…in a year, my boyfriend (who I live with) will finish podiatry school and begin a three year residency. We don’t know where, yet. We’re exploring the options, as well as exploring possible places to set up a practice and, essentially, put down roots. He’d always sort of assumed he’d end up back in/near Atlanta, but we’ve been talking about it a lot and he’s seriously considering my suggestion of “somewhere near Boston.”
We currently live in Cleveland, while he is in school. I LOVE the climate here (keep in mind, I grew up in a horrible, horrible desert) and would like to stay somewhere relatively cool with snowy winter, etc, if I can possibly do so.
Points in favor:
Boston is a major airport hub, so it’s easy to get to most places relatively cheaply, if you have to fly.
The Boston area is within a few hours driving distance of NYC, Philly, etc.
(big one) Boston is about 2 hours from the lake property that my family has owned for the last 45 years or so, which is the most glorious place on the planet, and which I would dearly love to have more regular access to.
Boston offers the potential of me actually going to grad school (multiple options) and getting my BFA, which a lot of places don’t really have.
Driving distance to snow skiing.
Close to A Big Body of Water. Someday, we’d like to have a boat–like the kind you can go out in for the weekend, or actually travel in to a destination not just out > float around > come right back.
Thing is, while I’ve been to/through Boston a zillion times, and my family is from there (grandparents generation) I don’t really know a lot about it.
What we’re looking for is a nice area that is suburban but with a sense of identity (small town feel, but not isolated like an actual small town)… somewhere safe, clean, and not run down… somewhere with a good school system… We’re not looking for ultra-budget kind of thing–I mean the plan is for him to set up his practice as a doctor somewhere, so we should be able to afford a reasonably non-shabby place to live (white-collar rather than blue-collar)–but at the same time we don’t want to live somewhere vastly over-inflated because of its location.
It’s kind of a daunting task to being researching this, so I figured I’d turn to the Dope, where no doubt people who have lived in that area for generations can offer up sage wisdom regarding the region.
What kind of life style are you looking for? The closer in suburbs (like Arlington or Waltham) tend to have smaller older houses, smaller yards, plus condos and triple deckers and so forth. On the plus side, they have things to do. The middle suburbs (Concord, Lexington) are mostly bedroom communities – larger lawns, detached houses, anything from 2 bedroom capes up to McMansions – but aside from a few stores and restaurants not much if you want theater or museums or whatever. And then there are the farther out suburbs which can be a mix of multiacre homes and genuine farms.
You mention ‘good schools’ – do you have children? What ages? Because as delightful as the Concord type suburbs can be, I can tell you from experience they can be awfully boring places for children in the ’ tween’ to driving age span. There’s pretty much nowhere they can go to be with friends without being driven. (Well, there’s always the drink & makeout spots tucked away on some back road, but maybe not what you want for your 14 yr old daughter…)
Well, there are lots of threads about moving to Boston. Do a quick search ^^
My 2 cents is that it’s a great college town. The people above college age seem to be mighty cold. It’s a city full of culture and beauty, but I was not a huge fan of the people.
I am not originally from Boston but my wife is from one of the wealthy suburbs (Winchester). I insisted that I pick the town when we decided to buy a house. I chose the MetroWest area and I think it is great. The area ranges from pure suburban like Framingham to pockets that are rural. Holliston, where we live, operates very much as a small town although my immediate area might be too far out for you with a 45 minute drive into Boston. There are nice MetroWest suburbs like South Natick that have some small town traits and are very clean and safe that are much closer to Boston.
There are some very nice suburbs like Lexington, Belmont, and Winchester that easily meet all of your criteria but they are also very, very expensive. I am not a big fan of the North and South Shore areas in general. Some of the towns are nice but the driving sucks and some of the towns contained within them are downright cheesy and ugly. The gritty feel always depresses me when I have to drive through them.
You could consider Southern New Hampshire. It is cheaper and there are lots of small towns. However, the schools tend to be worse than those in the nicer ones closer to Boston and the commute into Boston proper can be bad.
I work in Norwood and it is (barely) too gritty feeling for my taste. There isn’t anything really wrong with it. It is just too much of a generic suburb for me. However, neighboring Westwood is beautiful and easily meets all of the criteria. Moving slightly farther out, Medfield is gorgeous, wealthy, and functions as a small town.
These are towns that are to the Southwest of Boston and they offer a reasonable commute with a charming atmosphere.
Up to an hour away from Boston is not a problem. We’d also consider Maine. I don’t want to actually live in Boston. I want a fairly big house–we need at least three bedrooms for us plus an office for both of us (we share at the moment and it’s too much) plus a guest room, then I want a room for a painting studio. I’d like a fairly big yard (at least 1/2 acre). Absolutely don’t want to live in any kind of shared housing (duplex, condo, etc).
My son is 12 right now, but we are thinking of having more kids. A good school system is a huge priority (it’s the reason we live in the town we do right now).
Shagnasty: Southwest sounds good, as it is a closer drive to NY and DC and other places we’d be likely to drive to year-round. (The place in NH is a summer-only cottage.)
Thanks everyone, and keep the ideas coming! I will look into the things that have been suggested.
Maine is a little far and it is a bizzare state with its own isolated culture. I have known three people that commuted from Maine to the Boston area for jobs and one ex-fighter pilot did it by personal plane oddly enough. I adore New Hampshire and there are lots of options for a nice atmosphere there as well.
You gave a good description of what you are looking for yet I still feel that it isn’t specific enough. I commute from a far western suburb to a nearer one to Boston. At no point can I tell that I am an urban area and I don’t think I have seen Boston proper within the last 6 months. It looks like classic New England and very wealthy with all kinds of sports stars living on the route. There are orchards and horse farms all along the 40 minute drive to work. I love it and my drive is very peaceful and pretty. For about 10 minutes of my drive, you absolutely cannot tell that you aren’t in a pure rural New England area.
Suburbs like Lexington and Winchester are close to the city but any decent house will cost over 600K and the value tends to be poor especially if you don’t care about living close to Boston proper.
Please clarify what you want just a little more. You can have almost anything although you can’t change the weather. Lots of suburbs are gorgeous and excellent schools are easy to find but living in them usually requires a great deal of money. The suburbs I am describing will generally cost 500K or more for a reasonable house and many of those are not that impressive (but the towns are).