Finding the best places to live in Boston
Posted by Leslie Mann on Sun, Jul 03, 2011 @ 06:36 PM
My husband & I work with many clients relocating to the Boston suburbs. When they begin house hunting, the most common items on their wish list are a home in a community with:
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An excellent public school system
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Nice, family-friendly neighborhoods
However, home prices in those communities can be pretty steep so it's often a tradeoff between commute time, home size, and other amenities. Today, I thought it would be handy to put together a quick reference guide to those relocating to the Boston suburbs.
This little chart shows the 30 communities listed in Boston Magazine's 2010 ranking of Best Public Schools in Massachusetts. Then to give you an idea of area home prices, I picked a sample home from each town for comparison sake. For the chart, I selected a 2,500 square foot colonial-style home in a neighborhood setting in each town & listed the price of that home. (If these prices are giving you an anxiety attack, don't fear. There are less expensive homes in many of these communities. These are just a sampling of a certain size & style of home.) I then listed the community's approximate distance to Boston.
| Town |
Public High School |
Approximate distance from Boston |
Public transit nearby? |
Sample home price |
| Weston |
Weston High School |
28 minutes |
yes, Waltham |
$799,900 |
| Dover/Sherborn |
Dover-Sherborn High School |
41 minutes |
yes, Natick |
$739,000 |
| Lexington |
Lexington High School |
28 minutes |
yes |
$859,000 |
| Wellesley |
Wellesley Senior High School |
30 minutes |
yes |
$788,000 |
| Concord/Carlisle |
Concord-Carlisle High School |
34 minutes |
yes |
$769,000 |
| Bedford |
Bedford High School |
30 minutes |
yes |
$623,000 |
| Brookline |
Brookline High School |
16 minutes |
yes |
$859,000 |
| Wayland |
Wayland High School |
34 minutes |
no* |
$599,000 |
| Newton |
Newton North High School |
22 minutes |
yes |
$749,000 |
| Newton |
Newton South High School |
22 minutes |
yes |
$749,000 |
| Westwood |
Westwood High School |
35 minutes |
yes |
$599,000 |
| Hamilton/Wenham |
Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School |
48 minutes |
yes |
$659,000 |
| Manchester/Essex |
Manchester Essex Regional High School |
46 minutes |
yes |
$730,000 |
| Sharon |
Sharon High School |
36 minutes |
yes |
$525,000 |
| Harvard |
Bromfield High School |
54 minutes |
no** |
$629,000 |
| Cambridge |
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School |
10 minutes |
yes |
$749,000 |
| Cohasset |
Cohasset High School |
48 minutes |
yes |
$599,000 |
| Westborough |
Westborough High School |
47 minutes |
yes |
$479,000 |
| Needham |
Needham High School |
33 minutes |
yes |
$699,000 |
| Lincoln/Sudbury |
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School |
31 minutes |
yes, Lincoln |
$609,000 |
| Holliston |
Holliston High School |
52 minutes |
no |
$429,000 |
| Boston |
Boston Latin School |
n/a |
yes |
$879,000 |
| Marblehead |
Marblehead High School |
42 minutes |
yes |
$549,900 |
| Hopkinton |
Hopkinton High School |
45 minutes |
yes, Southboro |
$479,900 |
| Winchester |
Winchester High School |
19 minutes |
yes |
$649,000 |
| Acton/Boxborough |
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School |
42 minutes |
yes, Acton |
$539,000 |
| Andover |
Andover High School |
35 minutes |
yes |
$549,900 |
| Northborough/Southborough |
Algonquin Regional High School |
51 minutes |
yes, Southboro |
$410,000 |
| Belmont |
Belmont High School |
21 minutes |
yes |
$729,000 |
| Duxbury |
Duxbury High School |
48 minutes |
no*** |
$534,900 |
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| *Closest station is in Lincoln |
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| **Closest station is in Ayer |
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| ***Closest station is in Plymouth |
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If you'd like an Excel version of this file to slice & dice the data yourself, please feel free to drop me a line. And of course if you have questions about moving to the Boston suburbs, please don't hesitate to contact us. We'd be glad to assist!
