need some suggestions for family friendly towns outside Boston

[brenda-sw]

Hi,

I currently live in NJ and might be relocating to MA.  Looking for towns outside Boston ( the job opportunity for DH is in Needham) that are a 30-40 min commute (driving to Needham), homes  (3-4 bedrooms, 2-3 baths)under 400K that have at least .5- 1 acre land,  GREAT schools ( I have a 4 yr and 2 yr old).,  'Low' property taxes (we are currently paying 8K per year, so anything under 5K would be great) and I would love to be in walking distance  ( if possible) to a cute town center, but would also take a town w/ no town center if I can easily drive a town or two over to get some 'city'!!!!

any suggestions?

Thanks,

Brenda

[BeantownBaby9]

You may want to look at Dedham, Walpole, Foxborough, Medfield, Hopkinton, Holliston, Ashland, and Natick.  If I were looking now, Natick would be a top choice.  Close to Needham, lots of jobs and shopping, adorable town center with  a farmers market every saturday, a local community organic farm, etc.  I think you could find what you are looking for, maybe not updated with brand new everything, but decent for 400k, maybe 5-6k for taxes

[virgo21]

I used to live in Natick and am now in Holliston.  I love Holliston... great school system, great small town feel.  I loved Natick also, but is a little more expensive for real estate.  You can get a very nice 3-4 bedroom home for 350-450K.  (My 3 bed, 2 bath was $370K - bought 3 years ago).  The property taxes are a bit higher here (but it is truly worth it for the school system).  I pay about $5600, I think?

Also, these from these two towns you can drive to Needham all back roads in about 25-35 minutes (no congested highways!).

Good luck!

[witchygrrl]

Another vote for Holliston! The school system is fantastic, and town center is REALLY cute. I live in Ashland now, and I do love it here, too, Holliston is that much nicer.

[sosurreal09]

IDK too much about Dedham besides the projects over there and I know those are rough (compared to some other projects) I would vote Holliston or Hopkinton. Natick is way too busy for my taste with that enormous mall.

[brenda-sw]

THANKS so much for all the info!

Brenda