I'm considering a position located in Cambridge, MA. This would a big move/change for my family since we are from Ohio. What are the best suburbs outside of the city for raising a family? A 45-60 minute commute to Cambridge would be ok if I had to.

I'm looking for good schools, a safe community, and a lot size where the neighbors house isn't 5 feet away. Maybe an area like Westford? The company will help us with a realtor and temporary housing, but I want to understand if it's even feasible to find a community similar to what we are used to.

I know the gun laws will be drastically different. Do any of these areas even have gun friendly sheriffs?

Thanks in advance.

We looked at Dover/Sherborn last year. More rural, more land, good schools but close enough to the city. Ultimately we didn't buy there for different reasons, however, we liked that area generally speaking for our needs.

This answer is driven entirely by money. How much do you want to spend?

I grew up in Peabody just north of Boston. You could draw an arc around Boston about 20-25 mile radius and get into some nice towns.

Due north of Boston - Hamilton, Boxford, Tops field, Byfield. Rt 1/95 to Cambridge

North west - Andover, Chelmsford, North Reading, Lynnfield, RT 93 to Cambridge

West - Concord, Acton, Carlisle, Lincoln Get into Cambridge easiest on Rt 2 from these towns

South/south west of Boston, no idea. I think most of the towns above might fit your criteria.

Thanks guys, I'll check those areas out.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
This answer is driven entirely by money. How much do you want to spend?

Could probably target around $750k for a house.

Sherrifs don't matter. The chief of police matters as far as getting a gun license here. You can very well end up with a restricted license if you don't have a gun friendly chief of police.

If you are in Cambridge you should add 45 minutes to drive time for traffic if you work regular hours.

This is a very old list for towns and gun licensing but if you are looking for a town you can message me and I can find out. I'm friends with the training guy for Gun Owner's Action League in Mass.

https://www.northeastshooters....achusetts-town.8703/

2017 update to the list, if the link works...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n18z...20Scorecard.pdf?dl=0

I live in Westminster. Nice lot sizes, gun friendly, etc. About an hour and 10 minutes commute without traffic.

You will not be able to buy any AR15 type rifles unless they are pre-ban. I think you can bring your own. You can't have more than 10 round magazines unless pre-ban. Illegal to possess.

Shrewsbury/Northborough/Westboro/Southborough area is not bad, next to Worcester. Also a bit of a commute. In many towns you are looking at half acre lots. I'm lucky to have 7 acres in Westminster and many homes have at least 2 acres. My fiance is a realtor so if you need data on any town just message me. Email in profile.

NH is a Free State....Just Sayin'

Depending on your specific location you might want to consider New Hampshire..

I have several family members who commute to the Boston area.

Some areas to consider might be Londonderry, Merrimack etc.

Your money will go further, no state income tax and NH is home to Sig and is much more gun friendly to mention a few.

^^^If you're a Non-Resident employed in MA, you have to pay MA Income Tax anyway.

That said, there's NO Sales Tax in NH

frayedends, thanks for all of the great info. Yes the work is in the heart of Cambridge so I'll keep an eye on google maps during rush hour to see how it changes.

I had not thought of New Hampshire, that certainly makes things easier as I could actually bring my gun stuff with me. I figured most of the firearms I own couldn't even be brought into MA and would need to be sold off or left with family. Pelham and Londonderry look like decent areas with a reasonable commute.

Hello Brett B. I spent the first 30 years of my life on the seacoast of NH. Love it. Very special place to me. If you are ok with the commute into Cambridge I think it would be a great place for you. I recommend Hampton or Hampton Falls and 750K will get you a nice home. Real estate is expensive but that’s because so many people love it there. My parents still do and we visit often. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

45-60 minutes won't get you too far outside of Cambridge. Which part of the city would you be working in? That can help determine which area would be within that commuting distance as you can spend 20 minutes or more just commuting across the city during rush hour. I live in Cambridge so I'll try to help as much as I can.

I left MA 18 years ago but I spent over a decade there mostly in the Boston area and still keep in touch with a few people there. Traffic is awful, a 45 minute drive won't get you very far unless you work some really odd hours. Which I did when I lived in Cambridge and worked in Newton.

The area has some wonderful relatively close in suburbs - well they were wonderful then and probably still are, but you may not be able to afford them. Like Newton, Watertown or Arlington. The genuinely close ones that are nice you cannot afford, period, unless you accept living in a small space - like say Brookline. (In this case working in Cambridge is IMO better than working in Boston proper in terms of commuting in by car.)

There are pretty nice towns farther out that are more affordable but they're *far*. I know folks who've settled in places like Millis and Grafton and they're very pleasant but it really limits where you can work.

25 or so years ago I had friends who were keen on living in NH, everybody wanted to buy an old farmhouse on a couple of acres. If you can handle the commute or work remote that's a fine plan but know that everybody in MA with enough money and work flexibility has been doing the same for decades so you're not going to find any bargains anymore. In fact you'll be a cliche.

Thanks for telling us your budget. Commute and school system are big pieces of the puzzle in the greater Boston area. Understanding the roads you will have to take to get to where you need to go, or the public transportation options (I took the commuter rail for years because it worked well for me) are critical to deciding what your price will get you. If you had said $400k to have a decent commute to Cambridge from a nice home in a nice neighborhood, you were pretty much screwed.

As others have said, WHERE the job is located is very important to being able to understand what the commute will look like, and what towns will be better for you.

Traffic in the area at rush hour is ferocious, as is parking.

Those of us who know Boston can help (although my info is 20 years out of date) if we can understand what you want for living conditions and space, and where in Cambridge you will be working. Traffic and hassle varies wildly by area in Boston.

For example, 850 square foot condos, 1 bedroom 1 bath, in Cambridge proper are going for $750k.

Price and commute are hyper localized in Boston, and the more information you can give us, the better we can do for you.

I think you need to understand the Highway system around Boston and the commuter Rail System---the T.

Here's the overview of the highway that encircles Boston.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Route_128

The commuter rail system is mostly above ground unlike NYC. All of the T lines extend out from Boston like spokes on a wheel. Commuter parking lots are at the ends of the spokes to provide parking.
https://www.mbta.com/schedules/subway

Rush hour into Boston is as bad as it gets.

A solid 2 hrs to go 55 miles.
Gridlock on every road in. Same thing to look forward to on the way out as well.

Bob

^^^Truth....If you'll be working in Cambridge, the commute will SUCK Big Time, regardless of where you live!

quote:

Originally posted by rbert0005:
Rush hour into Boston is as bad as it gets.

A solid 2 hrs to go 55 miles.
Gridlock on every road in. Same thing to look forward to on the way out as well.

Bob

A bunch of us at my last job in MA used to work like 11am to 9pm to make commuting bearable.

Way back it was a fairly new thing.... during certain hours on certain roads it's legal to use the shoulder as a traffic lane, traffic is so bad.

If you are considering NH, look in the Seacoast area. I have found the 95 commute better than the 93 corridor. It used to take about 1:45 to get into the city when I commuted. There are also commuter bus and rail options.

I have lived in downtown Boston and the suburbs. You couldn’t pay me enough to move back to MA.

NH for basically my entire life. Lots of people commute to the Boston area but live here. Basically anywhere south of NH route 101 and east of I93 is the sweet spot. The commute down I95 will be better than I93. Houses are expensive and property tax can be soul crushing but no sales or income tax, for now the gun laws are among the best in the nation though that is always hanging on by a thread since this state has been polluted by trash from the blue states tired of that shit but voting for the same morons. Most of the schools in the southeast part of the state are pretty good. Some of the smaller communities only have through 8th grade and send their teens to a regional high school. I don't have kids but have a few friends with kids who live in Kingston/Fremont which sends kids to Sanborn high school and they all seem happy with it. Exeter school system is supposed to be top notch and if you have the means, Phillips-Exeter Academy is legit world class. Former co-worker used to run a furniture store that outfitted their dorms and he met world leaders, govt big wigs, celebrities and such all dropping off their kids for school there.

NH has a somewhat strict vehicle inspection system. Emissions is computer scan only. Most common things that a new resident will get bagged for would be stuff like tint or tinted license plate frames. Inspections are done by regular shops and dealers so there is no consistency.

NH is generally voted one of the safest states in the nation. Manchester and Nashua are our biggest cities and they have some bad spots but they're quite obvious and with your budget you won't be looking in those neighborhoods anyhow.

To get on the I95 commute I'd check out towns like Sandown, Danville, Hampsted, Atkinson, Newton, Kingston, Kensington and Stratham. Newfields and Newmarket are getting a bit further from the highway but are nice too. These are all bedroom communities with not much in them for way of stores and such. Exeter is right in this area too and has a nice downtown and Hampton (I work here) is on the ocean. Rye and Greenland are in the area too but those are big money houses.