997at

Well guys it looks like I'll be making the move from the SF Bay Area to the Boston area. I'm still undecided as to whether or not to drive the 911 year round........I like the idea but I'm afraid of the damage potential. I'm hoping there's a bunch of fellow 911 addicts out there. BTW, we've been looking at neighborhoods and have targeted Wellesley, Weston, and Newton. Our main concern is good schools for the kids.......anyone out there have any advice on these areas, or other places we should look?

Sorry for the double post..........can't figure out how to delete one of them.

uzj100

Coochas can probably offer some ideas?

kev_song

All are great towns. They all have their pros and cons, but all have great schools. Lexington is also another great town. I'm a real estate broker and a Porsche nut as well. If you're looking to buy a place in the area, pm me. I can definitely help you out.

Edgy01

I lived out there for many years. Wellesley is nice. I lived in Concord and Lexington. DEFINITELY check out the traffic between the office and any potential homesite DURING RUSH HOUR before you sign the dotted line. I found the Boston drivers to be a cross between Italian drivers and Arab drivers. There are many Porsches in the area. I was with the Nor'easter Region of the PCA when there. I felt it was a bit snobby and impersonal because of the size of the region, but they can turn you on to where to go for service. (Jerry Pelligrino used to work on my 911 turbo in Natick). When there is no snow on the ground and nothing on its way you can still enjoy the P-car in the winter. Since Mass. is in the serious snow belt that area is prepared for snow removal. You will never find better. BUT, the stuff they use on the roads will take a toll on the stuff on the bottom of the car--it's unavoidable. Figure on needing new parts on the bottom of the car (e.g., headers) in six years. Fasteners will take a hit. I tried not to drive mine in the winter, and resorted to garaging it during the worst winters. There are many beautiful cars in New England, but they only come out in late Spring. Do not take your snow tires off until after the 15th of May--otherwise you may wish you hadn't.

Franklin229

+1.
If you are concerned with the wear and tear of salt and rock chips and you might consider a winter car, SUV, etc. Save the Porsche for fair weather. Jerry at EPE is also one of the best indies around.

Marine Blue

+2 on getting a car dedicated to winter use.

Moving from SF to Boston will be a big change. Roads around the area although well maintained take a beating and are covered with potholes within a year so it's never nice. The salt and sand they use will not only corrode the undercarriage parts it will also sand blast the rocker panels and the front end of the car. Definitely get a clear bra if you don't have one yet. Rick Rack does very nice work and is about 30 minutes North of Boston.

As far as the Porsche contingent, I personally don't think it will ever match anything I remember seeing in CA when I lived there. It is somewhat snobby and if you don't track your car I wouldn't expect to much from PCA unless your willing to travel to NH, CT or NJ. There are however some great Porsche nuts out this way and many meet up on a regular basis. Cars and Coffee events and similar low key car shows happen nearly every weekend during the summer so you can definitely find something car related when the weather is nice. Winter's another story, best to find a winter hobby.

Good luck with the move and PM me if you have any additional questions.

mickfluff

If you don't mind being a bit further out and like rural check out Harvard Ma, top rated public school system... safe, nice homes, great out door activities etc... that is if your willing to be a bit outside more like 30-40 min to Cambridge etc... Concord Ma is closer and also very very nice (nice downtown, lot of history, very new england, etc...) and also Lincoln Ma is very nice....

If you want to be near the water None of these nor the other spots people mentioned are right... try Newburyport Ma

We have some Porsche people in the area...no worries.

and yes you will need a winter RIG....

utkinpol

>Wellesley, Weston, and Newton

it all is easy enough to do if you have 1mln+ cash to buy a nice property. price depends mostly of how close you want to be to the city. brookline is also very nice town but it can get really expensive.
all in all _anything_ nice withing route 95 ring will cost quite a pretty penny. and chances to get a decent yard and 2 car garage in a house that costs less than 1-1.5mil are slim.

plus from my own experience - to shop for a nice house takes years as no one sells anything good now. most houses on the market are junk. we shop all the time in newton area but, well, it takes a lot of time as we do not have 3mln cash to buy right away the non-compromise property. if you want to find a good 3-4 bedroom on in 700-800K area in good location away from roads and without condos/junk nearby - it will take some time. so, rent and give it some time. and drive around a lot.

as of street beater for winter - i think it is a given that you`ll need an another vehicle when it gets totally wiped out during snow storm. on that note - be aware when shopping how far is your driveaway from public road and how they get it cleaned. if you get a house with a 1/4 mile long private driveway you may not like it very much when you get dumped with 2-3ft of show over weekend.

PS. check for local 'environmental' things. like old radioactive site in west concord, chemical issues in woburn. a lot of places do have 'protected wetlands' around - means flood when it rains and tons of mosquitoes.
cambridge now has bad schools and too many lumpens. newton/brookline is the only good spot close to city. lexington is also nice but chestnut hill area is imho better.

if you want to extend you look to 495 circle - Dover, Sharon, wellesley/needham are good.

stay as much away a you can from all local ****holes:
http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ma/crime/

billerica, concord, sudbury/wayland area is where mosquitos breed.

utkinpol

c`mon, most people are fine. but it depends of level of expectations. plus there is SCDA, NASA, SCCA...
whole NE is snobby but trust me overall it is much better here than in 'real' southern states. or i would not live here.

vexed

I am a product of the Newton public schools, they were excellent then and reported to still be top notch. Weston and Wellesley are also fine. My parents now live in Concord MA, less urban than Newton and very pretty. I can't comment on the schools there since we were all grown up when they moved out of Newton.

Harvard MA is very nice from what I remember, the northwest burbs, Lexington, Concord etc are nice, Route 2 is crowded at rush hour but the traffic there is nuts.

The nice thing is Cape Cod is a easy drive if you like the beach.

utkinpol

if you want to be 'near the water' - you need a primary home in nice town within 495 loop and a summer house on a cape cod. do not mix those.
you do not want to be 'close to the water' when weather turns ugly.

Jake951

If you want to drive through the winter, it can be done. I see a few people doing it. Good winter tires are a must. However, in the Boston area I would say 90% to 95% of the Porsche's go into hibernation for the winter. I will drive mine but only on days when the roads are dry and clean.

Yes, housing prices are high, but if you're coming from the SF Bay area, you won't be shocked. If anything, it's less expensive here, particularly as you move further away from the city. If you want land and privacy, look beyond Rte. 95, even out to Rte. 495.

Marine Blue

I'm just comparing it to the car culture I experienced in SoCal and yes it is somewhat snobby in comparison. But I agree, it's not bad and certainly not annoying, it's just the NE mentality.

Matt(inMA)

997at,

Where you look really will depend on where you are going to be working. Plenty of nice towns with great schools - you'll just want a manageble commute so you can actually see your kids

There are a bunch of us Porsche nuts but we don't seem to ever do much together for some reason...

Best,

Matt

larrytrk

Check out Needham, also. Keep in mind any commute on 128(95) sucks!
Hi Matt!