Best places to raise a family in Boston

Boston is one of the best places in the world for raising a family. Great schools, safe streets, and friendly people. All of them combine to give a child-friendly environment that is bound to help your kid develop and thrive. Therefore moving here from a more business-oriented city like NYC, can be a great idea for a young family. But, as it is with all cities, there are some differences between Boston neighborhoods in how family-friendly they are. So, let’s take a look at which are the best places to raise a family in Boston.

What makes a place family-friendly

Before we go over specific neighborhoods lets get one thing cleared up. What makes a neighborhood family-friendly? After all, if you are planning on moving your family to Boston you need to know what to look for in a neighborhood. So, here is what you should keep an eye on.

Low crime

The first and most straightforward indicator that a neighborhood is family-friendly is that it has a low degree of crime. There are multiple ways in which you can check whether a neighborhood is crime-free, and we recommend that you use as many of them as possible. You can start off by going online and seeing the crime rate of the neighborhood in the past years. In case you are moving from Baltimore, almost every Boston neighborhood is going to look safe. So make sure to compare them with other Boston neighborhoods in order to get a clear idea. Also, you can look for testimonials from people who lived there. Their experience can sometimes give you a much better picture then online statistics ever could.

Good schools

Another indicator of a family-friendly neighborhood is good schools. You don’t have to focus on your neighborhood having decent schooling at all levels. After all, if your child wants to leave Boston for college, let them. But, for grammar and middle school, you ideally want to find a neighborhood that has good ones closeby. We advise you to do this before anything else, as finding and getting into a good Boston school can be arduous.

Median home value

The last indicator we are going to mention is the median home value. Now, you might be wondering how does median home value shows whether a neighborhood is family-friendly. After all, above a certain level, shouldn’t all homes be the same. Well, it’s not that simple.

It should be obvious that you don’t want to raise your family in a neighborhood that has socio-economical issues. But, on the other hand, you don’t want to raise them in an area that has a tremendously high median home value. For some reason, the level of culture and education falls off after a certain point. A tad above average tends to be the best home value when it comes to culture and education. Those areas are in development and are mostly populated with young families.

Best neighborhoods to raise a family in Boston

Now, what we’ve done is gathered these indicators and went through numerous Boston neighborhoods. This allowed us to create a reliable list of the top neighborhoods to raise a family in Boston. Now, as it is will all things, personal preference will play a role. Therefore, we advise you to go through this list and then visit the neighborhoods before you hire Allstate Moving and Storage Maryland and move there. Only by getting the first-hand experience will you know whether a neighborhood suits you.

Lexington

Living in Lexington feels like living in a small city that is close to Boston. The whole neighborhood is quiet, safe and well maintained. Most of the people living here own their homes and there is a large degree of retirees. Public schools in Lexington are some of the highest-rated in the country. And the people of Lexington tend to be quite cultural and liberal. The only downside is that the median home value is $816,100. But there is a high variation between different homes, so you can find one for much less.

Newton

Newton is also on the expensive side when it comes to places to raise a family in Boston. But, on every other scale, it is terrific. There is a terrific school system, the cost of living is relatively low and there is plenty of job opportunities. The population is a mix between a high degree of Jewish people, some African Americans, and some Hispanics.

Sudbury

Sudbury is definitely one of the neighborhoods you want to check out. It is cheaper then Newton and Lexington and it has one of the best school systems in the country. There is a strong parent community here that is all about making Sudbury as family-friendly as possible. So, it is easy to feel that the whole neighborhood is helping your child grow into the best version of themselves.

Hopkinton

Hopkinton easily deserved a place on our list, especially when we saw how culturally diverse and friendly it is. More and more young families have moved here, which makes Hopkinton quite a family-friendly place. There are numerous beautiful open areas ideal for hiking and outdoor activities. So, if you are the type of person that would like to take your kids on adventures, Hopkinton is the neighborhood you need to check out.

Brookline

Living in Boston can be great, especially if you manage to live in a neighborhood like Brookline. As a resident of it mentioned, ” This is as close you can get to a Utopia”. Living here truly feels that you are living in the safest place in the world. Schools, public systems, local communities, all work like a well-oiled machine. The only downside, it can be quite expensive, especially when it comes to housing. So, if you plan to move here to raise a family in Boston, make sure that you have your finances in order.