to spend.

Also, what's your style? There are semi-rural/rural suburbs within a pretty easy commute to Boston...places where people have horses on a few acres, for example, and still commute within an hour (or less). OTOH, there are dense suburbs, and stuff in between. It's different than in Texas; in TX density increase with proximity to downtown. Here in Mass. that is only partially true.

FWIW, I moved to Mass. from TX and love it here.

[staub81]

No, my wife does not have job lined up, so were flexible there. As far as budget is concerned, were looking at apartments for less than $2200 a month. We don't want rural, definitely a town or dense suburbs.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by staub81

No, my wife does not have job lined up, so were flexible there. As far as budget is concerned, were looking at apartments for less than $2200 a month. We don't want rural, definitely a town or dense suburbs.

I don't know anything about the rental market; perhaps someone else might.

[Bublegum]

Stay in Texas. Move to Austin. You'll be happier.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by staub81

No, my wife does not have job lined up, so were flexible there. As far as budget is concerned, were looking at apartments for less than $2200 a month. We don't want rural, definitely a town or dense suburbs.

Find a job first, post back what town it is in and we can make recommendations on where to live based on that.

Picking a community without having a job lined up first is foolhardy.

[ogre]

To some extent I agree with gf2020. The layout of the Boston area makes it so there can be a huge difference in ease (or not) and time of commuting depending on where you live relative to the workplace. But based on the info you've provided so far, one question I have is whether you strongly prefer renting a house, or an apartment or condo would work. I know that for the rent you're talking about it's possible to get a variety of apartment rental options, some in apartment buildings, others in sub-divided large older houses, close to Boston, where there will be more options for work in the medical field than there would be in an exurban area where there might be only one hospital in the vicinity.

If the apartment option works for you, one town I would suggest checking out is Newton. The Newton-Wellesley hospital is right in town, and Newton is very convenient for commuting to many of the hospitals in Boston. In terms of Newton's general reputation, going by hearsay, I'd say it's possible that one way it might not fit your criteria pefectly would be your desire for down-to-earth people. However, Newton is a large town, with a population over 80k, and the character of the neighborhoods and the residents varies depending on the part of town, so you might well find an area that could work for you there.

You might also want to take a look at Natick, which is a nice clean middle-class suburban kind of town a bit west of Newton. In the next-door town of Framingham is the MetroWest medical center, and Natick is also in a fairly good location for a commute to many of the hospitals in Boston, though not as close as Newton. This might vary depending on the neighborhood, but I'm pretty familiar with Natick, and generally find it to be a pretty laid back down-to-earth kind of town. I'm not sure what the rents are like on houses, so I really don't know about this, but possibly you could even find a small single-family house for rent in Natick, which is generally a less expensive town than Newton.

These are just a couple of suggestions based on the criteria you have specified. I do agree with gf2020 that people might be able to get into a lot more detail about the best area for you if at some point you can post some info on your wife's likely work location. Best of luck with your search.

[Lowerdeck]

Could take a look at the Worcester area. There's the med school and a couple hospitals, plus is cheaper than areas closer to Boston. Still within an hour to Boston though, especially on the east side (Shrewsbury, Northboro, Grafton, etc...)

[susanewood]

On the 495 area (south of Mass Pike), e.g. Franklin, you can get to Newton Wellesley Hospital in an hour, Boston in about the same time (via train or car), Worcester/ Framingham Hospitals, closer. IT - EMC is in Hopkinton on 495. Bellingham (next to Franklin) is cheaper than Franklin, but Franklin is more condensed (not sure if that's the right word). Milford is the largest town in the area, and has a hospital right there, with a new Dana Farber Cancer Center. Maybe a search on medical facilities that offer your wife's speciality would help you eliminate some areas?