Fellow FTers,

I am considering a job that would require relocation to Boston. I lived in the metro NYC area for a dozen years, and am currently living the the metro D.C. area. I have been to Boston a few times, but have spent little to no time in the suburbs and never had to consider where to live in the metro Boston area.

I know that housing will be pricey. Probably more along the lines of metro NYC than metro D.C. My children currently attend private Catholic school, and I know that there will be no shortage of similar schools in the Boston area.

I would appreciate any information/advice folks are willing to share on the area, like towns we should consider for living. Quality of the schools is important, but, since I anticipate that my kids will continue with Catholic school, I'd be more interested in some recommendations on that front. I would prefer to live within a 3 mile radius of a recommended church/school, as our lives tend to revolve around that community based on academics and extracurricular activities.

I would also like to live in close proximity to a subway or commuter rail line, mirroring my experience in metro NYC. I took Metro North for my daily commute and, while it was not cheap, I found it civilized and convenient. I drove to my job in northern VA, and, while that has some advantages, I would rather not try to fight Boston traffic any more than necessary.

What should I expect to pay for a reasonably updated/maintained 3 bedroom/2 bath house within a 45 minute commute of downtown Boston? I've looked at realtor.com and Redfin, but it's somewhat iterative to try to evaluate neighborhoods when I know nothing about the demographics or the access to public transportation or where the better schools are located.

If any of our Boston representatives can chime in, or would be willing to PM me, or, better yet, would volunteer 10 minutes of their time on the phone so I could ask some questions, I would appreciate the help.

I am optimistic that the last round of interviews will go well and that I'll be getting an offer very soon. If those two things happen, I will likely have to respond fairly quickly.

Last thing to add: my wife and I are planning to make a trip to the area to explore a lot of these things in more detail and in person, but it would really help to "narrow things down" if we could get some recommendations from folks who live there or have lived there, especially any 40-somethings with middle- and/or high school aged kids.

Thanks in advance for the ideas/suggestions/referrals.