Good Family Suburb of Boston? (Newton, Brookline: real estate, new house, neighborhood)

[Banker1985]

I was wondering what is a good family friendly Suburb of Boston, We have a 4 Year old and another baby on the way. The things we are looking for in a Suburb is Diversity in Cultures, Alot to do, Large lot, yard for our kids to play in, Privacy, and close proximity to BC since that is where my wife will be working and Also somewhere close to Boston since that is where I will be working, The Money we are Willing to spend are $1M-$5M dollars for a Home. We have looked at Wellesy, Natick, Weston, Newton, Needham, With Wellesley being our top choice, But we have heard bad things about Wellesley that Multi Cultural Families don't seem Welcome in the Community?? Can someone elaborate more on that?? Also can someone tell me how is Newton, Natick is as far as the incentives that we want as far community, and diversity, and proximity goes? like which is better? I have done research on the schools in Boston and we will send our daughter to Brimmer and May. I hope someone can give us some type of feed back on the forum.

thanks to you all.

[donewithpretty]

If your budget does go up to $5M you may want to take a look at Brookline for more diversity.

If you have the budget for it, Brookline fits your list better than anywhere else, particularly when it comes to diversity and commutes to BC and Boston. Not sure how this ended up on two threads though?

[MikePRU]

With two different usernames as well.

[Jnr1985]

Hi,

Its on two different accounts because Cit-Data will not let me log into my account, everytime I log in or try to reset my password it says used up all the quota for log in attempts? So I have no clue what is the deal with this site. But back to the reason why I am here is because yes our budget goes up to $5M of what we will like to spend, My wife fell in love with Wellesley, and Natick, But I am a tad turned off by Wellesley from all of the bad reviews I got during my research and on this forum. So I am sure we maybe sticking to Natick, Diversity isn't a big deal to us, we just want to go to a town a feel accepted without getting dirty Looks. I have been suggested Newton on several occasions by people who are familiar with the area such as chestnut hill or Oak hill village of newton. Thank you for your response.

[MikePRU]

If my budget went up to $5M, I wouldn't look in Oak Hill. Oak Hill is primarily made up of slab homes with no basement which were built after WWII to house veterans. These homes are mostly small capes and ranches.

In Natick you can have a really nice house for around $1M and you can have a spectacular home for a little less than $2M. Here's the thing about Natick though. It doesn't have much of a "high end" market ($1M+) and the general public doesn't consider it a high end town. So real estate values in the upper price range of Natick have taken a bit of a beating over the last few years whereas equivalent homes in Newton, Needham, Wellesley, and Weston have maintained more of their value.

If Wellesley's reputation turns you off, you should take a hard look at Needham. A very friendly town in my experience (I was once new to this town myself) and much more laid back than some of the neighboring towns. People come from miles around to see our 4th of July fireworks display and parade. I think you would like it if you took a look.

[Jnr1985]

Thank you for the Info. I always wondered from doing research why your Money went so far in Natick and not other towns like Weston, Wellesley, or Needham. I think we will look into Needham and Natick because I think we have narrowed our search down to those two towns What is the Community like in Needham?? Does Needham make up of villages like newton or does it have like better parts like natick where South Natick is different then north Natick?

[Anna_T]

Honestly, from what I gathered from your posts, North Brookline / Coolidge corner area is worth considering.
Now, all towns you mentioned are welcoming (and I can test to that being a newcomer to this country). And as Mike pointed out, your budget will go a long way in Natick. Yet when you say "a town with a lot to do" - that might not be Natick, or even Wellesley. There are walkable areas with shopping and restaurants (Linden sq. in Wellesley for example), there is train to Boston in both towns, but depending on where you are coming from, and what level of activity you need, that might feel not enough.
There are a couple of interesting properties in your price range in Longwood mall area in Brookline. it is a very versatile community - many researchers / scientists / artists etc from all over the world come here for a few years, you can hear many foreign languages on Brookline playgrounds.

South Brookline is more suburban though, and is further from the spark of life so to speak, even though it has it's own appeal and great things to offer.

South Natick vs North Natick: there are different types of homes you can find, but the areas per se are both nice. (I now live in Natick). Depending on the commute, North Natick might be better to Boston (closer to Mass pike, rt 9) South Natick would have larger lots with bigger / more expensive houses.

I would suggest to take a second look at Brookline.

(disclosure: I'm a real estate agent, I just don't know how to add that to show up underneath my user name )

[PGHPA611]

America's Best Kept Secret

[ogre]

When you say you want a place with a lot to do, that's a bit vague. What kinds of activities would you like to have available? If you want lots and lots of nightlife right in your neighborhood or very nearby, that might conflict with your desire for a large yard, but if you mean you want a variety of family kinds of activities, it's possible to find both that and a good-sized yard.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Jnr1985

Thank you for the Info. I always wondered from doing research why your Money went so far in Natick and not other towns like Weston, Wellesley, or Needham. I think we will look into Needham and Natick because I think we have narrowed our search down to those two towns What is the Community like in Needham?? Does Needham make up of villages like newton or does it have like better parts like natick where South Natick is different then north Natick?

Needham does have some different areas to it. The whole town is quite lovely but there are some areas that are considered more desirable than others. I would say that "desirability" for the most part comes from reputations that were established long ago. In your budget, I would say avoid the 02494 zip code entirely. This area is often referred to as Needham Heights. There is one great neighborhood in this area made up of Clarke Cir, Clarke Rd, and Glendale Rd. This is a highly sought after neighborhood. You can get a nice house in this neighborhood for around $1.6M-$1.7M. Birds Hill is considered highly desirable as is Tower Hill especially the parts in the Mitchell school district which seems to be the elementary du jour. All the schools in town are very good though. You can get a great brand new house in this area for around $1.3M. If I had a budget like yours though, I would look in the estate area of Needham. Primarily, this runs along the area around South Street. Houses in this area typically have larger lots and run anywhere from $1.3M to multiple millions. There is one neighborhood I love in particular called Saddlebrook Estates. The entrance road is Carleton Dr. You can get a great house in this neighborhood between $1.6M and $2.2M. What I really love is that the houses are exceedingly well maintained and it's a true neighborhood. You can't get anywhere by driving through there so the streets so virtually no traffic.

Also, if you're still considering Newton at all, I would strongly consider Newton Center. It has a lovely suburban feel and great village center.

Originally Posted by Anna_T

(disclosure: I'm a real estate agent, I just don't know how to add that to show up underneath my user name )

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