OT - Any Natick, MA 'Yarders here?

[DCHuskyFan]

Moving back to New England with the family after 20 years away. Anyone know the Natick, MA area? Thoughts about it?

 

[Rocktheworld]

About as 'burby as it gets. Just left Boston for work after 3 years there (1 in Cambridge, 2 in Boston proper). Had a lot of friends out in the Natick/Framingham/Ashland area. Would never want to live there personally. But hey, I'm a 25 year old with no family or big commitments. Probably not an awful place to bring a family, and it's an incredibly easy city access. Probably a 20-25 minute drive to Boston right down the Pike. Or drive to the Riverside stop out in West Newton (10 minute drive for my buddy in Ashland) and you can take the green line in.

 

[DCHuskyFan]

My new job is in Natick, at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, so living out there is preferred. The only real the I know about the area is that Natick has a nice mall, but that is mostly my wife's thing.

 

[GemParty]

My new job is in Natick, at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, so living out there is preferred. The only real the I know about the area is that Natick has a nice mall, but that is mostly my wife's thing.

Let me know, if you need a hand with buying or selling a home. Just had a closing last week for another fellow Yarder. My networks spans the whole country. Happy to help you in MA. Mike-

 

[HooperScooper]

I live out in Metrowest Boston near Natick so feel free to PM me with any questions. Natick is a nice town/city. Not upscale compared to the surrounding towns (except Framingham) but the South Natick area is the more exclusive area of Natick (Doug Flutie lives there) and feels very rural. Lots of developments with huge houses out that way. The rest of Natick is more middle/upper middle class. There is a nice downtown area and Route 9 has pretty much anything you would ever want, including the Natick Mall which is an upscale mall that was expanded a few years ago and it's huge. As an added bonus Pepe's is looking for a spot near the Framingham/Natick Route 9 area so hopefully they do that soon because the pizza out here sucks.

Do you have kids? How old are they? Are you looking for good school systems? Natick's school system is decent but not as good as many of the surrounding towns. But the daughter of a close friend of mine went to Natick public schools and is at Penn so it's certainly good enough. They have a brand new high school which is very nice. Housing prices are expensive but because Natick isn't as exclusive as most of the surrounding towns it's not too bad. You live in DC so you probably won't have sticker shock. Wayland just to the north is a very nice town with a very good school system. Sherborn, Dover and Medfield to the south are also very nice towns although the access to highways isn't great. Wellesley to the east is a very nice town that is pretty big (50,000 people) with a very nice downtown area. If you don't have kids then Framingham just to the west has some nice areas and is more affordable. The school system isn't very good and the downtown area is a little rough so that's why it's more affordable.

In terms of transportation, Natick is pretty good. The Mass Pike exit 13 is easily accessible. There is a commuter rail that goes through Natick and has 2 stops in town. It take you into Boston add goes out to Worcester also. Since you're working in Natick (I think that place is right on Route 9) that's probably not a concern.

Let me know what you are looking for and I can give you more information.

 

[Penfield]

My new job is in Natick, at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, so living out there is preferred. The only real the I know about the area is that Natick has a nice mall, but that is mostly my wife's thing.

I almost bought a house about a 2 min walk from that place a couple weeks ago. During the inspection found some fairly extensive termite damage that the seller was unwilling to do anything about so the deal fell through. Don't buy that house

 

[sledog]

You'll be real close to BC.

 

[HooperScooper]

Here's something I just saw on Wellesley. Only live there if you can afford to buy a million dollar house.

http://www.boston.com/real-estate/c...y.html?p1=feature_sec_hp#sthash.xGP0EHv9.dpbs

 

[huskypantz]

Natick is a nice town. It's not Wellesley or Weston or even Westwood, but those are nationally "elite" locations. It has a decent tax base due to its industry/retail, which keeps taxes somewhat moderate. The fact that you are working in the town is really the key - you avoid the traffic nightmares. My and my wife's jobs are south shore/south boston so metrowest is not of interest but if our jobs moved I'd definitely consider it.