Moving to Boston: where will we fit in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Andover is nice too.

I like this house https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/36-Prospect-Rd-Andover-MA-01810/56029310_zpid/

Does op really want to be an hour outside the city?

It's really about 30 minutes. I grew up in the area. Good schools and very strong community.

Not with current traffic.

I am hoping to avoid having to commute into the city, but don't want to be *too* far out, just in case. I might be able to keep my current job and telecommute permanently. DH is in tech and it's possible that he might be able to transfer to a more telecommute-friendly position within his company, but's much less of a guarantee.

[Anonymous]

^^OP here.

[Anonymous]

If you’re moving to Boston be prepared to be more on top of your neighbors than in Alexandria....

Boston suburbs have space though.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Arlington, which is Del Ray-ish—spoken as a former Del Ray resident now in Arlington!
At your price point, you will be able to get into the Heights (roomier lots).

[Anonymous]

Andover and Newburyport are lovely, but nowhere near Wayland—and far from Boston.
Try Newton, Belmont or Arlington.

[Anonymous]

If you have family in Wayland, you may want to look West of Boston. This means either Mass Pike or Rt 2.

Mass Pike: Brookline is basically adjacent to Boston. Small, densely populated, urban, expensive. Think the equivalent of NYC's Upper West Side. Newton is similar to Bethesda. Wellesley is lovely and tony; similar to Chevy Chase. Weston is rural and swanky - think McLean or Potomac, but lacks a town center. Wayland is a nice mix of all of those, with no town center to speak of. Brookline, Newton, Wellesley all have great town centers. Further out, Dover and Sherborn are horsey and rural. Natick has a great town center but doesn't have the "cache" of surrounding towns. Ditto Watertown, and their schools aren't great, but real estate is on the upswing there.

Rte 2: Cambridge is, well, Cambridge. Urban and eclectic. Somerville is similar. Arlington is wonderful. Your first suburban stop along Rt 2, with several town centers in the East, Center, and Heights (tho COVID has forced lots of businesses to close, which is sad). Densely populated, older housing stock with some larger McMansions being built up in the Heights. Vibe is progressive, for the most part, tho they have had some vandalism issues of late. Lots of Cambridge ex pats here looking for more space and better schools.

Moving along, Lexington and Concord are tony suburbs with town centers. Good schools. Acton, ditto, amazing schools (tho it lacks a town center). Lincoln is more rural with lots of mid-century homes and gorgeous architecture, but no town center to speak of. Ditto Sudbury.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Arlington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have family in Wayland, you may want to look West of Boston. This means either Mass Pike or Rt 2.

Mass Pike: Brookline is basically adjacent to Boston. Small, densely populated, urban, expensive. Think the equivalent of NYC's Upper West Side. Newton is similar to Bethesda. Wellesley is lovely and tony; similar to Chevy Chase. Weston is rural and swanky - think McLean or Potomac, but lacks a town center. Wayland is a nice mix of all of those, with no town center to speak of. Brookline, Newton, Wellesley all have great town centers. Further out, Dover and Sherborn are horsey and rural. Natick has a great town center but doesn't have the "cache" of surrounding towns. Ditto Watertown, and their schools aren't great, but real estate is on the upswing there.

Rte 2: Cambridge is, well, Cambridge. Urban and eclectic. Somerville is similar. Arlington is wonderful. Your first suburban stop along Rt 2, with several town centers in the East, Center, and Heights (tho COVID has forced lots of businesses to close, which is sad). Densely populated, older housing stock with some larger McMansions being built up in the Heights. Vibe is progressive, for the most part, tho they have had some vandalism issues of late. Lots of Cambridge ex pats here looking for more space and better schools.

Moving along, Lexington and Concord are tony suburbs with town centers. Good schools. Acton, ditto, amazing schools (tho it lacks a town center). Lincoln is more rural with lots of mid-century homes and gorgeous architecture, but no town center to speak of. Ditto Sudbury.

Hope this helps!

Not OP but if you (or anyone else) has experience in the public schools are the schools in urban areas (say Cambridge) that different from the close-in suburbs (say Arlington)?
Are the urban public schools in Boston just like DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have family in Wayland, you may want to look West of Boston. This means either Mass Pike or Rt 2.

Mass Pike: Brookline is basically adjacent to Boston. Small, densely populated, urban, expensive. Think the equivalent of NYC's Upper West Side. Newton is similar to Bethesda. Wellesley is lovely and tony; similar to Chevy Chase. Weston is rural and swanky - think McLean or Potomac, but lacks a town center. Wayland is a nice mix of all of those, with no town center to speak of. Brookline, Newton, Wellesley all have great town centers. Further out, Dover and Sherborn are horsey and rural. Natick has a great town center but doesn't have the "cache" of surrounding towns. Ditto Watertown, and their schools aren't great, but real estate is on the upswing there.

Rte 2: Cambridge is, well, Cambridge. Urban and eclectic. Somerville is similar. Arlington is wonderful. Your first suburban stop along Rt 2, with several town centers in the East, Center, and Heights (tho COVID has forced lots of businesses to close, which is sad). Densely populated, older housing stock with some larger McMansions being built up in the Heights. Vibe is progressive, for the most part, tho they have had some vandalism issues of late. Lots of Cambridge ex pats here looking for more space and better schools.

Moving along, Lexington and Concord are tony suburbs with town centers. Good schools. Acton, ditto, amazing schools (tho it lacks a town center). Lincoln is more rural with lots of mid-century homes and gorgeous architecture, but no town center to speak of. Ditto Sudbury.

Hope this helps!

OP here. Thanks for this, very helpful! I think Lexington and Concord are more in line with what we are looking for. DH doesn't want to live in areas as urban as Brookline and Cambridge, not to mention that the type of house we want is out of our price range in those areas. The last time we were in Massachusetts, we looked around in/around Lexington/Concord and liked the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have family in Wayland, you may want to look West of Boston. This means either Mass Pike or Rt 2.

Mass Pike: Brookline is basically adjacent to Boston. Small, densely populated, urban, expensive. Think the equivalent of NYC's Upper West Side. Newton is similar to Bethesda. Wellesley is lovely and tony; similar to Chevy Chase. Weston is rural and swanky - think McLean or Potomac, but lacks a town center. Wayland is a nice mix of all of those, with no town center to speak of. Brookline, Newton, Wellesley all have great town centers. Further out, Dover and Sherborn are horsey and rural. Natick has a great town center but doesn't have the "cache" of surrounding towns. Ditto Watertown, and their schools aren't great, but real estate is on the upswing there.

Rte 2: Cambridge is, well, Cambridge. Urban and eclectic. Somerville is similar. Arlington is wonderful. Your first suburban stop along Rt 2, with several town centers in the East, Center, and Heights (tho COVID has forced lots of businesses to close, which is sad). Densely populated, older housing stock with some larger McMansions being built up in the Heights. Vibe is progressive, for the most part, tho they have had some vandalism issues of late. Lots of Cambridge ex pats here looking for more space and better schools.

Moving along, Lexington and Concord are tony suburbs with town centers. Good schools. Acton, ditto, amazing schools (tho it lacks a town center). Lincoln is more rural with lots of mid-century homes and gorgeous architecture, but no town center to speak of. Ditto Sudbury.

Hope this helps!

Not OP but if you (or anyone else) has experience in the public schools are the schools in urban areas (say Cambridge) that different from the close-in suburbs (say Arlington)?
Are the urban public schools in Boston just like DCPS?

We only lived in Cambridge for a year, but their schools had a lottery system. We were moving in after the lottery registration date and I just didn’t want to deal with it, so we went to a Catholic school. Each town is different, so do your research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re moving to Boston be prepared to be more on top of your neighbors than in Alexandria....

Boston suburbs have space though.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Captain Obvious...

[Anonymous]

OP here and while we are not ready to buy, we came across a house we love in Acton. It's farther out than we would like, but it made me currious about the area. What D.C. suburb (on the VA side) would it be most similar to?

Again, we are planning to avoid a commute into Boston if we can (neither of us have commuted into D.C. fo over a decade).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and while we are not ready to buy, we came across a house we love in Acton. It's farther out than we would like, but it made me currious about the area. What D.C. suburb (on the VA side) would it be most similar to?

Again, we are planning to avoid a commute into Boston if we can (neither of us have commuted into D.C. fo over a decade).

I grew up in Acton. I can't think of a DC suburb akin to it. It has a seriously powerhouse high school. That's why people live there.
What neighborhood is the house in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and while we are not ready to buy, we came across a house we love in Acton. It's farther out than we would like, but it made me currious about the area. What D.C. suburb (on the VA side) would it be most similar to?

Again, we are planning to avoid a commute into Boston if we can (neither of us have commuted into D.C. fo over a decade).

I grew up in Acton. I can't think of a DC suburb akin to it. It has a seriously powerhouse high school. That's why people live there.
What neighborhood is the house in?

In general you can't really compare Boston and DC suburbs, historical settlement patterns are so different as is the local government structure and regional demographics.