SO & I are moving to Boston, he’ll be working in Worcester and I in Cambridge. What neighborhoods should we consider? We’d both prefer to take public transportation but he’s open to commuting via car.

Congrats on the move and welcome to Boston! That is a tough split - there are not too many neighborhoods that come to mind. If you don’t have kids and would be open to a temporary starting place, my advice would be to pick one of those two locations as an initial place to land (they are very different from each other!) One of you would commit to 6-12 months of a long commute while you explore neighborhoods and decide what fits

If that doesn’t seem feasible, I would make some choices about what type of neighborhood you want (suburban, city, remote/smaller town), what type of property (single family, apt, condo) and how much you can spend. From there, you can narrow based on transport, length of commute, neighborhood characteristics, schools, etc. If you want to be in Boston proper, then look for places near a commuter rail line for your SO.

Maybe west Cambridge where you can take the red line and SO has “easy” access to freeway

Waltham, Natick, Framingham are the two cities that I would look for. Mostly anything on Route 9 and near the Framingham - Worcester line is what you should look at.

Source: lived in that area and took the commuter to boston

I think the burbs are your best bet with these work locations. You’d both be on commuter rail and you’d need to be close to a redline station but I think you both will have challenging commutes. Could go somewhere out in southborough, hopkinton, Westborough, Wellesley, Natick - to be on the Framingham Worcester line.

I’d suggest Auburndale or West Newton. Close enough to the D line to commute into Boston / Cambridge and close to either commuter rail to Worcester or pike to drive. It’ll leave about an hour for each of you as a commute each way. Watertown is also a great option for bus lines into Cambridge and access to the pike.

Split the difference. Natick or Ashland or Framingham. All are on the commuter rail to Worcester and all are drivable by car to Cambridge. If you both want to take public transport there really isn’t a good location. One of you will have to drive.

Not sure if you're looking to buy or rent. Cambridge is lovely but 2-bedroom condos are in the $650k+ range and a 3-br townhome likely into 7-figures. Medford is nice and easy to get to Cambridge and Boston and somewhat more affordable. However, the commute to Worcester would be, well, gnarly. Look at the Worcester Commuter Rail (www.mbta.com) and the stops along there. It terminates at South Station which is right on the Red Line and is easy to get to Cambridge from there. Framingham, Ashland, Natick are all decent from a commuting perspective but you would definitely be living in the suburbs.

Feel free to DM me if I can help. We live in Medford and have close friends near Worcester. So happy to chat about more specific options based on your preferences

Going to be tough with the SOs commute. It’s about an hour and a half on the commuter rail to Worcester from Boston and then they will need to travel from there to wherever their place is located in Worcester.

You could live in south end/ Southie and be near the red line (to get to Cambridge) and back bay or south station (commuter rail), but you may be better off living in a suburb in the metro west and splitting the difference in your commutes.

Metro west is nice suburban and most are on the commuting line. You get more for your money and you get space, and peace and quiet. We moved out the city and bought a house out in metro west. We don’t regret the decision at all. What are you looking for? It also depends on your budget. Also need to factor in the commuter rail cost per month.

Love southborough and hopkinton. Framingham has great spots but if you can do Wellesley that’s a great area too. I live outside of Worcester so I know the area pretty well, so if you’d like to DM, feel free.

If you want a social life, Boston/Cambridge is definitely better than Metrowest or Worcester. The commuter rail claims it’s only 1.5 hours Boston —> Worcester but from firsthand experience it takes about 2 hours. I say Natick is a good town for young couples looking to settle down. It’s not the city, but more and more people are moving in, there is an abundance of shopping malls and there are 2 commuter rail stops (Natick Center and West Natick) on the commuter rail which take you to Worcester or Boston. If your SO is driving to Worcester from Cambridge it’ll take 1hr and 20 or more.. from Metrowest area it’ll be around 40.

Agree with EY1; Waltham, Watertown will be close to cambridge via public transportation and easy access to highway to get to Worcester.

I live in Shrewsbury (town just east of Worcester) and commuted a good amount to Boston and Cambridge. Cambridge sucks TBH as you have to drive. Boston on the commuter rail isn’t bad but it’s definitely 1.5 hrs door to door each way and not cheap either ($23 rt plus $3 to park in grafton). That said I love Shrewsbury and the value you get for your money here but I also have a family and I’m not looking for nightlife. For you I wild to recommend any farther west than Framingham/natick, but getting to Cambridge won’t be easy from there either.

Where is your SO going to work? Umass?

I live in Wellesley walking distance to the commuter rail which is 25 min to South station and 60 min to Worcester. Depending on where in Worcester the office is that would be a good spot, as I have a few restaurants and stuff that I can walk to (obviously not the same as the city tho)

Maybe try the area near Boston landing? Access to commuter rail and busses to Harvard/Central nearby.

Safety is important to me as well and prefer to be in an area that I feel comfortable taking the T early in the AM or late at night.

Wow thank you for all the replies! I’ll have lot of research to do tonight all these new neighborhoods. We are both in our late 20’s so looking for a more lively neighborhood but also don’t want to hear students partying all weekend.
Also who knew that parking in Boston could be so expensive?! 😭
Does anyone have experience commuting on the rail to Worcester/Framingham?
From NJ so commuting to NYC is the norm here but wondering if it’s a worse experience than the NJ transit.