Commute to Cambridge:more questions :) (Boston, Lynn: condo, houses, neighborhoods)

[sfkane]

Hello again! I posted a few weeks ago, looking for towns with a decent commute to Cambridge in the <650 range. We have completed our whirlwind tour of towns which included:

Concord: cute- but too expensive.
Acton: liked the houses and the land- didn't really see a town center though.
Natick:really liked the town center with the square- there was a farmers market going on when we were there on Saturday. Didn't really see that many nice houses (drove to a couple in our price range and weren't that impressed). Seems like it would be a decent commute via commuter rail.
Needham: nice- probably a bit out of our price range. We saw some sports complex and had fzn yogurt across the street from it, but I don't remember seeing an actual town center.
Walpole: not that impressed with the town or the houses that we looked at. Prob a very long commute
Sharon: nice houses, pretty lake- didn't really see much of a town center. Prob a very long commute
Canton: don't remember a downtown- ok neighborhoods
Hingham: super cute town, nice houses- probably a long commute.
Medford:Okay town, ok houses- feels more urban than we might want
Melrose: dont remember the town- we saw some very cute victorian houses.
Arlington: decent downtown- nice neighborhood over by Robbins Farm Park, would be a good commute. Maybe more urban than we want..though with the right neighborhood-we could deal.

From this visit I think our top towns are: Acton (for the houses/land), Natick (for the town/commute), Hingham (for the town/community feel), Melrose (for the houses/commute), and Arlington (mostly commute, but with the right house/neighborhood it could work). My questions are: specific to each area- where should we concentrate our house search? For example- I liked the area around Robbins Farm Park in Arlington. Also- are there any areas that we missed? We didn't get to Newton or north coast (Beverly).

Thanks!

[kingeorge]

Arlington or Melrose. Arlington is great for people needing to be in Cambridge everyday. Acton is doable but long commute. Natick is very long commute. Forget Hingham unless you could see spending 2.5-3 hours commuting every day (back and forth you can easily spend 1.5 h).
Melrose is becoming "discovered" by people needing easier access to Cambridge that are priced out of the Arlington, Cambridge, Belmont, Brookline. Not super easy commute, but doable. Acton is far away. Unless you need lots of space and great schools, no other reasons to be there.
Did you check Brookline? Your budget will not buy you single home, but if you can deal with condo or TH, it would give you great walkable downtown and lively streets with an easy access to Cambridge, as well as to Boston.
Cambridge is tricky to get to, and places around it will all be expensive. You might check West Medford as well. Still some decent deals there, but not as thriving as Brookline or Arlington. You will have to decide what is most important: location, condition, or size.

[Beantown_mama]

I agree Arlington or Melrose, although Melrose is less expensive. If looking at Melrose, it would be worth looking at houses near the Cedar Park or Melrose Highlands train stations as there are many homes within walking distance to the train and you could take the train to North Station and then the EZ Ride Shuttle. It is about a 30-40 minute drive (no highways) from Melrose to Cambridge, even during rush hour.

From the other towns on your list, Acton, Natick, and Hingham are really cute towns but really far from Cambridge and all would be over an hour and a half to work.

[sfkane]

We're trying to find the place that we are going to STAY. So single family- preferably a decent size (1800+), with good schools. Our daughter starts K next year and we want to keep things stable for her. Commute would preferably be an hour or less. My husband won't have to go in every day (we're hoping for 3 days a week). I work from home, so commute won't be an issue for me- though I may end up working in Cambridge or Boston in the future.

[495neighbor]

You can see the Boston fireworks on 4th of July from Robbins Farm Park. Arlington Heights is a section of Arlington with little shops and a more small town, less urban feel than Center or East.

[frazil]

I can't speak to the other areas, but Hingham to Kendall is very straightforward taking the Greenbush train to S Station (30-40 mins depending on where in Hingham you get on) and then hop directly on the red line at S Station (don't even have to go outside) and you are just a couple stops to Kendall (under 10 mins). I do this a couple times a month for work and it is fast and pleasant. The train is comfortable, not crowded, and it is easy to get some work done for the 30 mins or so while in transit which is nice.

The main things you will want to give serious consideration to if you are doing this regularly for work will are:
- train schedule - the Greenbush schedule is somewhat limited, certainly compared to taking the T, and you would have to make sure your work hours fit the schedule. Especially if you have to stay later in the evening you might be stuck waiting for a long time (the trains only run every couple of hours after regular commuting hours.) On the other hand, there are other ways to/from get into Cambridge from/to Hingham (taking the T from Braintree or Quincy or taking the ferry) if need be.
- cost - it is quite expensive way to commute this way. Especially if you are not going in everyday you might not find it cost effective to buy a monthly pass, so your daily cost would be considerable (add up parking, train ticket and T ride) Some people get employer discounts on passes so this would help if that is an option.
- transition times - it is easy to add the train time + the T time and get < 1 hr from Hingham to Kendall, but don't forget about all the other components of door-to-door time which are each small but compound when you add them all together 2x a day. Such as driving to the train station (perhaps battling school bus/parent traffic), parking/paying for parking, wanting to get there at least a few minutes before the scheduled train time, time to deboard and walk to the T at S Station, waiting for the red line, time to walk to your office from the Kendall station ... and then all of that in reverse again at the end of the day. Could easily add another half hour or more to your daily commute. I think a trial run at the time of day you would usually be commuting would be advised before making a decision to settle in Hingham.

Your best bet might be to find a house you like walking/biking distance to one of the Hingham train stations. That would help quite a bit, both in time (no parking/traffic considerations) and cost (no parking fee). I would look at neighborhoods around Nantasket Junction, West Hingham and East Weymouth stations. I think you should be able to find something in your price range in all those areas (keeping in mind <$650k does not go far in Hingham...)

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by sfkane

Needham: nice- probably a bit out of our price range. We saw some sports complex and had fzn yogurt across the street from it, but I don't remember seeing an actual town center.

There's definitely a town center. I'm there almost every day. However, I can't say I've seen many houses on the market this year in Needham in your price range that I would consider livable. About two years ago you would have had a much better shot, but values have climbed significantly.

Originally Posted by frazil

I can't speak to the other areas, but Hingham to Kendall is very straightforward taking the Greenbush train to S Station (30-40 mins depending on where in Hingham you get on) and then hop directly on the red line at S Station (don't even have to go outside) and you are just a couple stops to Kendall (under 10 mins). I do this a couple times a month for work and it is fast and pleasant. The train is comfortable, not crowded, and it is easy to get some work done for the 30 mins or so while in transit which is nice. . . I think you should be able to find something in your price range in all those areas (keeping in mind <$650k does not go far in Hingham...)

Hingham is a really nice town, but there are definitely other really nice towns that are more comfortably in the OP's price range and are an easier commute to Cambridge.

[wyominghill]

I think Arlington and Melrose are both great choices, I just bought in Melrose. We were set on Arlington when we started our search early this year, Melrose was not even on our radar. We ended up in Melrose because Arlington was just too competitive. We made 4 offers on houses in Arlington and each time we were up against 8-10 other offers and lost - and this was with a $800k max budget. The robbins farm/bracket area is the most competitive in the town.

Melrose is competitive as well (there were 4 other offers on the house we bought), but your $650k budget will go *much* further there.

[3cents]

Concord: look at past 3 months sales. There are some nice houses < 650K.
Natick: a long commute
Needham: there is a town center. Just Google map Needham and search nearby restaurants.
Walpole, Sharon, Canton, Hingham: very long commute
Medford: Great restaurants. Schools not great
Melrose: Good town center. Note that many elementary school heads have left recently. Actually not cheap as well, with all the competing offers.

I work in Cambridge. I don't know where in Cambridge you are working at. What about Winchester, Lynnfield, Wayland, or Sudbury?

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by 3cents

Concord: look at past 3 months sales. There are some nice houses < 650K.

I agree. Concord is possible on a $650K budget.

OP, did you have a chance to look at West Concord? Of all the towns you looked at, it has the most small town feel.