my3boys

My husband, 3 kids and I are thinking of relocating to the Boston area. My husband and I were both raised in New Jersey and we have lived in Arizona for 8 years. We are a mixed race couple and would like to live somewhere with more culture. Does anyone have any ideas on what towns to look at outside of Boston? Schools are very important to us. Never being to Boston before and living cross country, this is very hard but we need to make a decision quickly. We will only be renting at first.
Thank you

BigRuss

Of all places, why Boston?

Do you know nothing of the culture there? If not, do some serious investigating. As a mixed race couple, that implies you have three mixed race kids.

Seriously, do some investigating about Boston. Pick your area to live in carefully.

And you need a serious raise too. Massachusetts cost of living is far higher than Arizona.

Anonymous

For the second time in 3 years, Money Magazine has named the suburb of Milton as one of the best 10 towns to live in. With a variety of housing types (and prices), good public schools, access to public transit, and extensive parks and other recreational areas, the town is a pleasant place to live. The school system is about 25% minority, and the mixed-race kids that my daughter baby sat for didn't seem to have any problems.

Ackislander

I am going to second Milton.

We raised our children there, and one of them still lives there. So does the Governor, though he and his wife are looking for a condo in the city since they became empty nesters (Massachusetts does not have a Governor's Mansion). It is a beautiful town, with a few farms still within the town limits and access to 6000 acres of hiking and cross country skiing in the Blue Hills. It is magical in spring and fall because of the flowering shrubs and trees.

Milton has good schools, mostly new or heavily renovated, and high real estate prices as a result; it also high taxes as a result of being almost entirely residential. There is easy access to Boston by road, commuter rail or MBTA, and the town has churches in many varieties, a terrific new public library, and a commitment to a diverse community, best seen by the people of all races eating breakfast at Nickerson Farms on Saturday or Sunday morning.

Milton has safe streets and parks, and the crime rate is negligible, particularly since it borders on some poorer communities. The police had a reputation for stopping minority drivers disproportionately, but on analysis most of this was accounted for by traffic on a state highway between Boston, where the bars close early, and Randolph, where they close late. In this situation, there is about an 80% chance that anyone driving a car at 2 AM will be DUI.

There are no bars in Milton. There are no restaurants that serve alcohol in Milton, though there are package stores. There is no supermarket in Milton, though there is the upscale Milton Marketplace in East Milton and a wonderful wine and cheese store on Central Avenue.

The downside is that I did not find people in Milton to be particularly warm. My neighbors never invited us into their house in the fifteen years we lived next door, though we chatted in our yards and swapped plants and so forth. If I were a member of a minority, I might have taken this personally. Well, actually, I did take it personally because I am not Catholic, and most of the relationships in our neighborhood revolved around the parish church.

All in all, it is a wonderful place to raise children and perhaps not the most interesting place to be an empty nester.

gyppielou

Boston Magazine rates school districts - might be worth a search.

Knowing what town you have found employment could help us narrow down towns that have good apartments and school systems available with a reasonable commute. Are you considering an urban neighborhood or a suburb? What are the age brackets?

my3boys

Thank you all who replied We are choosing Boston possibly because of the transfer my husband may be taking and because the schools in the suburbs around Boston seem to rate much higher than those here in West Phx. Our youngest is special needs and the services here in AZ aren't too good. We do not exactly want to be in the city but close enough to it. Safe neighborhood with good schools. When we do travel back East, my children love it. Of course I know the cost of living is much higher as we both lived on the East coast for over 20 years.

Anonymous

Ackislander, if it makes you feel any better: I'm Catholic and in the 8 years I lived in Milton, the only neighbor who ever invited me in was the Jewish neighbor whose son was in my son's martial arts class. That's just how New Englanders are. I've lived in a neighboring city for nearly 2 years since selling my house in Milton, and have only met 2 of the neighbors (which is OK with me).

And although it's true that there is no supermarket in Milton, there is one just a couple of blocks over the city line in Boston. It has indoor parking!

Boston Magazine's ratings of school systems, like most others, relies heavily on test scores and other indicators that are merely correlates of household income and parents' education.

my3boys

I just checked out some places in Milton and Weymouth (over the internet of course). Schools look good.
How about this...what areas in and around Boston should I totally avoid? That may make it easier.

Anonymous

Commuting in the Boston area can be complicated. If your husband would be working in downtown Boston or south of the city, then Milton would be a convenient location. If he'd be working north of the city, then not a good choice. Can you tell us where he'd be working? If it's a small company, then maybe just a town or ZIP Code?

Anonymous

I grew up in Weymouth and my brother-in-law taught there until about 4 years ago. I can't recommend it. On the other hand, my grown daughter has a good friend who's a special needs aide in Milton and has good things to say about the program. When I moved to Milton I also seriously considered Braintree.

my3boys

What about Weymouth would you not recommend?
It is South I believe, on Huntington Ave.

Suzette85

As someone noted above, if you want to have a realistic commute, you need to consider the location of your workplace. If you note it on the post, we can help you much better.
Weymouth is not known to be a preferred place to live. Anothere option is Newton. It is a bit crowded, but has excellent schools. Houses there vary significantly - multi-million dollar homes to reasonable older homes. Newton is known to be ultra-liberal.
There are some towns to avoid, but it depends if you want to be North, South or West of Boston.
If you look at a map of Boston, note Route 93 which runs north and south, Rte 90 (which is a toll road) runs East and West, Rte 128 which is a belt around the city then Rte 495 which is anothe belt further West. Where you work really influences living options. If you are in high-tech, chances are you will be around Rte128, so there are plenty of towns to look at from Needham to the South to Danvers to the North.
You also say you are renting and Newton has a high volume of rental property.
Good Luck!

hawksbill

I hate to provoke controversy, but I feel like this is a good opportunity for a potentially important intervention. If you're looking for a place with "more culture," Boston is probably not it. I've lived in Boston for 15 years, and I've also lived in at least three other large metropolitan areas on both the East Coast and the West Coast. The Boston area is the most backwards, provincial, uncultured, hostile place I've ever lived in. If you're not familiar with the area, I beg you to take some time to think about this decision before you make it. Are there other East Coast metro areas that might be possibilities? New York? DC? Philadelphia?

That said, I have nothing to say about Milton, because I don't know the southern suburbs at all. Many open-minded, relatively cosmopolitan types choose one of two western suburbs south of the Turnpike: Brookline and Newton. They're racially diverse communities with good school systems, and they'd provide about the easiest possible auto commute from the suburbs to Huntington Avenue in Boston. Newton keeps popping up on lists of the safest cities in America. And both Brookline and Newton have their own commercial areas that qualify them as full-fledged edge cities, though they're pretty dull in my opinion. Various parts of Cambridge could also be relatively pleasant to live in, and would be very friendly to mixed-race families, but I would not recommend the public schools there.

my3boys

Thanks guys! Yes, I would love to live in New Jersey again (where I was raised) but it's not an option. Our options are either Boston, Atlanta or Ft Lauderdale. My husband and I only agreed on Boston.
I'm assuming Huntington ave is South? Is that correct?

travelbuff

Huntington Ave starts downtown Boston and heads kind of south toward Dorchester. There are several Universities in that area of the city.

Can I make a suggestion of looking at Winthrop, which is just north of Boston, and where I grew up. Good schools, 7 miles of coastline, activities for kids, strong community involvement, good churches, a nice place to live and alot of nicer homes.

You might take a look Century 21 for ideas on what homes will cost in the area.

Winthrop is just off the Blue line into Boston, and is commuteable into the city.

Anonymous

Huntigton Ave. is not south, it's right in the city. It runs from the Prudential Center in the Back Bay westward past Northeastern University, the Museum of Fine Arts to the medical area nearly on the Brookline town line. Why did you assume that it as South? It's time to get a good map.

sobster

Um, this is a huge decision. You should go there and look around. Spend some time there. etc

Anonymous

The original question was "what towns to look at."

my3boys

Sorry. It's on Huntington near Dartmouth from what my lovely Yahoo map says. Looks a little southwest of "downtown" to me but I suppose I was wrong.
Looks like Newton, Brookline and Milton are my top choices right now. Off to look at Winthrop now.
Thank you again for everyone's advice! I would like to make it out there but the kids start school in August here. I may just have to rely on the Realtor and everyone's great advice!

gail

As others have said, commute should be the first thought in Boston area, not the last. What Mapquest says would be a 20 minute ride probably is - at 2 AM. During rush hour that same trip can be an hour. Since it appears your husband would be working in downtown area (if I piece it together, you said Dartmouth and Huntington - and I think you meant in Boston, not town of Dartmouth). I might consider also him asking human resource person at new employer where people in company generally live, how they get to work.

Many people who work in Boston do a commute that involves driving to public transit and then taking it from there. The commuter raid/train works well for people who have very regular work schedules, but frequency of trains makes it problematic for others. Also, MBTA is talking serious cuts - so beware.

I will now address the race issue - something others have danced around - since you mentioned it in the 3rd line of your post. Disclaimer here - I am white - so people of other races with mixed race kids may have a totally different perspective. Boston has a legacy of racism. But the current climate is, in my opinion, little different than most other northern metropolitan areas (and I also grew up in NJ - so that is my perspective). Today, I find, like in almost everywhere else, the issue is classism, rather than racism. Sure, there are still some jerks - but there are everywhere. You would encounter more hostility if you tried to move a trailer into an affluent town than if you were a mixed race couple with jobs, interests, and stuff that matched that town. There are a few limited and very exclusive/affluent towns and areas - such as areas right along the water on either north or south shore - where old money - and that is almost always white money - still rules. But for the most part I think you would find people in Boston area comparably mixed-race accepting as you found those in NJ.

Look at a map of Boston area. There is a highway - called Route 128 by locals, Route 95 by the rest of the world. It used to be that commuters into Boston stayed within that belt - now people are moving further out. Once you get outside that ring, the next is the Rte 495 ring - anything between 128 and 495 is likely to be at least 20% less expensive than within. To the north, I would look at Reading, Burlington, Danvers, Middleton. A little further out - Andover and North Andover, North Reading. These are all towns with very good school systems - but unfortunately, very white (but a fairly large number of Asians) but I believe towns in which you would feel comfortable. Very suburban, safe - not a lot of culture in the suburbs, but on commuter rail or drive to MBTA. Parents are passionate about good schools for their kids - that is why most of them moved there. I am more familiar with north of Boston - so not excluding west or south.

Some comments on comments. Winthrop is in the path of Logan Airport - like 2 miles away from the runway - the planes fly right over you bedroom. If you lived in Cambridge, add the cost of private school to your living expenses.

Findmyspot.com is a cool website that may have some limited use for you - there is a many questioned survey you fill out and then it cranks out a list of possible communities that are as close a match as they can. One word of caution, when my husband and I did it separately, there was not one match between his list and mine!

And my final word, for now, since you are both from NJ, I would suggest switching alliances from any NY sports team to Boston teams. We are passionate about sports here and you would find far more discrimination and overt hostility if you wore a Yankees t-shirt than any race or mixed race you happen to be.