I live in Carlisle, which borders Concord. The area here is really beautiful. Carlisle has min. lot sizes of 2 acres so if you are interested in land its a good place to look. The Concord & Carlisle schools are consistently rated very highly in the state. Together, they have a regional high school (concord/carlisle reg. hs). Concord is very family oriented, has nice shops & some rest. Carlisle is also family oriented, although the neighborhood feel is a bit harder to come by due to lot sizes & street configurations. There is also no industry in Carlisle so the tax base is entirely based on property taxes. There is one general store. Other than that you need to go elsewhere for stuff. Not really a big deal. I have 5 or 6 grocery stores within 5 miles. There are also lots of farmstands & freshly grown produce around. Lots of childrens activities nearby (children's museum, butterfly place, farms with animals, music classes, sports classes, etc).
If you have specific questions, please feel free to PM me. Also, don't know what kind of house you are looking for but the house next door to me is for sale and we recently saw another colonial in pretty good shape also on sale. At the moment it is a buyers market in both Concord and Carlisle.
I have also heard mixed reviews of Acton. It is more built up and has more industry. Not quite as charming as Concord/Carlisle but not as expensive either.
