Moving to Boston - Where to live?

[Anonymous]

DH is accepting a job offer with a great financial services company in Boston. Neither of us are from New England (originally CO & TX). We have 4DC's (oldest is 4 with 1yo triplets). Our plan is to have DH move up there and live in temporary corporate housing until we find a house. Our oldest will start preschool here. I expect we'll move this fall if we can find a place. Our budget is in the mid 700's but we could stretch it to the low 800's. Where should we begin looking? Some people DH knows live in Brookline, Lexington and Hingham. Are there other, better priced/family oriented towns we should consider? What are the schools like in Boston proper? Is it difficult getting into preschool? What's the commute into Boston like? I'm already so overwhelmed! We've lived in this area for nearly 10 years and I have a feeling New England is going to be a major adjustment for me.

[Anonymous]

Boston is very expensive. I'm not sure about those areas, but you are basically priced out of Weston, Wellesley and Newton. I have a relative moving up there and they are shocked by the prices, which are comparable if not more expensive than here for a similar location.

[Anonymous]

Where do you live now? What are you looking for in a new location? There are lots of options. I would guess that Brookline is too expensive for the size of house that you need.

[Anonymous]

We live in Arlington now. A 4BR house would be great, but we could make it work with a 3BR and a finished basement. I have to say the idea of living on the water really interests me and apparently there's a train and a ferry from Hingham into Boston. Does anyone know anything about Cohasset or Scituate? They look a little further out so maybe they're less expensive?

[Anonymous]

Cohasset is not inexpensive by any means. How close to the water do you want to be and what type of commute is your DH willing to deal with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in Arlington now. A 4BR house would be great, but we could make it work with a 3BR and a finished basement. I have to say the idea of living on the water really interests me and apparently there's a train and a ferry from Hingham into Boston. Does anyone know anything about Cohasset or Scituate? They look a little further out so maybe they're less expensive?

we now live in Boston, been a year and we LOVE it! Cohasset is very expensive great schools but most kids go to private school for High school. Scituate is ok more blue collar and more isolated but family friendly. Both can be a major pain to get into Boston because you are limited by Route 3. I LOVE Lexington-Concord but too far of a commute for my husband. Medfield is affordable and a nice family friendly town with good schools, commuter rail too. We are in Westwood on the Dover/Medfield border. We have three kids and we are so happy with life here! Let me know if you have questions or need a realtor, ours was great. BTW, we lived in Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Wellesley Weston Newton(that feeds into Newton South HS) Needham Dover Lexington

Newton/Wellesley/Needham/Lexington would be my top choice, great schools, ok commute, nice town centers (Wellesley especially reminds me of downtown Bethesda but less "city like")

[Anonymous]

also you can get a decent house (not a mansion by any stretch of the imagination) in any of those areas. try redfin.

[Anonymous]

Wayland/subury/lincoln also has good public schools but is farther out.

[Anonymous]

also im jealous!!!!!! bostons awesome. schools are great.

[Anonymous]

We love Reading! Lived right next to it for years. Great schools, & great people. There are tons of young families there. The West side of Reading (Joshua Eaton School District) is my favorite, but the Barrows school district has great neighborhoods as well. It's on the commuter train line and has a downtown. It's less pricey than Winchester. You will not find a house you want in Winchester, or Newton for that price. Arlington is great as well, but also getting harder to find something with a decent lot for that price. Another consideration is Belmont which I think has come down in price vs. the other towns I listed. You would not want to deal with the commute in from Cohasset. If you really want to be closer to the water, consider North of Boston, like Swampscott or Hamilton/ Wenham which also have great school districts and are doable on your budget. We love so many beaches on Cape Ann. Essentially every town in Massachusetts is it's own school district and thanks to Romney's prop. 2&1/2 the schools have suffered. They have not been able to raise property taxes to keep in line with increased health care expenditures so it actually is pretty important to see how financially the town is doing to see how healthy the school budgets are. There have been lots pf cuts over the past several years and each town has dealt with it differently. In general though, Massachusetts schools are very good because they have a really challenging curriculum that each town develops to suit the needs of their students and the MCAS test which I perceive to be more challenging than the SOLs.

[Anonymous]

If we can live near the water I would love that. Hingham looks incredible on their town website, but when I google it I see a lot of comments about how snooty it is. Is it really like this? Are the people there especially fancy? My DH likes the idea of living in the same little town as Belicheck. What's the commute like from newton, Wellesley, Weston, medfield, etc? DH will work downtown in the financial district.

[Anonymous]

We have a few friends who live in Lexington and really like it.

[Anonymous]

One thing to keep in mind about north and south shores (north = Beverly, Swampscott, etc, south = hingham, scituate, etc) is the reliability of the commute by public transit. There are ferries and trains, but for example half of the trains to the north shore only go as far as Beverly, so while it is not too long a ride to Swampscott, if DH misses the 6:30 he may have to wait for the 7:30 or whatever. If he has a job where he can make the same train every night, great, but if not you may want to look at a place like Wellesley where the trains run more frequently. Parking in downtown Boston is WAY more expensive than here (when I worked there in 2002 it was $450/month in my bldg).

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Lexington...it is a great town, but also depends on the type of personality you and your family has.
The school system is very good, but it is also a very very high pressure system and some kids, especially "middle of the road" students, will really struggle in.
The people in town are a mix of conservatives, liberals, crunch granola people and everything in between. There is a very high Jewish population that, although I think it has quieted down now, made a very big deal about having a nativity scene on The Green. Once this was agreed to be taken down, it was then another battle to have Santa's visit and the tree lighting ceremony be allowed in the town center. There is a lot of...ultra ultra ultra PC points of views in the town, that at some points verges on being ridiculous.
A lot of parents in town are very status oriented, whether it is their child's academics, sports, etc. So if your child does not thrive on competition, he may find middle and high school difficult.
There was not a lot of bullying when I was in high school (about 7 years ago) so that is a definite plus...but there also is not a very diverse population amongst high school students. Most tend to be either jock, preppy, or theater. If your child is more into alternative tastes, well, those were the kids who were often picked on.
Overall, if you and your family can put up with a very PC and competitive environment, I think Lexington is a good place to live. Close to the city, lots of different places to go, the neighboring towns have a lot to offer etc.