I can apply for a position which would involve relocating to Boston. My wife and I have travelled there (briefly) in the past, and liked it very much, but we really don’t have any idea about the area as a whole in terms of various places to live. We stayed in and enjoyed Concord and Salem. My job would be a couple of blocks from the North station, so I could look pretty much anywhere along the rail lines feeding into there.
We’d prefer a detached home in an area where the houses are not right on top of each other, but we don’t need “acerage”. We could pay $5-600k for a house, but would prefer to pay less if possible.
We are both in our young 50s, quite liberal politically/socially, far more into nature/hiking/biking than clubbing, with interests of golf, gardening, and folk music. The easier to get to the train and the shorter the train ride, the better.
So, any Bostonians willing to help us narrow our search as we consider this possibility?
This is just my opinion. I once did the search for the entire area when we were looking for our house. $500 - $600K can get you some sort of house in most of the suburbs but price varies a lot so you will have to decide how important location versus house quality is to you. You could be looking at anything from the cheapest and smallest houses in Brookline to a McMansion or a nice older home in a a more distant suburb.
Let me say in advance, I mean no offense to people that live in these areas. This is based on my own preferences. Salem isn’t that nice in general. It is a cool tourism suburb/small city but not the nicest place otherwise. You also have to travel through the very downscale areas of Lynn, Everett, and Revere to get into Boston. I would say a definite no to any of those given your budget.
Concord is very nice. Unfortunately lots of other people know that and housing is very expensive. I don’t think it is that convenient for commuting either. If you can find something good there, don’t hesitate to take it. Lexington is much the same. Some other posh and expensive suburbs are Winchester, Belmont, Lincoln, Bedford, Sherborn, and Wellesley. You won’t get much house for your money in those but they are nice if you find something you like.
I would suggest you look at the MetroWest area. Natick and South Natick in particular are nice suburbs with a mix of different types of housing options. The houses certainly aren’t on top of one another and it is convenient to Boston proper via the Mass Pike or commuter rail. Framingham is also nice in parts and offers lots of different options. Things get less congested as you travel West and tend to get cheaper so you can look at a line down the Mass Pike and see where your cost/convenience line is. Almost all of the suburbs off of the Mass Pike West are decent at least in parts and offer good commuting options.
Some other suburbs I personally would not pick given your situation and preferences: Malden, Woburn, Brockton, Quincy, Braintree.
If you want to use public transit to North Station, you most definitely do NOT want MetroWest. There are 2 separate commuter rail networks - one feeds North Station, one feeds South Station. Taking the northern commuter rail directly to North Station is easy. Taking the southern commuter rail to Back Bay or South Station, then taking the T to North Station, sucks ass, and will consume an extra 30-45 minutes per day. So take a look at the upper half of this map.
There are plenty of nice suburbs in that area, though I haven’t looked into housing prices recently. Acton, Reading, North Reading, Lexington, are all places I could recommend. Andover & Winchester as well, though they’re on the pricy end of the spectrum.
Some of the above feed into South Station by commuter rail, not North Station. You can switch transit at South Station to get to North Station, but it will lengthen and complicate your commute.
You probably don’t want to live in Brookline. Green Line Commute kind of sucks.
Thanks guys - this is exactly the type of input I was hoping for - just a seat-of-the pants list of places you’d consider or stay clear of helps considerably. I’ve spent most of my life in the Chicago area, so I well understand how different adjoining suburbs can be.
For 20+ years I walked to a train for a 1 hr-total commute - unless I were to have the PERFECT home in my own Eden, I’d probably prefer not to spend much longer than that.
We DEFINITELY do not want cookie-cutter McMansions. We would like something in good shape and with some character, but do not need “BIG.”
How are housing prices doing in the area? My feeling around Chicago is that prices are holding pretty steady. I think they’ve done most of their dropping, tho I see no reason to suspect significant rises anytime soon.
ON EDIT - I had printed the map out, but from that can tell only so much about various towns on the same or adjacent lines.
HEY! - I just saw I can take one train to the end-of-the-line to Fitchburg, my mom’s birthplace!
Belmont seems really nice, if pricey. Arlington would be a better choice. But forget about commuting from either of those places. It took me nearly 2 hours to get home from Arlington last night. :mad:
Well, bring plenty of money. You will be shocked at housing prices-and a lot of the housing stock is very old. I will second that it is important to live close to where you work-all of the local highways are choked beyond capacity- RT 128 is busy at all hours. I would avoid areas beyond the RT 495 beltway-unless you can commute by train.
The weather: winters can either be mild or horrible-last winter we had almost no snow (Winter 2010-2011 was one of the snowiest on record). Spring can we wet and cold, or mild and sunny. Summers can be hot and dry, or wet and cold. Autumn is best.
Boston is a nice city-but one best explored on foot (there are 8.2 cars for every parking spot).
All in all, expensive, crowded, and highly variable weather.:smack:
I lived in Arlington for 10 years, now in Somerville. Commuting to North Station could be easy if you lived in East Somerville, easy walking distance to Alewife station (the red line). You can also look out in Medford (pronounced Mehfuh) which has an easy commuter rail station. But these are relatively densely populated 'burbs, with lots of triple deckers and duplexes. Do you want to be out in the more suburban areas with the white picket fence and 2 car garages?
I also grew up in Acton, and the Fitchburg line stops in South Acton. It’s a bit less expensive than Concord, but the towns are comparable. Prices aren’t low, but I’m sure you can find something in your price range.
Probably more our style. Right now we’re on a 50’x200’ lot. I’d like something at least a tad wider than that. ANd wil need a fence for the dog.
That’s one of my concerns. I make pretty good money, and have pretty inexpensive tastes (in many things - but I do like a nice home to come home to). But right now I’m working in Valparaiso IN, commuting from Chicago during the week. One of our options is buying here - if we go that route, I could live like a freaking king!
I lived in Brookline for three years and commuting on the Green Line wasn’t that bad.
But I just sold my mom’s teeny tiny condo in Brookline (<500 sq ft., basically two rooms, a tiny bathroom and a kitchen so small only one person can fit in it at a time) for close to 300 K. A detached house with a yard must be well over 600 K.
So you’d like 30 minutes each way? Just check out the schedules on the mbta website to get your outer range. It’s been a decade since I regularly commuted via rail, but when I did I recall they were pretty much on time unless something unusual happened.
Arlington is an easy commute to North Station but ONLY if you live within walking distance of Alewife (as I do) or can bike on the bikepath to Alewife. If you have to get on a bus to get to the subway (or Commuter Rail in Porter) it’s horrible.
The drawback of East Arlington for you might be the paucity of single family houses and very small lots.
This is fun! Let’s all go to open houses this weekend and pick houses for Dinsdale
Unfortunately, I only know about living in Cambridge. I have friends in Belmont (moved there because the schools are better) and Melrose, but none of them have to commute to North Station. I do however have an excellent agent. He only acts as a buyer’s agent, which I liked very much.
