Depending on where in needham you can take 95 and then get on rt 1 / providence highway. Alas the commuter rail “can’t get there from here” because it’s a separate train line from this direction but you’re not wrong about it being cheaper here! Basically everything between bos and Pvd is solid suburbia which if that’s the vibe you want go for it. But for perspective extended fam that lives in Mansfield / Sharon drives to PVD to go out / farmers market etc. so good schools but it’s def geared towards non-urban living and not cheap.