I work in Newton, live in a neighboring town. One other thing it has over Needham, Wellesley, Waltham, or watertown is more public transportation. Newton has subway trains as well as the commuter rail and bus stops too. Those other towns have the bus and commuter rail but they are slower and more limited. If for instance you wanted to go to fenway park, you can avoid the $50 game day parking rates by taking the green line. Plenty of people use it for work everyday.

On top of that, Newton has more shopping, so you'll find things closer rather than having to drive to the next town over as often for clothes or restaurants. It's also the only of those with a movie theater.

So sure, as everyone says it's very expensive, but it's also very convenient. There's always a lot of stuff going on in Newton, and it's so easy to get to Boston or Cambridge, it's going to remain a desirable city for a long time.