Framingham, MA: schools and general vibe?

[Anonymous]

Husband has a job offer there.
One of my children needs a specific education setting (gifted and learning disabled).
We are happy in Bethesda with the kids in public school, but could move for better pay, as our budget is pretty tight.
What we like here are the general level of education, the international community (we are international ourselves), the suburban feel with single family homes yet close to DC, the numerous activities.

Descriptions and opinions on Framingham, Boston and MA in general are much appreciated, thanks!

[Anonymous]

Awwww.... I'm from Northboro and Framingham was the next town over that had all the stores (Northboro used to be a big farm that was turned into housing).

I have no advise, sorry.

[Anonymous]

My DH grew up in the Boston suburbs, and the thing that gets me every time we visit is that it takes forever to get anywhere. They operate on a town system, and I find running errands there to be a pain because there aren't all that amenities in each town. You have to go to other towns to have choices. There is always traffic on Route 9, which is one of the main arteries.

[Anonymous]

Framingham = Rockville
Weston = Potomac
Wellesley = Bethesda

[Anonymous]

They are all deformed worshippers of Dagon but other than that, great place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are all deformed worshippers of Dagon but other than that, great place.

Meaning?

[Anonymous]

Check out Sherborn. It's very close and the schools are excellent.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Framingham. Before the high school joined together (used to be North and South), it was fine. Now South high's students, with the gang issues from downtown Framingham, has made the high school a problem.

Sherborn and Weston would be more to your liking, though it would put your husband into a commute. Sherborn is the better of the two commute-wise.

I would move back in a heartbeat though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Framingham = Rockville
Weston = Potomac
Wellesley = Bethesda

Accurate. Chestnut Hill also lovely.

[Anonymous]

We moved from D.C. after 15 yrs (we lived in Dupont/Logan, kids attended DCPS) to Weston & love it. It is international (e.g. Scots, Dutch, Chinese) but not on the scale of D.C.! Many of these families are here b/c of hedge fund/finance jobs in Boston. I don't know a lot about Framingham except for the GC who worked on our house is from there & sends his kids to private school to keep them out of the Framingham public school system (gangs etc as already mentioned). There are a lot of beautiful towns with great schools around. Sherborn, as a PP mentioned, is lovely.

[Anonymous]

Look at Lexington - great programming for what you're looking for. SUPER diverse. Can be a pressure cooker situation at high school years. Sudbury and Concord also do well for LD programming but less diverse. (Might also be able to look at Lincoln and Carlisle since Lincoln and Sudbury share a high school and the same is true for Concord/carslisle, so not sure if there's any integration of special programs at earlier grades.).

Framingham IMO is in decline - really anything around it is much nicer (Framingham has some sketchy spots downtown that seem to be spreading.)

where are you commuting to? Budget?

[Anonymous]

I have good friends who live in that area. Check out Natick. Framingham is not known for its schools (half is nice and half is sketchy, and a lot of people go private either way). What is your budget, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Framingham = Rockville
Weston = Potomac
Wellesley = Bethesda

Wellesley is not like anything here, IRL. Maybe on the Google.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at Lexington - great programming for what you're looking for. SUPER diverse. Can be a pressure cooker situation at high school years. Sudbury and Concord also do well for LD programming but less diverse. (Might also be able to look at Lincoln and Carlisle since Lincoln and Sudbury share a high school and the same is true for Concord/carslisle, so not sure if there's any integration of special programs at earlier grades.).

Framingham IMO is in decline - really anything around it is much nicer (Framingham has some sketchy spots downtown that seem to be spreading.)

where are you commuting to? Budget?

PP here. Sudbury/Concord/Lincoln are all nice, but out there, and you will pay for it by commute and $$. Budget?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Framingham = Rockville
Weston = Potomac
Wellesley = Bethesda

Accurate. Chestnut Hill also lovely.

Newton has tons of neighborhoods, some affordable. (Newton is midway between Boston and Framingham, OP - and some might say a "reverse commute" to Framingham).