Moving to Boston: where will we fit in?
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Anonymous
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DH and I recently decided that we will be moving to Boston in the summer of 2021. The primary reason is to be close to his parents, but we hope for other benefits like easier access to trails and such. To give perspective, we currently live in Alexandria (Del Ray) and our kids go to Burgundy Farm. DH is over Del Ray and wants to live in a neighborhood where we aren't quite so on top of each other. However, it's important to me to have neighbors and for the kids to have neighborhood friends, so we aren't looking for a huge lot with no close-by neighbors...just something slightly quieter/roomier.
I'm really nervous about the move because I have lived in Alexandria for 20 years and I really love it here, and I hate to take the kids away from a school we all love. But I am on board with giving it a try. I'm very close with his parents and it will be lovely to live near them. Our budget is up to $1.5M and we want 4+ bedrooms so we have plenty of room for a home office and guests, and we really want a garage or workshop/shed for DH's hobbies. We are looking for a progressive school, so I'm assuming this would need to be private, but we are willing to consider public if it's a fantastic school where the kids get plenty of outdoor time. We are hoping to get jobs that don't require commutes into Boston, so hopefully, that is possible and a downtown commute doesn't need to be a factor when choosing a location. Would love to hear some suggestions. |
Anonymous
| Do you mean you are hoping for remote jobs so commute isn’t an issue, or do you mean you’re hoping to find jobs near whatever suburb you chose? I think that is a long shot - I’d find jobs then find a ‘burb. Commute around Boston is no joke. |
Anonymous
I am hoping to keep my job, which is currently remote. I can't bank on that, though. DH is in cyber/data analytics and feels like he would be able to find a job along the 128 technology corridor. |
Anonymous
| Top public schools, access to nature at 1.5--I'd try Sherborn and Concord. Both on the commuter rail but farther out so more nature and more house/land for your money. But the schools are still public so outdoor time is limited. I'm still looking for the right school for our family. It seems as those progressive here is VERY progressive, and somewhat uncharted. Birches in Lincoln looks interesting and has exceptional outdoor time but the school is very new (pk-8). Shady Hill is the go-to progressive in Cambridge but the community doesn't match the old values anymore--very flashy, big money. I don't have a child at the school and people do love it, so worth checking out (pk-8). Lexington Montessori seems interesting, huge space, tons of outdoor time, highly prioritized. School farm. School gets very small in middle school which could be a plus or minus depending on how you look at things. |
Anonymous
| Would Charles River fit the bill? |
Anonymous
| Where do his parents live? I would try to be close to them. |
Anonymous
| Massachusetts is very liberal so you might find some of the public schools to be “progressive.” Brookline, Lexington, Cambridge, and Belmont are all diverse and excellent school systems. |
Anonymous
They are in Wayland. |
Anonymous
Thanks for this. I don't think we can afford the kind of house we want in places like Brookline or Cambridge. Possibly Lexington, and I'll have to look at Belmont. |
Anonymous
| OP here-- seems like you get more for your money in Natick than in other surrounding towns. Why is that? |
Anonymous
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There are Waldorf schools, too, at least I know of one in Lexington for children preschool to grade 8. The Waldorf high school is Grade 9-12 in.... Belmont? somewhere there.
Boston is lovely - quite progressive in many areas, Winchester, Belmont, Arlington, Bedford, Lexington, Brookline are where I grew up. Wayland, Natick, Wellesley are probably also pretty progressive Commute can be ugly - so find jobs, then find a town/community. |
Anonymous
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Make sure you pay very close attention to real estate taxes as they are often way way way higher than here and may eat into your budget.
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Anonymous
We have noticed this. They look to be about 2.5 times more expensive than what we pay here. --OP |
Anonymous
| Does anyone have opinions on Natick? |
Anonymous
| Newburyport is amazing and has a similar look and feel to Del Ray but better. |