Hey OP, if you aren't students who need to walk to school I would really open up your options. Like you're noticing, it'a super limiting to try and strictly stay to only two neighborhoods (that are only a few blocks each). If you're students that obviously changes things.

Also, I've seen some pie-in-the-sky listings in Wayland recently and I....just don't get it. It's really not worth close to 3k to live in a small strip half dominated by chains if you have other options. There are much better stretches of community in the city that aren't asking for such consistently absurd rents and I think a lot of locals would agree with me.