Residents of Eastern MA....Help

[Paul]

Howdy folks,
Due to the fact that the company I work for, SNET/SBC/AT&T whoever the hell they call themselves now, sucks, I've been looking for other sources of employment. The company that has piqued my interest the most is Raytheon. They are located in Tewksbury. My wife's company has an office in Wellesley.
Basically, what I'd like to know is, where should I start looking to live? Lexington seems to be about the mid-way point between the two, but what's the market like? Any ideas on what some of the mill rates are like, assessment values? What towns in that area have the best schools? (I have a 5 yr. old)

Y'know, stuff like that. Obviously, I'm doing research, but its best to get the local's take.

Thanks!

 

[Marc]

Anywhere with in the 495 belt, and getting to be inside the 146 belt, you'll be looking at big prices. From what I've seen.


What exactly are you trained in, by the way. The company I work for has great benifits, is remarkably stable (Inc. in 1860 something) and has locations world wide.


Plus I'd get a $1000 referral bonus :wink:

www.fmglobal.com

 

[Paul]

Network Engineering. Cisco crapola.


What company do you work for, Marc?

 

[skibum1321]

Ironically enough, I work at Raytheon in beautiful Tewksbury. Drop me a PM if you want to know more about the company, etc. I could prob drop your resume too.

As for the living situation, I live in Nashua. From what I've found it is the cheapest option. I was looking for apts in Lowell, Chelmsford, etc but they were all big money for little places. Anywhere along the route 3 corridor in Mass will tend to be pretty pricey. Nashua is about a half hour from work and the drive isn't too bad except for the 495 / 3 merge. I would stay away from anywhere that you have to drive south on 93 in the morning for traffic reasons. And I would also stay clear of 128.

 

[Marc]

Network Engineering. Cisco crapola.


What company do you work for, Marc?

What exactly are you trained in, by the way. The company I work for has great benifits, is remarkably stable (Inc. in 1860 something) and has locations world wide.


Plus I'd get a $1000 referral bonus

www.fmglobal.com

Network engineering would either be a job in Norwood, MA or Johnston, RI. I'm guessing Norwood is closer to where you want to be. I'll check out the job postings.

 

[Paul]

Network Engineering. Cisco crapola.


What company do you work for, Marc?

What exactly are you trained in, by the way. The company I work for has great benifits, is remarkably stable (Inc. in 1860 something) and has locations world wide.


Plus I'd get a $1000 referral bonus

www.fmglobal.com

Network engineering would either be a job in Norwood, MA or Johnston, RI. I'm guessing Norwood is closer to where you want to be. I'll check out the job postings.

Cool, thanks. 8)

 

[Vortex]

Nice guys. I hope the networking works.

 

[kickstand]

my dad works for Raytheon in Tewksbury and does the reverse commute up 93. According to him, skibum1321 is right on by saying avoid the south commute in the morning.

Not knowing what your price range and requirements are for a new home near Tewksbury, I can tell you that there are some very afforable communities in the area. We didn't look in Tewksbury (a little far from Boston for my job), but we looked in Wilmington, Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield. All of these towns are close to the 95-93 interchange. Wilmington is very affordable, but not as nice of a community (IMHO) as Reading or Wakefield. Reading is a bit pricey and their taxes are insane. Good schools and atheletic programs, though. Lexington is great community, has great schools and is very, very expensive. You do get what you pay for, though.

 

[hammer]

my dad works for Raytheon in Tewksbury and does the reverse commute up 93. According to him, skibum1321 is right on by saying avoid the south commute in the morning.

Not knowing what your price range and requirements are for a new home near Tewksbury, I can tell you that there are some very afforable communities in the area. We didn't look in Tewksbury (a little far from Boston for my job), but we looked in Wilmington, Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield. All of these towns are close to the 95-93 interchange. Wilmington is very affordable, but not as nice of a community (IMHO) as Reading or Wakefield. Reading is a bit pricey and their taxes are insane. Good schools and atheletic programs, though. Lexington is great community, has great schools and is very, very expensive. You do get what you pay for, though.

The main problem with those towns would be Paul's wife's commute...I go Rt. 3 south to Rt. 128 north and based on what I see each day the commute on Rt. 128 south from the Wilmington area down to Wellesley would be a real pain.

I don't have any easy suggestions on this...finding an affordable but good town within easy commuting distance of both Tewksbury and Wellesley is a real challenge. One possibility may be Bedford, although I don't think it's much cheaper than Lexington nowadays...

 

[ctenidae]

I'd love to help out here, but even though I've lived in Boston for 8 years, the only town I even know the location of that's been mentioned is Reading, and that's only because 3 jobs ago had a location in Reading. Couldn't tell you how to get there, though. Well, I pretty much know where Wellesley is, too, but only because it's on Rt 9 (right?)

All things considered, it might not be a bad idea to live in Boston...

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

I own a network hardware distribution company selling CISCO IBM HP COMAPQ etc to systems integrators across the country. I'll check and see if we have any integrators we sell to up that way, they are always looking for good engineers.

 

[kickstand]

my dad works for Raytheon in Tewksbury and does the reverse commute up 93. According to him, skibum1321 is right on by saying avoid the south commute in the morning.

Not knowing what your price range and requirements are for a new home near Tewksbury, I can tell you that there are some very afforable communities in the area. We didn't look in Tewksbury (a little far from Boston for my job), but we looked in Wilmington, Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield. All of these towns are close to the 95-93 interchange. Wilmington is very affordable, but not as nice of a community (IMHO) as Reading or Wakefield. Reading is a bit pricey and their taxes are insane. Good schools and atheletic programs, though. Lexington is great community, has great schools and is very, very expensive. You do get what you pay for, though.

The main problem with those towns would be Paul's wife's commute...I go Rt. 3 south to Rt. 128 north and based on what I see each day the commute on Rt. 128 south from the Wilmington area down to Wellesley would be a real pain.

I don't have any easy suggestions on this...finding an affordable but good town within easy commuting distance of both Tewksbury and Wellesley is a real challenge. One possibility may be Bedford, although I don't think it's much cheaper than Lexington nowadays...

der......I totally missed the Wellesley thing. Disregard most of what I said.

Without looking at a map, maybe Acton? I seem to remember Acton being more reasonable than its surrounding towns. You're probably looking at something along the 495 belt.

 

[Paul]

Wow, thanks for all the replies, you guys kick ass!

 

[riverc0il]

my only comment is traffic SUCKS on in that 93/128/495 stretch. i commuted from haverhill to woburn for a few years and it was dreadful. due to a company move, i have a friend commuting from woburn to newburyport and spends way way way too much time sitting in 128 traffic. 495 belt would definitely be a better place to look for a home if you do that but then your wife would have the drive to wellesly, good luck to her. personally, i hate commuting and especially hate traffic. thankfully, i am done with both. ick, i hate those highways in that area.

 

[teachski]

What about living in the Marlborough/Hudson area? It's near 495 for your commute and not too far from Newton/Welsley either.

 

[ChileMass]

Paul - I will send you a PM about the Marlboro/Hudson area and commuting. I have been a 128/495/93/3 commuter in the electronics sector for almost 20 years, and have owned 2 houses in the Marlboro area. We'll get you taken care of.....

 

[HughK]

Surrounding Towns and Real Estate

Try this http://www.townonline.com this is the website for the Community Newspapers/Boston Herald. You can select individual communities and get the local news/ sports etc. You can also select real estate listings by town from this site. Should give better local info than trying to find things on the Globe site and you don't have to register.

For Tewksbury- Wellesley area look at the towns along Rte 27. This runs north from Natick (next to Wellesley. Or the Milford area puts you about 40 minutes (no accidents) to Tewksbury up 495 and about 30 minutes to Wellesley.

Hugh.

 

[backintoit]

My neighbor works at Raytheon and commutes from Millis. Not sure of the commute to Tewksbury but Wellesley is about 30 minutes. Someone already suggested Milford. If you like golf, check Boylston. Cyprian Keys course is very nice.

 

[Paul]

Again...Thanks everyone for the input. This has been amazingly helpful!

 

[skibum1321]

You could always look around Bolton or Stow. I don't know anything about either town except that they aren't far down 495. Either way, a town that shares it name with a ski town can't be all bad.

I would think Marlborough is way too far from Tewksbury, but that's just me. The commute would be pushing 50 minutes each way.