The Best Places to Live

When it comes to house hunting, what's on your wish list? Good schools? An easy commute? Low prices? (Insert maniacal laughter from real estate agents here.) These days, that holy triptych seems impossible to find around Boston.

"We just don't have enough land to build on, plain and simple, and because of that, the prices are outrageous," says Greater Boston Association of Realtors president Laurie Cadigan. "Most people will give up the commute or the size of the home before they'll sacrifice the quality of the town. [But] that's a tough compromise."

Well, what some might call compromising, we call defining your priorities. Sure you want low prices -- but at the cost of an hour-long commute? Is a town with pretty good schools and a welcoming committee preferable to one with high SAT scores where you don't know your neighbors?

When choosing the best towns, the real question is, Best for whom? In this age of specialization, the one-town-fits-all ideal simply doesn't exist. We took 22 different types of homebuyers and set out to find the top towns for each one. Then we read the tea leaves, cast the chicken bones, and consulted not a few real estate agents and statistics to come up with this list of Boston's best suburbs and hottest city neighborhoods (for which purposes we stretched our boundaries to encompass Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline). If you do find that one perfect town with everything, let us know. We've got a down payment ready.

The Foodie

Winner Hingham
Runners-up Arlington, Natick, Newton, Waltham

If you're going to spend a million for a waterfront tear-down, why drive half an hour up the Expressway just to have dinner? So goes the thinking in the lotus land of Hingham, which has a lineup of culinary gems to rival most second cities. Rustic Kitchen just opened its first locale outside of Greater Boston here, joining Stars on Hingham Harbor, Tosca, and Caffè Tosca -- all of which are still standing room only on weekends. On the slightly more affordable side, a stretch of abandoned storefronts along Moody Street in Waltham is being transformed into a vibrant culinary section.

THE FITNESS NUT

Winner Concord
Runners-up Bedford, Melrose, Sudbury
For the budget-minded Brockton

Thoreau may have been the father of the environmental movement, but Walden Pond's current legacy is more summer playground than natural shrine. Walden Pond State Reservation has 400 acres of land and pond, offering plenty of elbow room for hiking, cross-country skiing, and canoeing. Indoor fitness pursuits are available at any of this small town's six fitness centers, including the Thoreau Club -- a tennis and swimming emporium that is anything but Thoreauvian in scale. For a more urban workout, they don't call Brockton the "city of champions" for nothing: Gym rats here follow in the footsteps of native son Rocky Marciano as they climb into the ring at boxing clubs across the city.

The First-Time Home Buyer

Winner Whitman
Runners-up Billerica, Everett, Hanson, Maynard

Nestled on the outskirts of Brockton, Whitman has steadily improving schools, rising home prices, and a prime location halfway between Boston and South Shore beaches. Most importantly, its median home price is still under $300,000. North and west of the city, Billerica and Maynard offer similar profiles for a slightly higher mortgage payment. The biggest sleeper among the inner suburbs is Everett, which has recently seen school-test-score improvements exceeding those in most of its surrounding working-class cities.

THE NEW PARENT

Winner Newton
Runners-up Arlington, Hopkinton, Sharon
For the budget-minded Maynard

The inner suburb of Newton has not one, but 13 villages for you to maneuver your baby stroller through. It also has a bevy of family-friendly restaurants where you can park said stroller and feel like an adult again for a few minutes. Arlington has a similar feel, but adds to the equation several daycare centers situated around town. Lower-cost Maynard, meanwhile, is absorbing an influx of young residents eager to take advantage of a walkable downtown and access to acres of conservation land.

MARRIED WITH CHILDREN

Winner Acton
Runners-up Harvard, Sherborn, Winchester
For the budget-minded Chelmsford

Known to generations of children by the brontosaurus out front, Acton's Discovery Museums are suburbia's answer to Boston's Children's Museum and the Museum of Science (on a slightly smaller scale). Add to that some of the best average elementary school test scores in the state and very little crime, and this town provides the right balance of stimulation and security for your tykes. More affordable Chelmsford has shown a steady rise in its own test scores, even while its median home price has stayed at $350,000.

MARRIED WITH TEENAGERS

Winner Dover , Sherborn ( tie )
Runners-up Carlisle, Harvard
For the budget-minded Tewksbury

The adjacent towns of Dover and Sherborn share a school system and a rural character with little to distract teenagers from their studies (unless you consider sheep-tipping delinquent behavior). Perhaps that's why Dover-Sherborn Regional is always near the head of the class when it comes to MCAS scores and college acceptance rates. Tewksbury saw its own grade 10 MCAS scores rise dramatically over two years; a teen center provides after-school and summer programs.

THE EMPTY NESTER

Winner Newburyport
Runners-up Arlington, Scituate
For the budget-minded Hull, Plymouth

Who doesn't dream of retiring to the seashore? At the same time, those in the over-55 set need culture and restaurants to productively fill hours once taken up by carpools and Little League practice. Newburyport satisfies both requirements, with smaller apartments located near a downtown shopping and gallery scene and a commuter rail station that provides convenient service into the city. On the South Shore, Plymouth and Scituate both offer high-end housing developments close to thriving seaside villages, while the high-rises in Hull provide that closeness to the water at much lower prices.

THE COMMUTER

Winner Winchester
Runners-up Wayland, Wellesley, Weston
For the budget-minded Dedham

No fewer than 1 in 10 workers living in Winchester takes public transportation to work. And why not, when the commuter train takes just 20 minutes to get to North Station? But nearness to the city doesn't mean sacrificing quality of life. This leafy suburb just nine miles from Boston has big houses and plenty of open space (along with some of the area's highest home prices). The approach from the Mass. Pike and other main highways makes the western "W towns" another safe bet for easy city access, but the closest you'll get to an easy (and comparatively inexpensive) commute from the South Shore is southwestern Dedham.

THE DO-IT-YOURSELFER

Winner Lawrence
Runners-up Brockton, Plymouth, Taunton, Weymouth

After decades of being cherry-picked, most towns are lucky to have a single slab ranch left that hasn't been redone. The exceptions are the old manufacturing cities that still have farmhouse colonials ripe for renovation. Lawrence has the biggest and best selection of houses under $250,000. On the South Shore, the large cities of Brockton and Taunton and the town of Plymouth all have their gems, while Weymouth is a good choice for multifamily houses ready for condo-ization.

THE CADILLAC CONSERVATIVE

Winner Boxford
Runners-up Dover, Hamilton, Wenham
For the budget-minded East Bridgewater

If you'd rather be red than dead, the bedroom community of Boxford may be your ticket. This North Shore town's residents turned out for Bush over Kerry in a higher ratio than any other town in Greater Boston. A property tax rate of 11.6 percent and large lot sizes add to the appeal for those invested in the notion of an ownership society. Nearby Hamilton is home to the Myopia Hunt Club, where the fox-and-hound set shows off its horoughbreds, and Wenham's Gordon College is a hotbed of evangelism. Pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps types will appreciate the traditional values in patriotic East Bridgewater, which holds regular "support our troops" meetings in its town hall.

THE GRANOLA-EATING LIBERAL

Winner Lincoln
Runners-up Arlington, Newton, Watertown
For the budget-minded Chelsea

If John Kerry is looking for somewhere to retire, he might consider settling down in Lincoln, where residents voted for him by a margin of nearly three to one in November. Here, the "L" word means what it used to mean. So what if about half the homes here sold for more than $1 million last year? The town also has a highly educated population and spends -- ahem -- liberally on culture. The Democratic machine is the only game in town in more proletarian Chelsea, which has the highest percentage of registered Dems (55.5 percent) of any city in Massachusetts except Cambridge.

THE COMMUNITY BOOSTER

Winner Sharon
Runners-up Lexington, Marblehead, Westwood
For the budget-minded Raynham

It's the rare Sharonite who isn't involved with some town organization, whether it's the Cultural Council, Friends of Conservation, or the Scrabble Club. A former resort town around the shores of Lake Massapoag, Sharon renovated a hotel into a community center that offers everything from judo to swing dancing. In the past, residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a budget override that led to a new school addition, and the town's website boasts about a welcoming spirit toward new residents, who have flocked to the scores of newly constructed homes. Nearby Westwood has a town pool, two libraries, and a senior center, all in a town with fewer than 15,000 people, while the joke around Lexington is that it's only a matter of time before every new resident there runs for office.

THE CULTURE VULTURE

Winner Salem
Runners-up Concord, Newton, Waltham
For the budget-minded Lowell

If your image of Salem is the Witch Museum, this city's cultural richness might not be immediately apparent. Instead, direct your gaze to the recently renovated Peabody Essex Museum, with its collection of art and artifacts from New England and beyond. Nearby, the House of the Seven Gables offers a tie-in to the region's literary history. And, yes, every October, culture here takes on a spookier cast. A bit closer to Boston, Waltham is home to a regional theater company, the Reagle Players, and Brandeis University's underrated Rose Art Museum. The New England Quilt Museum, meanwhile, might not seem like the sexiest way to spend a Saturday, but the city of Lowell gets credit for bolstering its historical textile attractions while working to attract new artists priced out of Boston.

THE YANKEE TRADITIONALIST

Winner Westford
Runners-up Duxbury, Ipswich, Winchester
For the budget-minded Pembroke

A handful of men from Westford were among those to fight at Concord Bridge -- a fact celebrated by the town's still-active Minuteman Society in re-enactments every spring. The community is fiercely protective of its heritage, a quality represented by the number of well-preserved Colonial, Federal, and Greek Revival buildings downtown and by several annual country fairs and other events including the crowning of the "apple blossom queen" each May. On the North Shore, it's hard to throw a rock in Ipswich without hitting one of the almost 60 houses built before 1725 (and if you break an antique window, boy are you in trouble). South of Boston, Pembroke is affordable in an area that hasn't changed much since Myles Standish stepped off the Mayflower a few miles away.

THE BACK-TO-THE-LANDER

Winner Plympton
Runners-up Bolton, Harvard, West Newbury
For the budget-minded Middleborough

Farmland is a diminishing commodity in most rural communities around Boston, where you're more apt to find a Hummer than a Holstein. The tiny South Shore town of Plympton is an exception, staying true to its roots of horse farms and cranberry bogs. Almost all of the town's 39 working farms are operated by family farmers who live on them. West of the city, Harvard and Bolton offer a similar step back in time, with many old farmhouses nestled among the apple orchards and dairy farms.

THE WATER BABY

Winner Marblehead
Runners-up Duxbury, Manchester-By-The-Sea, Scituate
For the budget-minded Gloucester

Marblehead and neighboring Beverly have an ongoing dispute about which can rightfully be called "the birthplace of the American Navy." What isn't up for debate is that the seaside town of Marblehead is obsessed with the ocean, providing safe harbor for hundreds of yachts in the shadow of the waterfront mansions on Marblehead Neck. Sailing here isn't just for the rich, however: A nonprofit sailing center offers low-cost lessons for residents. Up the coast, Gloucester's famous fishing captain statue serves as a fitting symbol for the priorities of the city, which has an online harbor cam for those who can't bear to be separated for a moment from the sea.

THE HIPSTER

Winner Chelsea
Runners-up Lowell, Malden, Medford, Watertown

Once so badly mismanaged that the state had to take it over, Chelsea has emerged of late as a paradise for urban types who appreciate its low housing costs, loft-style living, and mellow vibe. They've brought with them a couple of funky cafés to add to the mix of ethnic eateries and thrift shops that make up the other two points of the hipster hat trick. Lowell has seen a similar transformation with lofts fashioned from its former mill buildings, while Medford, Malden, and Watertown have successfully attracted the scenester overflow from gentrifying Somerville.

THE MULTI-CULTURALIST

Winner Lowell
Runners-up Framingham, Lynn, Malden, Randolph

For three days every July, the Lowell Folk Festival fills the streets with Tuvan throat singers, Irish fiddlers, and more. All contribute to the ethnic makeup of a city that has done a better job walking the walk of racial diversity than most. Case in point: After two Indian students were attacked at the University of Lowell three years ago, the city responded by joining the Anti-Defamation League's "No Place for Hate" program and plastering anti-hate crime messages on the sides of its buses. South of Boston, Randolph has long been an immigrant gateway: A recent study found that more than 20 percent of its current residents were born outside the United States.

THE WEEKEND WARRIOR

Winner Stoneham
Runners-up Andover, Carlisle, North Reading
For the budget-minded Methuen

For shredders, climbers, and mountain bikers, access to the mountains come Friday night is of prime importance. Stoneham's location right on Route 93 makes the Whites just two hours away. But even on those weekends when getting away is impossible, outdoor enthusiasts can find plenty of playground in the Middlesex Fells, which takes up about one-third of the town with its hiking and biking trails. Two towns farther up the highway, North Reading and Andover, share access to the more-than-3,000-acre Harold Parker State Forest, while Methuen is so close to New Hampshire it might as well secede.

THE QUIET SEEKER

Winner Carlisle
Runners-up Berlin, Middleton, Southborough
For the budget-minded Plainville

You won't find a single traffic light on the winding wooded streets of the MetroWest suburb of Carlisle. No apartment complexes, industrial parks, or fast food restaurants, either. One of the biggest events in this town, which prides itself on its quiet atmosphere, is the Country Garden Tour, held every other year. In nearby Berlin, the rocky ledge beneath the topsoil has discouraged new housing development and helped keep the population density to a quiet 185 people per square mile. On the more affordable side, heavily forested and unpretentious Plainville proudly -- and quietly -- lives up to its name.

THE SPORTS FAN

Winner Brockton
Runners-up Acton, Boxborough, Everett, Newton

As Bostonians have been finding out more and more lately, it's one thing to be passionate about your sports teams -- it's another to be passionate about your winning sports teams. Residents of Brockton have been hearing the word "dynasty" a lot longer than the rest of us: Their football team continues to rack up championships under the leadership of new coach Peter Colombo, who replaced his legendary father, Armond (he of nine high-school Super Bowl wins in 34 years). The most recent triumph was a come-from-behind victory last year against Everett -- a town where football is just as much a way of life. Meanwhile, academic powerhouse Acton-Boxborough's successes in football, basketball, and soccer prove it's possible to excel both on and off the field.

THE BRAINIAC

Winner Wellesley
Runners-up Brookline, Cambridge, Newton
For the budget-minded Framingham

The odds of finding a Wellesley resident with at least a bachelor's degree are three to one, one of the highest ratios in the state. Many of them keep their gray matter polished by attending lectures at the eponymous women's college. Closer to the city, Brookline is the town of choice for the area's many M.D.s. Cambridge's 02138 is one of the smartest Zip codes in the nation. And Newton has highly educated residents and institutions of higher learning including Boston College and Lasell. On the other hand, graduates of Framingham State College can actually afford to live where they learned. An impressive 42 percent of residents there have bachelor's degrees -- much higher than other Boston-area working-class communities.

The Hottest City Neighborhoods

Value for money can still be found in this city's real estate market -- if you know where to look. Here are eight neighborhood ideas to start your search.

East Boston Waterfront

Now that SoWa and the Leather District have jumped the shark, downtown Boston is not exactly affordable. That is, unless you cross the harbor. Flush with state and federal money, five new residential projects are in the works to replace the public housing along East Boston's waterfront, with several smaller developments following in their wake. Among the neighborhood's advantages are unbeatable views of the skyline, a cornucopia of Latin and Italian restaurants, and new open space thanks to the completion of the Big Dig. Units are appreciating so quickly here, says Colin Lynch of ERA Boston Real Estate Group, that some professionals are using them as better investments than the stock market. "If you can get in on one of these preconstruction projects, you can put down 5 percent, and it's 6 to 12 months before you even have to think about a mortgage," Lynch says. "In all that time, it's making quite a bit of money."

East Somerville

"When I was a kid, you weren't allowed to go across the McGrath Highway," says longtime Somerville real estate agent Donald Norton of ERA the Norton Group, referring to the de facto dividing line between East Somerville and the rest of the city. The first part of town to be built, East Somerville is full of charming houses with Queen Anne and Federal architecture, many of which are being rehabbed by professionals priced out of Davis Square and other western neighborhoods. You can buy a two-family Victorian in the neighborhood for $400,000, compared to $600,000 for a cookie-cutter two-family bungalow near Davis. The area is within walking distance of the Sullivan Square T stop, and with the coming development of nearby Assembly Square, it will have even more to recommend it, including the holy grail of urban chic: a proposed IKEA store.

Fort Hill, Roxbury

The white standpipe on the site of the old Roxbury Fort soars above Highland Park like the spire of a medieval castle. What will really have you traveling back in time, though, are the prices of the homes here: You can get a smaller two-bedroom condo for $269,000, says Elisa Daley of Gibson DomainDomain. For $399,000 you can pick up a 2,000-square-foot townhouse with three floors of living space, two and a half baths, a brand-new kitchen, and garage parking. With a pleasing mix of gingerbread Victorians and South End-style townhouses (along with a smattering of new construction), this historic neighborhood has gone through many changes over the years. In the 1970s it was known as a center for hippie communes before attracting a solid black middle class in the '80s. Fort Hill continues to diversify with an influx of suburban empty nesters and city dwellers priced out of the nearby South End.

Fort Point Channel

For years, recession and legal battles have stalled development along the South Boston waterfront across from Fort Point Channel. Now, finally, with little fanfare, dreams for the neighborhood are being realized. The convention center and Silver Line T stop are open (if underused), and the new home of the Institute of Contemporary Art is under construction. Meanwhile, mixed-use loft projects are reinventing the old industrial buildings, incorporating the arts community that has lived here for decades. "People love buying in an artists' neighborhood," says real estate agent Tracy Campion of R.M. Bradley, which is the exclusive agent for the new Channel Center Street Development, a 120-unit luxury condominium development alongside 89 live-work artists' studios and a theater. "One of the things I love about this is that the artists are still staying here."

Hyde Square, Jamaica Plain

The heart of Boston's Hispanic community, Hyde Square has gone from an area plagued by gang violence to the model of a diverse and peaceful neighborhood. Most of that was due to the hard work of the people who live here, now warily eyeing a tide of new three-family condo conversions along with talk of a luxury development at the site of Blessed Sacrament Church and nearby Jackson Square. They hope affordability can be preserved even as new residents (full disclosure: including the author) move in to take advantage of condo prices averaging in the low $300,000s. Among the draws, says Imperato, is an energetic mixture of Latin culture and hip new storefronts. "You have the Milky Way Lounge there as an anchor, and boutique shops and restaurants are starting to pop in, making it a very diversified neighborhood to live in," he says. "Eventually when the MBTA makes up its mind [whether to re-establish the E Line train car to Forest Hills], you may be connected to the whole system."

Lechmere, East Cambridge

On a map, the streets around the Lechmere T stop look like a waffle iron. From the ground, the area is a mix of factories and warehouses surrounding the CambridgeSide Galleria. Look a little closer, and you'll see densely packed single-family houses on side streets with a surprisingly residential character. As more of the commercial buildings are converted into high-priced lofts, the whole tenor of the neighborhood is gradually tipping. That already has been the case with a building known as the Glass Factory (with units selling between $300,000 and $559,000) and a new conversion at One First Street across from the T stop (which will start at $395,000). In addition to the mall and the Green Line, Cambridge Street offers Portuguese bakeries, a fish market, and a new karaoke bar.

"The Point," Brookline

Is your child's education worth an extra $300K on your mortgage? That's often the dilemma faced by parents who want to stay close to the city and take advantage of the highly rated Brookline schools. Something of a compromise can be found in the former working-class section on the Jamaica Plain line once known as Whiskey Point (a not-so-kind reference to the Irish families who settled there) and now just as "the Point." The neighborhood's collection of triple-deckers and two-family houses, its relative distance from the T, and the small size of its houses help keep home prices below the stratosphere. "There's not a lot of shopping around there, and it's a longer walk to Brookline Village, so in that sense, it's not as desirable," says Hammond GMAC's Jack Enright, who recently sold a new building of condos in the low $500s here. Making up for the lack of commerce, however, Downes Field provides a virtual town common for the houses around it, and the wooded trails of the Emerald Necklace and Jamaica Pond are a short walk away.

Union Square, Allston

Allston has always been attractive to homebuyers, combining affordable prices with easy access to the city on the Green Line, even if raucous music and woozy college students traipsing the streets after midnight add less to the appeal. With homebuyers priced out of Cambridge and Brookline, however, a rise in the owner-occupancy rates has brought a new grown-up attitude to Union Square, where Brighton Avenue and Cambridge Street meet. Two new condo developments are luring buyers, while the nearby blocks are full of large Victorians with room for appreciation. "That's a good thing for people who went to school at BC or BU and decided they liked living in Allston and now wanted to live in something a little bit nicer," says Boston Realty Associates' Bob Imperato. And alums can relive their college days at the Model, Silhouette Lounge, and Twin Donuts just blocks away.