free_to_muse t1_iuht7tj wrote on October 31, 2022 at 1:18 PM

I think Wilmington has been underrated. Close to I-93 so it’s easy to get into the city and north to the mountains of VT and NH. There is the Wilmington commuter rail station and Anderson RTC for train access to the city or Logan Express to the airport. Wilmington has big box stores and is close to Target, Lowes, and Market Basket which are actually in neighboring Woburn. Easy access through back roads to H-mart, Trader Joe’s and Mall in nearby Burlington. Wilmington has nice looking homes but not uppity looking like a Winchester. Also it has a small historic district which is nice to drive through:

Woburn Street Historic District https://maps.app.goo.gl/LAzWtaGhyRGp6atj7?g_st=ic

I believe the schools are decent with an upward trajectory just from what I have heard, but take that with a grain of salt.

newbl00d21 OP t1_iuhw5b4 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 1:41 PM

Yeah right now the outside-Burlington area has looked super promising so we’ll check out this town too. Looks super nice on a cursory glance. Any thoughts on Wilmington versus Lexington? Someone mentioned Lexington below

free_to_muse t1_iuhza6w wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:05 PM

Lexington is an old money town with fantastic schools. (Well are the schools really that good, or is it just that the parents are all highly skilled professionals?) In any case…housing will certainly be more expensive than Wilmington. Neighbors will all be doctors, lawyers, executives. Wilmington more likely to have tech professionals with blue collar types mixed in. If money is no object, these are the towns with the best schools/reputation that are north or northwestish of the city in rough order:

Lincoln Weston Sudbury Newton Concord Andover Carlisle Bedford Acton Boxborough Reading Westford

This ranking is based on no particular evidence, just what I have picked up over 20 yrs living around here.

newbl00d21 OP t1_iujgg71 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:03 PM

Sweet, thank you. I'm fine with the white collar or blue collar neighborhoods so I'll just check out both cities.