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Places to live in/around Boston?

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patentman

Golden Member
Hey all, my wife and I are planning to move to the Boston area next year, and we are going on a house hunting trip in a week or so. If you have any recommendations as to good neighborhoods etc. North of the city I would love to hear them. We are trying to find a place that is not in a super crowded area, but which is not a 2 hour commute to the city either. Currenly we are considering:

Waltham
Belmont
Arlington
Winchester
Salem
Marblehead
Swampscott

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm not as familiar with your bottom 3, but
Waltham
Belmont
Arlington
Winchester

Are all good towns with good schools (not sure about Waltham for sure). But keep in mind all of those are relatively expensive to live in also, e.g. a decent single family house will be $600k+ on the lower end of things.
 
Originally posted by: rsd
I'm not as familiar with your bottom 3, but
Waltham
Belmont
Arlington
Winchester

Are all good towns with good schools (not sure about Waltham for sure). But keep in mind all of those are relatively expensive to live in also, e.g. a decent single family house will be $600k+ on the lower end of things.
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Believe me I know. Of all the places we could have moved, Boston is the only one that is more expensive than where we are now (DC). Luckily I bought my house in DC almost 5 years ago, as it will provide a very nice downpayment on our next place (if we don't decide to rent for a while)
 
I lived in Beverly for a time.
right next to Salem, rents are...well high but not as high as some places closer in.
great town not too far out, on the water, not too far in $$$$$$
 
Originally posted by: patentman
Originally posted by: rsd
I'm not as familiar with your bottom 3, but
Waltham
Belmont
Arlington
Winchester

Are all good towns with good schools (not sure about Waltham for sure). But keep in mind all of those are relatively expensive to live in also, e.g. a decent single family house will be $600k+ on the lower end of things.
Click to expand...

Believe me I know. Of all the places we could have moved, Boston is the only one that is more expensive than where we are now (DC). Luckily I bought my house in DC almost 5 years ago, as it will provide a very nice downpayment on our next place (if we don't decide to rent for a while)
Click to expand...


If price is no object, then personally of the ones I listed I'd choose:

Belmont
Arlington
Winchester
(not in any order)

Other nice suburbs (but these are west of boston, but maybe only by 20 min), are Newton, Needham, Weston, Wellesley (the latter two are even more pricey....probably 800k-1m++ for your "typical" homes just fyi), but all of these have excellent public schools, as I'm a product of one of them 🙂
 
I'll be working in Cambridge right across from the Cambridge Side Galleria mall. Talk about a view of the river....
 
Originally posted by: rsd
If price is no object, then personally of the ones I listed I'd choose:

Belmont
Arlington
Winchester
(not in any order)

Other nice suburbs (but these are west of boston, but maybe only by 20 min), are Newton, Needham, Weston, Wellesley (the latter two are even more pricey....probably 800k-1m++ for your "typical" homes just fyi), but all of these have excellent public schools, as I'm a product of one of them 🙂
Click to expand...

Price won't be a terribly big object. Between my wife and I we expect to pull down ~$235-245k next year with no kids. I also expect to see a $175k profit from my house when we sell it, even with the market as it is now (Average house in my neighborhood now is on the market for ~4-5 weeks and seels for ~400-415k, we bought at $220k a little over four years ago. Glad I chose location (5 minutes from 2 metro stops, walking distance to 4 grocery stores, movie theatre etc.) over size!

That said, I do not want to be house poor by any means, and so we are looking in the $400-600 range.
 
Originally posted by: Chronoshock
I'm from Newton, safest town in the US. About a 30-40 min drive to boston
Click to expand...

30-40mins? Not a 10-15min ride eastbound on the Pike? 😕

OP, if the master plan here is to live on the north shore and take I-93 to Kendall Sq. to work, I don't know that I'd willingly put myself through that wringer everyday while you have your pick of locations.

Are you opposed to city living? Somerville is definitely a spot that might fit the bill, with a much less stressful commute. I like the Davis Sq./Tufts University area near the Medford line.

25yo single Cantabrigian here.
 
Unless the company is providing parking, you might be better off looking in Somerville, Belmont or Medford where you can easily take the T to work.
 
i used to live in everett (it's now a hell hole don't live there), then i lived in medford which is a little better, now i am living in cambridge right on the charles and work over in the hancock. Medford is nice and relatively priced, same with malden, saugus is nice but a little farther out.
 
sorry i just looked at the money if this is the case, you can look at winchester, north andover and maybe a couple other places.
 
I go to school in Waltham. The town is pretty nice, although far too congested for my taste. Things get a whole lot better when you get on the other side of 95/128 (~2.5 miles west of Waltham), as far as congestion, housing quality, and property size.
 
I just moved from Cambridge (~5min walk to Davis Sq and the Red line) to Medford, right near Tufts University. My roommate bought the house, which is an over-sized two family right near a couple of the bus lines, for $560K. We're now about a 20 minute walk to Davis.

Cambridge Side Galleria isn't near the Red line. It's right next to Lechmere on the Green Line, although there is a bus I believe from Kendall Sq to the mall.
 
I'd choose Belmont over Medford/Somerville. THe later two are decent (and have improved over the years) but it also depends what you are looking for. Belmont is more suburban, while the other two are closer to some city life.
 
Originally posted by: AStar617
Originally posted by: Chronoshock
I'm from Newton, safest town in the US. About a 30-40 min drive to boston
Click to expand...

30-40mins? Not a 10-15min ride eastbound on the Pike? 😕

OP, if the master plan here is to live on the north shore and take I-93 to Kendall Sq. to work, I don't know that I'd willingly put myself through that wringer everyday while you have your pick of locations.

Are you opposed to city living? Somerville is definitely a spot that might fit the bill, with a much less stressful commute. I like the Davis Sq./Tufts University area near the Medford line.

Sorry for the dealy in replying. Law school finals have been kicking my butt for the last few days.
25yo single Cantabrigian here.
Click to expand...

My wife and I are not really city folk per se, so we are looking to stay outside the city if possible. However, we are not opposed to living in thecity if necessary. We would like to move to Maine within a few years, so we are looking for places that are not likely to drop in value as well. I'm sure anywhere near a metro and which is not in a ghetto should fit that bill.


 
Originally posted by: rpbri2886
I go to school in Waltham. The town is pretty nice, although far too congested for my taste. Things get a whole lot better when you get on the other side of 95/128 (~2.5 miles west of Waltham), as far as congestion, housing quality, and property size.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I liked Moody street in Waltham when I stayed near there this summer. Kind've reminded me a bit of Old Town Alexandria Virginia (where I am from). I definitely here you on being congested though. Just about everywhere I went in an around Boston had that feeling though. I concur that Weston and Wayland are much nicer/more rural feeling.

 
I live in Andover right now. Fits your description of what you want but might be out of your budget if you're not willing to break open the piggy bank.
 
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