Best Boston suburb with artsy vibe (Worcester, Lowell: renting, condos, house)

[dadicalidea]

We're in search of a Boston suburb where we can purchase a home in commuting distance (30 minutes or less during post-Covid rush hour) to Lexington. Our desired criteria are (in priority order, and I know these all don't co-exist anywhere!):

(1) Excellent high school
(2) scrappy / artsy progressive vibe (e.g. Berkeley, Madison)
(3) neighborhood-y, where our kids (10 and 12) could connect with friends without having to drive
(4) access to nature

We can afford up to $900k or so for a 4 bedroom.

The best matches we've found thus far have been some parts of Arlington and West Concord. Arlington seems to gets us a fixer-upper at our price-point or something on a busy road. And West Concord is nice, but the inventory is really low and I'm concerned about the superfund site on Main St. (https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cu...cfm?id=0100550).

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[BosYuppie]

Now, when I think Arty/Scrappy I'm thinking about a college town vibe basically. And you aren't going to really find that outside Boston/Brookline/Cambridge/Somerville. But those are each eliminated by price, distance or school district criteria.

You could try and sneak into Arlington too, sure. But I wouldn't consider it very scrappy.

[Shrewsburried]

Providence; however, being a BFA export and professional creative, I might have differing standards of ‘artsy’.

To a lesser degree, Worcester. Boston metro is too corporate/capital intensive ... that scene is rapidly dying despite an existing concentration of creatives/artists and institutions. Dead? No, but not particularly compelling compared to its former self, NYC, or other known art meccas. It’s highly dependent on whether you seek ‘authentic’ organic arts culture or generalist private capital ‘hipster’. Very little grit in Boston outside of our highly segregated areas of generational poverty.

Neither city named is a legitimate suggestion, FYI. Providence is great, but not a terribly viable commute to Boston. Maybe Beverly?

[massnative71]

Salem???

[masssachoicetts]

Salem ^^^^^^

Plenty of 4 bed homes for under 900k in Salem!

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Salem???

Half hour to Lexington would be tough.

[missionhill]

Lowell meets three of the four criteria. For decades the obvious equivalent to Berkeley CA or Madison WI is Cambridge. And, since the 90s, Somerville. Maynard and Hudson are scrappy and neighborly former milltowns surrounded by wealthier suburban-country towns.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by dadicalidea

Our desired criteria are (in priority order, and I know these all don't co-exist anywhere!):

(1) Excellent high school

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Providence

Among the worst schools in the US. Comparable to Newark, Baltimore, and the South Bronx.

[BosYuppie]

Well, 5 years ago I would have said try for Newton, but I don't think you're getting 4 beds for 900 (I went to an open house for a turnkey 3 bed at 1.04mil yesterday and the seller's agent said they'd had 70 groups thru and multiple offers already)

Maybe you'd do Waltham? The schools aren't excellent but they're around average for MA, which is above average for the USA. Or you could do the parochial route. Moody Street would appeal to you.

Worcester, Salem, Providence, Lowell would not be 30 minutes commute and they have poorly regarded school systems. If you stretch your commute distance or your budget you can probably find something.

[mwj119]

OP, would you consider renting?

Cambridge and Somerville are the ticket. But, 4 bedroom condos will be $1M+, let alone SFH.

Medford schools seem to be getting better and better. Much like Arlington, Medford has been the beneficiary of close access to Camberville. At $900k, you could get a house in Lawrence Estates/North of downtown/West Medford, which are all nice. There is some diversity in Medford too, unlike neighboring upscale towns. Your "artsy" outlets would still be in Somerville or Cambridge.

Something like this in West Medford: https://www.redfin.com/MA/Medford/20.../home/11782688
Something like this around Lawrence Estates: https://www.redfin.com/MA/Medford/34.../home/11789599

Both Medford and Arlington are legacy middle class suburbs. Arlington's schools are better, and it is more uniformly nice. But, Arlington is more expensive, and I don't think you'll get more of an artsy/edgy/crunchy vibe in Arlington than in Medford.