Keturah held our first gathering of friends at our place over the weekend. Partially a BBQ. Partially a housewarming party with a lot of kids play date flavorings (there was a bouncy house after all). We called in Sudtoberfest. Lots of people I haven’t seen in quite a long time. Some over 15 years.
Anyway, the question “Why did you decide to leave in Sudbury?” was directed my way by at least a half dozen different people. So, let’s address that.
First off, I’m thinking that the question was rooted with one of the following underlying sentiments by that individual:
- Some people who were thinking “You guys are crazy to move out here to deep suburbia. You’re an urban type who likes to catch a band playing a small club on Tuesday nights; who likes hipster, speakeasy type coffee joints; and who enjoys dining at places where you order at a counter and take a number to your table.”
- Those who are secretly wondering, “Wait, I’ve got two little kids myself that about to head off to kindergarten and maybe it’s time for me to consider a place like Sudbury”
- Surely some people wonder “You’re working exclusively from home, why aren’t you living on the Cape or even better, from Tahiti?”
As I’ve previously alluded to, it was time for us to leave California in part due to the weaker family communities out there. Or to be more diplomatic about it, weaker than what is commonly found in New England. We are here in part for the strong family oriented communities and the excellent schools systems.
We are also here partially to be near some family. Keturah has family down in Southern Massachusetts and I have family still in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Given that, it made sense for us to stay west of Boston. Our search started the day after we landed at Logan. It started with a massive list of towns from Newton all the way out to towns on the edge of 495 such as Sherborn. Eventually, we crossed off a bunch of towns and zero’d in on Sudbury and Wayland. With those 2 towns identified we pretty much tracked what was coming available via RedFin. Ultimately finding a home to our liking on Willis Road in Sudbury. We easily could have ended up in neighboring Wayland. In fact in many ways, Sudbury-Wayland feels like one big town.
Why Sudbury, specifically. Well…
- It’s awfully pretty here.
- There’s plenty of families here. Plenty of people here, but it certainly doesn’t feel overcrowded. Everyone has a decent sized lot for their house. Lots are measured in acres here. Not the 5000 sq. foot increment measurements that happen in California.
- There’s a fair amount of convenience here. And you don’t have to work overly hard to drive to the grocery store or Target. ((It’s amazing how pleasing it is to be able to drive 10 minutes to Target and only have to deal with a single traffic light.))
- Public transportation isn’t totally out of the picture. The commuter rail station in Concord is 10 minutes away. The one in Framingham is 15-20 minutes away.
- Waltham, a tech hotbed in metro Boston is about a 15 minute drive away.
- Great cycling up here.
- Our house is 15 minutes from Walden Pond. Same with downtown Concord.
- Are you noticing how everything is about 15 minutes from our house? It’s nice. Much different experience than our Half Moon Bay existence ((Of course, there’s no ocean view here.))
- The schools are amazing. Someone told me that all but 2 people from last years graduating high school class went to college.
- Lots of youth programs. In fact, what’s available for kids in this town is almost overwhelming.