Calad

Hi, I'm new to the forum but have been reading some of the very informative threads for a couple of weeks, which has been extremely useful so far. We are moving to Massachusetts at the end of March for my husband's job and are looking at areas that have an easy commute to north Waltham for him. Very good schools are very very important to us as we have a 6 year old and a 3 year old, so for that reason we are not looking at Waltham itself. We've had Newton, Arlington and Lexington recommended to us as places with good schools and they seem to be nice (as far as I can tell from Google Earth etc!) but any further suggestions or thoughts on the above areas would be very much appreciated. We are coming over on 15th February for a week in order to house hunt and visit areas.

TIA for any answers

hungryhorace

I know you're probably aware of this already, but the three locations you list are some of the most expensive in the Boston area.

Calad

Yes, we know they are very expensive. It would be nice if we could find a cheaper area that has great schools and is a short commute to north Waltham but when I look at Google Earth they seem to be the closest ones. Any suggestions welcome :-) We can afford to rent in the areas I've listed although it will restrict our money of course.

nun

Watertown is next to Waltham and a bit closer to Boston. It's reasonably priced and the schools are good.....maybe not as good as Newton or Lexington though. Belmont has fantastic schools and you might find something to rent at a reasonable cost. but most places in Boston's western suburbs are quite pricey.

Bob

Quite a few threads on the subject to get you going.

All depends on your budget.

Those towns you have listed are all nice but not that cheap. The commute from Newton might be least fun of the 3 but depends on where in Waltham you're getting too. If it's on the I-95 corridor will suck massive donkey cock where ever you're heading in from.

Heading a bit out but not much cheaper, but slightly, would be west Acton. Acton/Concord area is lovely, but Rt2 isn't all that fun but certainly doable and you've got the commuter rail as just about being feasible.

The three W's are worth considering too, not that they're cheap, but Weston, Wellelsey and Wayland but you'd be heading up Rt20 which also isn't the best of amusements. Natick and Sudbury are both nice towns with decent schools but you'd be commuting on Rt20/27 but feasible again, just depends how much time you want to be stuck in a car.

Belmont and Watertown are both good locations and solid towns, but I just felt they're a bit soulless but then they're only fleeting visits so take that with a pinch of salt and Bedford to that list. Burlington might be a stretch, it's also a bit dull but fairly affordable in comparison with a decent mall and has a Wegmans/Trader Joes though not sure about the schools.

It's really going to boil down to much much you want to spend and how long you want to be stuck in a car.

HumphreyC

Route 2 sucks. Bunch of my friends commute into Waltham from the Gardner / Templeton area. That's a bit mental to say the least. The first bit is actually alright but then you hit the Concord rotary and it's all downhill from there.

nun

Watertown is a bit spread out and Watertown Square is a bit of a traffic junction so I agree that it doesn't have vast amounts of character. But there's lots of reasonably priced rentals, bus links to Harvard Square and Central Square and Downtown Boston, and a very solid school system. Belmont is "nicer" and has a nice downtown and the commuter rail and also buses into Cambridge. Belmont High always ranks highly in national surveys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmon...(Massachusetts)

I would try to avoid any commuting on 95/128 as it's so congested. Newton, Watertown, Belmont, Arlington and Lexington will all be good (even Winchester) if you want to be a bit closer to Boston/Cambridge. If you like a bit more rural then the towns immediately west of 128 might work, ie Wellesley, Weston, Lincoln, Concord and Acton. All the towns I've mentioned have good schools and nice places to live and the commute to North Waltham can be done without travel on 128.

Bob

Yes, it's a nightmare and the commuter rail stops along the way have really limited number of parking spots, usually reserved for town residents.

nun

The new road pattern at Crosby's corner has made Rt2 from Concord into Cambridge a lot faster and more convenient.

nun

Gardner to Waltham every day would suck!

Bob

It's still been pretty horrendous when I've gone down there.

It's much better once you've cleared Concord admittedly but equally as horrid as you're getting towards Cambridge again.