Any towns in Eastern Mass that do not hurt financially too much? (Boston: house, to buy)

[vogue]

Great stuff!! Thanks so much.
I appreciate your time and advice.

[vogue]

Are there any particular towns that come to mind, and that we should avoid due to issues about prop overrides and population age?

It is hard to figure who has upper hand where. Some good towns so far, are starting to suffer, but still riding well with young buyers on their past reputation. That is what I would like to avoid--I do not want to buy in some "has been great" town, only to discover that things changed a lot!

I do fear for MA sometimes as we have very old homes and infrastructure, maybe bit too generous municipal benefits, and cost of living and taxes are slowly bordering on outrageous. As a family now, we do sometimes consider moving away, but do feel strong roots here (15 plus years and counting), and fit well with our outlook, education and plain who we are. Our elementary school has kids who speak 30-something different languages at home. And all those parents from all over the world, are getting along quite well!

If any particular area comes to mind, good or bad, please post.

Thanks again.

[bostontopueblo]

The town of Dedham has nearly no budget problems thanks to the opening of Legacy Place which is generating millions in tax revenues, they're even building a new elementary school there. And the schools are quite good as well, they probably wont have any major budget problems in the future as they just raised the meal tax even though there was no need to.

[vogue]

Great tip. Thanks bostontopueblo!

[ruby42]

We moved from Arlington to Burlington a few years ago, because Arlington was just too expensive and the taxes were higher. While there are a few things a miss about Arlington, that list is getting smaller every day. Living in Belmont, I'm sure you're very familiar with Arlington. The only things I miss now (other than some friends) are the proximity to Boston and the town center (easy to walk along Mass Ave to shops, etc). I am very glad we made the move. The list of things I love about Burlington keeps growing.

The town has never needed a Prop 2 1/2 override, because there is a lot of commercial development in town (and the commercial properties pay a higher tax rate). There are no bus fees, activity fees, trash fees, etc. The classes sizes are terrific (my son had 14 in kindergarten, and 17 in 1st-3rd grades). I have been very impressed with the school superintendent - he's very forward thinking and open minded. I know Arlington right now is grappling with an approximately $4 million school budget deficit. The town of Burlington has told the school committee they need to keep the budget increase to 2.5%. While I know that will mean some sort of cuts (as teachers' contractual salaries and health care costs are greater than 2.5%), I do not anticipate that they will be drastic. Also, the town also has a terrific recreation department providing lots of cheap and sometimes free programs.

The school you're children are currently in sounds wonderful - 30+ languages is terrific. When we first moved to Arlington from out of state I was shocked at the lack of diversity, though, unfortunately I think I've become somewhat accustomed to it. There is a sizable Asian population in Burlington (mostly Indian), but personally, I do wish it were even more diverse. I also wish the town was more walkable. The planning board is trying to move the town in that direction (has made appropriate zoning changes, etc), but it will take time.

I don't know when you're thinking about making the move, but now is the time when towns and schools are setting their FY11 budgets, so it's a great time to see where finances stand. Someone else made a good suggestion about checking the various town sites at wickedlocal.com. I know in Arlington there are two additional sites (yourarlington.com and arlingtonlist.org - though that is a listserv you need to sign up for). In Burlington there is a community message board that may be able to answer more specific questions (theburlingtonboard.com).

Good luck with your search!

[vogue]

Thank so much!!So glad to hear from someone in similar situation! I know Arlington well. We love our lifestyle here, and it is very hard to cut the cord so to speak. Our kid is very happy in Belmont and so are we, but can we rent our whole life? We are looking to buy, but I do get scared of devil unknown so to speak. Glad to hear it worked for you. I am going to check your town more seriously now. I had no clue about Burlington--it sounds good. I do wish to avoid buying second car -- that lifestyle scares me a bit, but it does seem inevitable if we move out.

Are any playgrounds or school playground that is being well used or everybody for themselves?

Thanks so much for your time.

[ruby42]

We were in exactly the same position a few years ago....renting and finally deciding it was time to settle down. At the time we were sad that we weren't able to afford something nice in Arlington, but now I'm glad it worked out the way it did - especially b/c I'm very happy with the schools.

The most popular playground is at Simonds Park in the center of town. It has a large (fenced in!) playground, a residents only wading pool, a few baseball diamonds, a basketball court and a skate park (and good sledding in the winter!). We run into someone we know almost every time we go to the playground. There are other playgrounds around town but that's by far the most popular. You should definitely check out theburlingtonboard. It has some info on what's going on and you can get more specific questions answered (and learn about the school redistricting that will be happening in 2011).

Good luck!

[bostontopueblo]

Here's an article from the globe discussing the finicial health of Dedham: Dedham looks to present a balanced budget - The Boston Globe

[vogue]

Thanks again bostontopueblo. Any knowledge about schools and lifestyle in Dedham?

[bostontopueblo]

I grew up there basically. The schools are ok, I wouldn't call them world class but your children can do very well in them, if you help them do so. They offer classes at different levels so that you can place them in honors classes if you like and the dropout rate is very low compared to other MA schools. You should look at MCAS scores as they are just a little over average. To be honest though parents will have the most impact on students grades and the teachers there are highly qualifed.

heres a report card on Dedham High School: http://www.dedham.k12.ma.us/dhs/high_school.pdf you can also explore that site and see what the other schools have to offer. There are the richer sides and poorer sides of Dedham with East Dedham being the poorest side and Precent 1 being the richest although most people make a pretty good living and you can see that in the 2000 census which I can't find online so I found wiki:
The median income for a household in the town was $61,699, and the median income for a family was $72,330. Males had a median income of $46,216 versus $35,682 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,199. About 3.2% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over."

I think it's a nice town.