Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband is currently in the process of interviewing for a position in Billerica. Being California natives and having a 6 year old and a 4 year old we need some information and help making some sound decisions. The main driving force of where we land are the public school systems. I need to know what is good, what is ok and what to stay away from! I have heard that Newton is great, Arlington is good but I am trying to get as much information as possible. Being from Southern CA the housing isn't so much of a shock. We would rent initially and then buy - I just don't want to be dragging our kids all over the place. Any info would greatly be appreciated!!
Thank you so much!!!
Not that familiar with that area, but Acton , Lexington, Concord, Carlisle all look promising. All are fairly pricey, but not compared to California. Every one has great schools.
I have a friend who works in Billerica and lives in Dunstable. From what I understand, Billerica schools are not great, and Dunstable's were a lot better.
Even though you've stated that generally the housing costs here won't shock you since you're comparing them to those in southern CA, some ballpark figure about a housing budget would help us pin down the towns that fit for you cost-wise. Other info that would help narrow things down would be a preference on maximum commuting time, and your thoughts on the general kind of look and feel you'd prefer in a town.
In addition to the good suggestions above, Bedford, which is next door to Billerica, immediately to the south, is a nice suburban town with well regarded schools. If you're considering living as far from Billerica as Newton, and your housing budget will work in the most expensive towns in the area, you might also consider, Wellesley, Weston, and Lincoln. These towns differ from each other in their look and feel. Wellesley is an affluent version of a fairly traditional established bedroom town, with medium-sized lots, sidewalks along many of the streets, and a fairly substantial variety of upscale shops downtown. Weston is more of a low-density, leafy suburb, while Lincoln is still more woodsy, but not quite really out in the country.
Another town worth considering is Winchester. Winchester is similar to Wellesley in feel, but not quite as costly in terms of house prices.
billerica sucks, go for burlington instead. prices should be way less than in socal. just understand that your life is going to change immeasurably if you move from socal to MA.
Arlington would be very good- an easy commute to Billerica (against traffic) and a quick hop to Cambridge/Boston. Arlington is a very safe town, and has a lot of family-type stuff, plus, a lot of the parents are people who were priced out of Cambridge, so lots of brain power and interest in schools.
If you can afford it , Look into winchester, awesome school system, great location, close to Boston (2 commuter rail stations in town)
quaint picturesque new england classic downtown
lots of youth activities.
and a forest, right in town (Middlesex Fells reservation)
there's a neat little zoo the stone zoo right next door in stoneham and we have lots of youth programs like a kids video club and video camp, a kidstock next door theater program, great music program, great rec department programs, after school programs and a ton of youth sports options.
Winchester has lots of great events like the holiday tree lighting where santa claus rides around on the fire truck around the common and they sing x-mas carols, the thanksgiving day football game, winchester-woburn, Town Day in First sat in June with lots of kids activities on the common and fireworks/jazz concert at night, Enka Fair Carnival with games and rides in May, Farmers' Markets in spring-summer, Lots of childrens library programs, Great Public Library, Summer Concerts on the common in summer, and Movie nights on the common in summertime. Winchester is becoming a cultural community with lots of different cultures moving in now...Its a beautiful downtown with a lot of interesting ships, we have a great bookstore too bookends with author events, and book signings, as well as a great childrens book section. Also the Enka Fair has a great book sale with deep discounted books, and kids books.
Def. come down to Winchester and take a look, you might be able to get a good discounted deal on a home here too in todays housing market.
people are looking to sell and sometimes dropping the price because of it.
We also have a hospital WInchester Hospital right in town in case you need medical assistance.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Winchester
