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Relocating to Boston
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Anonymous
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I've lived in DC 20 years and we are most likely moving to Boston in the next few months. I'm trying to figure out what suburbs compare to where we live now. We would like to be close to the city but also have a single family home. Walking to something (anything really) is important to us. We live in N. Arlington now, would love to live somewhere comparable to Lyon Village, does that exist? My husband will be commuting downtown, would also like to be near a train. What is Wellesley like? We have seen alot of cute rental houses there. We do not plan on buying anything until we have lived there a year or so. I will be a SAHM for a little while, so would like an area where there are parks, libraries, and other moms around. We have young children, not in school yet.
TIA! |
Anonymous
| Cambridge |
Anonymous
| It looks like all apartments there? |
Anonymous
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Brookline - close to the city much like Arlington, single family homes, on the T, good schools, super walkable
Cambridge - somewhat like Brookline but north of the river. Schools not as good - elementary there is choice but only one high school. Single family homes are in the area around Harvard and north. Wellesley is super far away at least by Boston standards. It's a college town which would barely qualify as a burb and only because of sprawl. |
Anonymous
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I agree with 9:08. If you can afford it, go for Brookline.
Newton is the next town further out from Brookline and it also has good schools and is walkable (but the degree of walkability depends on where you live-- there are several commercial centers of varying size scattered around Newton). If you look near Newton Centre you'll be near the green line and an area with a lot of restaurants, stores, parks, etc., but other parts of Newton also have T stops and smaller commercial areas. Wellesley is even further out and I think it starts to get more wealthy (as I recall after Wellesley is Weston which is one of the richest towns in the country). |
Anonymous
| What does Wellesley compare to in DC? Potomac/Great Falls? or McLean/Bethesda? |
Anonymous
| We stayed in a B&B in Brookline when we visited Boston. It was fantastic - I could be very living happy there. I thought it was much like Arlington, as well. |
Anonymous
| OP- What is your price range for housing? Some of the places mentioned are quite expensive, particularly Brookline. Also the demographics of places mentioned are quite different. Cambridge is diverse and very liberal/quirky, where Wellesley is very white and upper-middle class. (There are plenty of houses in Cambridge, btw.) |
Anonymous
Yes, in my head (which I confess may be out of date and is biased more to MD), Wellesley is more like Potomac/Great Falls. Brookline is like Chevy Chase/NW DC, and Newton is like Bethesda. |
Anonymous
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OP here. our price range for renting a house is 3500-3800/month.
Does anyone know of good websites to find rental houses, specifically in brookline? I've tried on Trulia, Realtor.com and bostonglobe.com but still come up with more apartments and multifamily type units, not SFH. |
Anonymous
| What about Belmont or Arlington? |
Anonymous
That's my thought. Those are close-in towns (like Arlington VA), very easy commute downtown, good schools. Housing prices are reasonable. |
Anonymous
| Loooooove Brookline! I think it's a great place to start renting in (close location, right on the T, walkable to so many things, very family friendly), and you will get a feel for Brookline proper and the area suburbs and can better decide where you want to buy. |
Anonymous
| Is Brookline very college-y? I just don't want to rent and live next door to a college/group home kind of thing. Not that I am so old myself (early 30's) but I'm kind of over that whole scene and looking for a more family oriented place. |
Anonymous
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I relocated here from Boston/Brookline and miss it dearly. Definitely look on Brookline, specifically Coolidge Corner/Brookline Village. You should consider getting an agent to help you. It's common there for agents to find rentals. The students tend to stay in Allston/Brighton so it won't be an issue. You'll find lots of walkable parks, it's super close to the T which can get you to the Common, the museums, etc. And schools are amazing.
I am jealous. |