OT - Concord MA area

[Ginger]

Hello all,
If you were going to work in the Concord MA area:
Where would you live (every town has "less than perfect" areas...I'm good with "less than perfect and somewhat eccentric/funky/alternative"...but I'd like to stay out of anywhere that might show up on a stupid Cops show...)? Is there decent mass transit in the area?
Is there good riding in the area?
Would a bike commute be a PITA?

Thanks in advance
Ginger

[obtuse]

ahm....it's concord. it doesn't really have a bad area; or a cheap area for that matter. and as an aside it probably has some of the nicest riding anywhere in the world. you better find a big bag of money though if you're thinking of moving there though.

obtuse

[Kevin]

You should send a PM to Climb. I am sure he can give you the run down.

Kevin

[keno]

I lived in Lincoln, contiguous to Concord and maybe even pricier, for 18 years. Suggest Wayland, Stowe, Carlisle, depending upon what you are looking for (house, condo, rental, purchase). Public transportation is funky in that you're talking sort of suburban, semi-rural. You have to drive to the train, which will take you to Boston and points between where you catch it and Boston. Never been on a bus, as they don't go there.

Depends on where you are commuting to. If you provide that, it would be helpful in thinking about your question.

Riding is good out there, but it ain't Hunterdon County, NJ, let alone many other places, whatever Obtuse might say. (I refer you to csb, fly,Too Tall, Smiley, to name a few, as a reference on this one.)

keno

[manet]

it's manet's birthplace

[Bruce K]

Ginger;

It's a very nice area. As has been said, very pricey.

Good riding in lots of directions (except east).

Home of Climb. :banana: :banana:

Birthplace of the American Revolution after Lexington. :banana:

You will have to deal with MA politics and MA taxes. :crap: :crap: :crap:

BK

[Grant McLean]

it's manet's birthplace

and they named a grape after it to celebrate...

g

[catulle]

and they named a grape after it to celebrate...

g


Pedro Ximénez...? :eek:

[dave thompson]

Ah yes, Chateauneuf Du Pedro Ximénez, vintage Tuesday. A very good wine!

[inGobwetrust]

ahm....it's concord. it doesn't really have a bad area; or a cheap area for that matter. and as an aside it probably has some of the nicest riding anywhere in the world. you better find a big bag of money though if you're thinking of moving there though.

obtuse



Word

[catulle]

Ah yes, Chateauneuf Du Pedro Ximénez, vintage Tuesday. A very good wine!

Great with an olive and little umbrella...! :beer:

[Kevan]

I seem to recall reading or hearing they shoot first around them parts.

[MassBiker]

You will have to deal with MA politics and MA taxes.

....and Ma$$holes! :)

[shinomaster]

YOu could live in Lexington or Concord, and spend a fortune doing so.

[stevep]

where will you be working?
what direction?
in concord or nearby?

[Ginger]

Looks like the job is in Concord. Big bags of money...yep...I wanted to scope out how much of a raise I'd need to move to the area. :rolleyes: From what I can see there are many *lovely* condos in my price range in the area...phooey.

Pipe dream is: If the job is what it says it is, I should be able to do a temp relocation until I'm settled in policies and procedures required for that office (I'm already somewhat familiar with the job...it's the same job I did before I took the job I do now only for another branch of the company), then work it from wherever I want. :D

[39cross]

Good luck with the move, Ginger. When you get out here you'll have to check out our area north o' Boston...good beaches and of course lots of fine cycling. And not too far from Concord...depending on the traffic on 128.

[beungood]

I live down in Braintree,but, am often up in the Bedford/Concord area for school and will ride 30 minutes north to catch rides there with the Charles River Wheelmen and think the area is beautiful. I don't think you'l see it on those moronic cop shows.But everyplace has it's problems.

You can commute on the Lexington Bikeway or surrounding area,it's beautiful and the perfect environement for riding.

[Bradford]

Check out Maynard. I lived there for a couple of years back in the 90s. Lower cost of living, more of a blue collar town, and it is more towards the west. I always liked the riding west of 495 the best (Harvard/Gardner area).

Concord/Lincoln/Sudbury are too pricy and too snoby for my taste.

[stevep]

you could live a little in the inner belt. waltham, belmont, arlington...these all have nice sections, are readily accessible and a pretty easy bike ride to concord... and in waltham you could homk your horn at obtuse when hes riding.
arlington heights is a nice spot...easy to ride out of.
how rural do you want?

[Ginger]

Well...I live in the metro Detroit area, but I was raised on a farm; one of those places where people who moved in 10 years ago were still "the new folks down the road."
Some people just can't take the silence...I'm good with either end of the spectrum.

Hmmm...I've met obtuse...I don't think I'd honk my horn at him when he was riding his bike, he might hurt me. :)

[Bittersweet]

We lived in Arlington for ~7 years. Great town and close to the Red Line
"T" subway stop at Alewife which is nice if you want to go into town. Bike path goes west from there for commuting. Less expensive than Concord and more city-like as well. We also lived in Somerville and Cambridge for a few years each. Road cycling is great north and west of Boston and you've seen what I'm comparing it to here in W. MA.

[Ginger]

You know...I blame this whole urge to move thing on the forum. :)

[Bill Bove]

I grew up in Framingham a short spin down the road from Concord, a person could be very happy there.

[stevep]

you need to spend some time up here pedaling your bike...
figure it out that way.

[wwtsui]

...Concord/Carlisle has some great routes for riding, and because there are so many bikers there, in my experience, the drivers are even vaguely considerate (by Boston standards).

We live a few towns south of Concord, so I don't know the specific neighborhoods in Concord or anything like that. However, we've lived in the Boston area for 20+ years, so perhaps some of the following would be useful:
1. Wherever you look, I'd verify that the commute will be acceptable to you. Some of the major roads around that area (Rte 128, Rte 2) can get pretty bad during rush hour, so you either want to be going against traffic or have a reasonable back-road alternative.
2. Public transportation in the suburbs around Boston is primarily aimed at getting people into and out of downtown Boston. Concord is served by a train line, and there are some reverse-commute trains, but the schedule is pretty sparse -- you can check it out here: http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedules_commuter_linedetail.asp?line=fitchburg
3. Don't know much about buses other than the express buses that are (again) geared towards people commuting downtown. Same website as above covers buses as well.
4. In terms of towns, here are my impressions for what they're worth -- hopefully, I won't insult anyone here...
- You have a lot of choices if you want to go more rural (and varying degrees less pricey) than Concord/Lexington: Stow, Acton, Carlisle come to mind, but depending on how far you're willing to be, there are lots and lots of others. Harvard is a bit further out, and IMO absolutely beautiful; ditto for Bolton.
- The main town that comes to mind that could be described as eclectic would be Arlington. The other option is Cambridge, though that's getting pretty far away the other direction.
- Framingham (mentioned earlier) is close to where I live, and I'd say that getting back and forth to Concord would be a bit of a pain from there during rush hour.
5. IMO, commuting by bike (assuming a decent route) would be great from about May through September, tolerable in April and October, and miserable from late November through early-March (think puddles, snow, mud, ice). You, of course, may be much hardier than I am...

Hope this is helpful -- would be happy to help you think about places to look at, show you around, provide feedback on what you're considering, whatever -- just PM me.

Oh, and -- welcome to Beantown! :banana:

[manet]

http://www.jplicks.com/about.htm

[Ti Designs]

Great, another person on the local trails with a Yo Eddy... If you're planning a trip to the area to take a look around, bring a bike and give us some notice. Most of the good group rides make a stop in Concord center before heading out to Acton or Harvard or just past Climbs house to the land of ice cream. If you happen to bring something with wider tires I know a few trails in the area as well.

As for where to live, Arlington is pretty sweet. It's just the other side of Lexington, but less expensive. I can think of 4 good ways of getting to Concord center from my house that take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes by bike - one of which is off-road. Waltham is also worth looking into. The tax rate is lower because they have industry to tax, but there are still nice places to live. Traffic in Waltham has been getting kinda ugly, but the same could be said for lots of places around here. Commuting by bike may be the best solution. Driving into Harvard square takes me 30 minutes (plus another hour to park), riding in takes me 25 minutes or less...

[Bill Bove]

Sorry Ed, one of the better aspects of living in Waltham is Frank at Spoke 'n Wheel. There are some other shops in the area that you may have heard about, Wheelworks and International but I'm a Spoke 'n Wheel guy from way back.

[shinomaster]

Arlington has changed drastically since my Mom first moved there in 1986. It used to be so blue collar and old skool, with nothing but D'agostinos Italian deli and cheesy drug stores and a movie theatre. The kids there all played hockey and used too much hairspray and bad cologne. Now it is a yuppie ville. It was also a dry town (maybe it is still?) Now there is a high end bike shop and lots of good retaurants and coffee shops. They have also redone the streets in Arlington heights. I can't believe it's the same town when I go back

[Climb01742]

there are many nice places to live near concord. concord itself is pricey. but within 30-45 min (or even less) commute are all sorts and prices of options. arlington/cambridge is more "city" like with all those pluses/minuses. someplace like stow is more country, with those pluses/minuses. boston suburbs and nearby towns offer virtually any kind of living you'd like. finding a vibe you dig won't be hard. paying for your chosen vibe is more of a challenge. riding west of boston is awesome, both road and off-road. snobbish does exist, for sure, in some towns. but as with the snobs who live anywhere (new york, LA, bloomfield hills) all you gotta do is ignor them. but ginger, when i first moved to boston years ago, i looked at a lot of towns, but then one sunny crisp october saturday i drove through concord, and saw riders out the whazzu, and saw two lane country roads out the whazzu, and i knew i'd found a place i could call home. boston/massachusetts ain't a cheap place to live but it ain't SF/SJ or LA/SoCal, either, or manhattan, for that matter. however, quality of life is very good here. boston's biggest shortcoming, IMO, is less than world class food, but i'm comparing it to NYC and LA. other than that, it's a swell place to live and a great place to ride.

[shinomaster]

Food? Remember Boston in the Late 80's? There was almost nothing to eat out, with the exception of Jaspers and Olives and Salamanders and Michaela's. Now there are Zillions of good to great restaurants. It can only improve in the future.
There is almost no where I would rather ride on a lovely fall day than around Concord. It is that beautiful.

[1centaur]

Boston is slowly, slowly, slowly becoming a world class city. The cheap Yankee ethos still runs as a strong undercurrent, but the non-native money that's filled out the western suburbs and the Back Bay is chipping that ethos away. Shopping and restaurants that are truly high end and competitive with NY, LA, Vegas and Europe are not lonely outposts anymore. That said, I imagine it's already well ahead of Detroit (although perhaps not at the governmental level; I equate our politicians with what people commonly perceive about the south; we have the worst self-congratulatory inside-favors low-rent mentality politicians I have EVER seen).

As for Concord, it's one of many lovely suburbs around Boston. Take your time, look at maps, commuting to Concord is not difficult from places that might even give you more route options.

[Ginger]

I imagine it's already well ahead of Detroit (although perhaps not at the governmental level; I equate our politicians with what people commonly perceive about the south; we have the worst self-congratulatory inside-favors low-rent mentality politicians I have EVER seen).

.

Nope. It's about the same here...Politicians have regressed a bit in Detroit. I live in a suburb directly north of Detroit. They're pretty forward thinking in my town...

I guess I'd have to learn to shop...(not much of a shopper, and when I was diagnosed Celiac, the whole foodie thing was thrown out of whack. I can't enjoy most restaurant's specialties...ah well.)

I'd just like to find good roads to ride, simple bike commuting, a farm market or two, maybe a nice trail or two, decent Thai food, and a fairly distinct lack of crack ho. (Simple wants...really.)

[wwtsui]

when I was diagnosed Celiac, the whole foodie thing was thrown out of whack
Sorry to hear that. Our kids have food allergies, so I'm familiar with that drill. For us, living near a Bread & Circus (now owned by Whole Foods and renamed) has been a huge help, so you might want to consider that as well... there are also independent natural/health food shops around, but I'm not familiar with the ones in that area.


I'd just like to find good roads to ride, simple bike commuting, a farm market or two, maybe a nice trail or two, decent Thai food, and a fairly distinct lack of crack ho. (Simple wants...really.)
Methinks you're in luck :) -- Concord and environs are among the best for the first four, and Thai food is one of the genres of ethnic food that Boston actually seems to have plenty of, and do pretty well...

[Climb01742]

there is a GREAT farmer's market in concord (a genuine one, BTW, the actual farm surrounds the market) and while there is no great thai place_in_concord, there's one nearby in wellesley, so on those points, you're covered. ;)

[1centaur]

Not incredibly well advertised is that Legal Seafoods, a locally-based chain with a fine reputation well deserved, has a celiac menu (with lots of good looking stuff I'd like to order myself - discovered it on their website).

[Tracer]

I am late to this little party, but I grew up in Concord and it is a very, very nice town. It is pricey, but they have done a good job of preserving a lot of the farms and open space that were there when I was a kid.

There are some other nice towns (less pricey) that haven't been mentioned along the interstate 495 beltway which would give you an easy commute to Concord if you don't mind being further away from Boston; Westford, Groton, Bolton, Littleton, Harvard come to mind and Maynard has gotten much nicer in the past 20 years.

When I am down visiting my rents, the bike usually comes along because the riding is NICE!

If I find a bag a $, I would take one of the beautiful horse farms on Monument street in Concord.

Enjoy.

Chris