Submitted by AloneManagement8650 t3_113gr08 in massachusetts
I am looking for 3bd houses in an excellent (8+ rating) school district in Massachusetts, with good community/neighborhood. I work in Cambridge thus wanted to keep commuting distance under 1hr. Can you suggest few good towns and approx. house price. Thanks!!!
Price range is definitely key, given the school district standards and under 1 hour commute -- cities and towns like Newton, Lexington, Belmont, and Concord are quite expensive.
I grew up in Waltham (the "working class" town abutting Newton, Lexington, etc.) and was able to get an excellent honors level education, but its system does deal with a larger percentage of children with various learning challenges. However, the adults who run the gifted and honors programs make sure to keep academically advanced kids engaged.
My budget is around 650-700K. I will prefer an realtor
You're going to need a lot more money.
Good luck with that budget.
That budget is absolutely fine up to an hour outside of Cambridge, are you kidding? Housing prices are bad, sure, but their radius puts them almost anywhere from Cambridge to New Bedford going south, my guy. Plenty of good places to live with that budget.
Edit- just noticed it said UNDER an hour, so not as big a radius as I thought, but the point still stands
Best school districts sub 1 hour (remember traffic is a thing too) are gonna be starting in the 800s for 3bd that aren’t falling apart. I’m probably even being a little generous on the price.
I don’t doubt there are houses within an hour in that price range. But in a top tier school district is going to be tough.
that budget is was fine! (in 2017)
Once you contact a realtor, they will assist.
Houses in Fitchburg are selling for that. It’s not a good school system
Your budget is unrealistic unless you want a fixer upper. Don't focus on schools. All schools in MA are good. You need a $800-1.5 million budget.
Lol
Come out to the Merrimack valley and commute. You can get a three bedroom in Tewksbury for that price. Safe town. Good schools. (I’m a teacher)
Holbrook. South Shore. Quiet town. Commuter rail.
Awful schools.
Really? I grew up there. Granted my folks fell into the St Josephs or nothing category, but still.
Very small district, so it doesn’t offer as much as a larger town.
LOL. Sorry, but coming now from a small city where everyone outside of the city calls our public school system shit. I find this laughable as hell.
I didn’t say city- but compared to larger towns it lacks resources.
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If your budget is under $700K and you want “excellent” schools within an hour to Cambridge, you’re in a tough spot. Most public schools in MA are pretty good. Good parents raise good kids. I would look at Quincy. We got our house for $600K in a quiet neighborhood. Our kids are still in daycare but all our neighbors sent their kids to NQHS and they are all in quite successful careers now (engineers, finance, law, etc). I work in biotech and know a few people who went to NQHS.
“Good parents raise good kids”
Could not agree more. We are in Massachusetts. You will get a great education in pretty much most schools here as long as you have parental support at home.
This is the tale of my two brother in laws. Same school system, the same activities, everything. One was challenged by his parents, went on to get a master's at MIT. The other one, the parents gave excuses for his laziness, got high daily in college and flunked out. It's not the school, it's the parents who make the kid.
Two kids I went to school with,(I went to a highly rated school) one graduated top 5, spent all his time in the music suite, went to Julliard; still at 38 years old playing gigs for near quarters in Manhattan. Another kid, graduated in the bottom half, didn't go to college, but had spent all his time in the business wing of the high school, started a concrete business at 18, and a real estate business a few years later; if I had to guess he makes more a day than the top 5 kid makes in a month.
I think the real key is to nurture your kid and find a house within budget; being stressed about money isn't good at all. Being able to save in your retirement plan, 529 plans, etc will pay off better than almost any public school compared to another.
There's a lot to be said for going into the trades.
Did the kid get high daily in college or the parents?
This is 100%. It all starts at the home and if the home fails, there's a high chance it will fail the kids as well. I went through the Chelsea school system, not known for a very good school system at all but we had two very good parents that pushed us to succeed. Long story short, all three of us graduated from the Chelsea school system and all got our degrees from college and now live in Topsfield, Andover and Stoughton (my younger bro is still single so school system for him doesn't matter, unlike my sister and I who have kids).
So you:
Got it.
I work in Cambridge and live in about what you’re seeking, but the level to which you want everyone to do your basic research for you is grand.
Saw a meme the other day on one of those satire “news” companies (not The Onion). It was like “research shows that Boston is an hour’s drive away from Boston”. Basically making fun of how awful the traffic is for commuters.
Hahah it’s the sad truth too. I used to work over at BU but coming from the north, and the crawl from the Bunker Hill area to the office was longer than the other 25 miles. And the T for that path was even worse
These posts should not be allowed tbh
I really wouldn’t pay too much attention to those school rating sites that assign numbers to schools. They tend to be heavily based on standardized test scores, which means they are essentially just a proxy for the wealth of a town.
Remember that MA has the best public schools in the US. Even an “average” or above average school district in MA is quite good by US standards.
The other reality is that even in towns with a big income range (and therefore lower average standardized test scores), the middle and higher income kids still have good outcomes. It’s the lower income kids that unfortunately tend to be more likely to struggle, in large part due to reasons outside of school.
I don’t think there are any bad schools in Massachusetts. Generally, larger and wealthier districts are better funded, but this isn’t Mississippi where you might end up in the wrong district and your kids are ruined forever.
Your combination of requirements isn't happening at your budget ($700k).
If you as a parent put in the effort, your kid will do fine in a lower rated school system and still get into a good college. You might find something at that price in Tewksbury, Wilmington, Billerica, Chelmsford, Maynard, Marlborough, etc. Avoid Saugus.
Not sure if that exists - good luck!
I don’t understand how people talk like this if they’ve lived in Massachusetts for a long time.
I don't understand why they're spamming Reddit instead of talking to a realtor
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I work is present
Do you want the house to come with or without a unicorn?
These transplants are so delirious lol. I love having the conversation of these make believe towns in Massachusetts with the new coworkers.
Pretty generic and half baked ask. What have you researched so far? Do you have question about any specific town? What’s your budget? Would you prefer commuting via train?
Would you also like us to set up appointments for you to view properties in this mythical town that doesn’t exist?
Budget needs to be double what you have now if you want good schools and a home that doesn't need major work within commuting distance.
Based on your criteria, Melrose is a great spot. I think it was rated one of the top zip codes in the country.
Yeah I doubt they could get a home for their budget but a 3br condo in melrose is (probably) achievable
Lol ok
Holliston is the coolest little town in MA. Good schools (our daughter went through French Immersion). Homes go from $350k up to a million. It’s a quiet town with excellent high school sports teams, there’s a real sense of community. It’s everything you’d expect from a small New England town. Until a few years ago there were only two stoplights in the entire town. There are now four lights.
> There are now four lights
r/unexpectedSTTNG
I think I'd look at Acton/Boxboro
I had a house in Ashland and loved the area. It has a great school system and I could be in cambridge in 30 minutes except during rush hour. I work 6-2 so it was fine but if I left the city after 4:30 it was an hour commute easy. But that will be the case anywhere if you are traveling at that time.
Where in Cambridge? If anywhere near porter square, look out west along the Fitchburg line of the commuter rail.
Bedford, Burlington, bellrica
I'm in Burlington. For a decent house her budget needs to be $700-800k. That price is a bit of a fixer upper. Even then could be tough.new construction is at $1.5-2 million. We also have major water problems. Something to consider. I am very happy with the schools though.
what's up with the water in Burlington?
Currently we get water from 3 sources: 1.) Mill Pond 2.) Vine Brook and 3.) MWRA. Our main sources of water are number one and two. Unfortunately, both number 1 and 2 are contaminated. They have high levels of PFAS's and other chemicals like dioxane. The water in town has been toxic for decades. Recently Massachusetts changed the acceptable level of PFAS'S that can be in a water source (In my opinion it should be zero as any is toxic, but MA allows up to 20 ppt). Burlington along with dozens of other Massachusetts communities were over that new limit. The town has been in process of installing a filter on Mill Pond that will hopefully filter out PFAS's to acceptable levels. Once that is done they will close down the Vine Brook facility. Additionally, they are in the process of building more pipelines to connect to MWRA. Right now we get 1 million gallons a day from MWRA, but I believe with the new pipeline they are hoping for 3 million. The Mill Pond filter supposed to be done in April. I forget when the new pipeline will be done. In the meantime, we have been using bottled water (from a company where we have vetted if they have PFAS and other chemicals in their water) for years for cooking and drinking. We do not consume the tap water (even for cooking). For showers and baths there's nothing we can do about it. Hopefully this new filter helps, but I still probably won't trust the water. I wish we could fully be on MWRA. Unfortunately, this is not a Burlington specific problem. Dozens of other communities in Massachusetts (most towns not on MWRA) have this same problem.
Billerica has some beautiful homes.
Marlborough
Lmaooo good luck
😂😭 my exact thoughts! This person must be very new to MA! Thinking they can get a 3bd house close to Cambridge for 700k
Newton would be you're best bet, but that's if it's in your budget (high six figures to start). Other options are Lexington and Wellesley, but they too will be in the high six figures.
It's nice to know millionaires spend their time on reddit just like me.
if budget is no object, Groton is within an hour and has incredible schools (public and private). Concord, too. but both are... well, let's just say your average software engineer would probably be the poor person in town lol
With that price range you are going to have to go an hour out, maybe Shrewsbury, Boylston, Westborough, Northborough, Grafton
Canton $655k, Weston $2M, Wellesley $1.6M, Hopkinton $700k, Newton $1M…
Good luck.
Mansfield
I hope your budget is 1-3 million
Swampscott- 25 min to North Station and so easily within a 1hr commute unless you're working around Alewife. You can get 3BRs for <650 in some parts of town. Good schools and a new k-5 school going in right now if you have young kids.
Sharon has a great school system and they might have a 3bd home in your price range. If you take the commuter rail, you can be at south station in 40 mins.
Stow, Bolton
I would also look at Maynard. I think the Globe rated our school system as top for home value:school value. We’re also an Assabet school founding community so students get preference for entrance.
Canton
Manchester, NH
Acton area might work for you. The commute isn't too bad. Route 2 literally cuts it in half. Might be out of your price range but the schools are great.
Lol please do my research for me I am to lazy to read a spread sheet with school information and the. Type those towns into Redfin.
Lazy lazy people.
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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j8q4fqy wrote
Price range for house is a key piece of information you didn’t include.
Please also mention if you have a realtor and are using zillow.