Braintree

Overhung by shady trees, Braintree Highlands is a popular suburb for those seeking a peaceful home life outside of the Boston area. Streets lined by narrow residential sidewalks and a hodgepodge of home styles and sizes make up most of the area, with a handful of spacious, forested parks adding to the calm, verdant ambiance. With access to business hubs a few miles further north within Braintree and a 16-mile commute into downtown Boston, residents are well-connected to the Boston area’s amenities without all the noise. Neatly landscaped green lawns shaded by mature trees host houses of different shapes, sizes, and price ranges in the Braintree Highlands area. On some streets, 1,300- to 1,500-square-foot split level and ranch-style houses built in the 1960s make up much of the market, going for $550,000 to $750,000. Sprawling custom builds erected over the past couple of decades and renovated colonial revivals on larger lots sell at higher prices, typically from $1 million to $1.4 million. “People like living here because the houses are newer and on nicer sized lots than other suburbs around Boston,” says Michael Marella, an owner and broker at Century 21 Marella Realty with 37 years of experience in the South Shore area. Neighbors make use of their lawns differently, with some erecting private, fenced-in entertainment spaces in their backyards and others opting to install a swimming pool. Natural beauty abounds in Braintree Highlands' various parks. Children climb the jungle gym and run across an expansive grassy lawn at the Braintree Highlands Community Playground. Hikers cross footbridges over Cranberry Brook on forested trails in Braintree Town Forest’s 130 acres of protected woodlands, and more wooded paths provide tranquil pondside views in the Cranberry Pond Conservation Area. The Braintree Public School District is a big draw for families seeking quality public education. Highlands Elementary School is within Braintree Highlands and scores an A-minus on Niche. Students leave Braintree Highlands to attend South Middle School and Braintree High School, which earn an A-minus and B-plus respectively. The Braintree High School Athletic Program is comprised of 18 sports across 76 teams and provides students with crucial time to develop their athletic, leadership, and social skills beyond the classroom. On a campus south off Washington Street, the Cambridge Arts, Technology & Science Academy in Boston is a private boarding and day high school which earns an A-plus on Niche. Living in a largely residential area, Braintree Highlands locals don’t shop and dine in their neighborhood. Highland Grill and Pizzeria is a nearby source for delivered pizza and wings, but sit-down options are a few miles north. “Braintree Highlands is away from the traffic of Braintree, but you still go to the plazas up there to shop and eat,” says Marella. Cielo Mexican Restaurant is a popular spot for tacos, margs, and a lively atmosphere about a mile north of Braintree Highlands. For daily essentials residents typically drive 2 miles up Washington Street to strip malls further north in Braintree. Shaw’s and Marshalls are a few of the big box options found in the area. For youth team players and amateur enthusiasts alike, the Thayer Sports Center provides an ice rink and court space for hockey, pickleball, and basketball players to utilize just to the north of Braintree Highlands. Community members of all ages can get their creative juices flowing during art classes at the Braintree Community Arts Center. Down the street, the Church of Abundant Life is the only house of worship in the neighborhood. Washington Street bisects Braintree Highlands and is many commuters’ entry point to the 16-mile journey into Boston via I-93. Most residents rely on cars, but a handful of MBTA bus stops line Washington Street, and the Braintree MBTA Light Rail Station is just two miles away.

Just south of downtown Boston, the East Braintree neighborhood has had a long and storied history, with famous figures like John Adams and John Hancock born less than a mile from the neighborhood. The Boston area then seemed to grow and evolve while still maintaining a close connection to the historic area. This created both nearby shopping and dining just a short distance from the oak-lined streets of this residential neighborhood, helping it stand the test of time and become a staple in Massachusetts. “Location is paramount in Braintree; you can’t get much better anywhere else,” says Erin Matlack, a former Braintree resident and Realtor with LAER Realty Partners who has been serving the area for over five years. “The area is affluent due to its location but not as expensive as other parts of Braintree.” Due to East Braintree's size and location, there is a variety of housing for homebuyers to choose from. Historic Colonial Revivals, Cape Cods, bungalows and split-level houses are the most common styles throughout the neighborhood. Homes often have private backyards and neatly manicured front yards with plenty of space for driveways and street parking along the narrow, older streets. Newer homes tend to have garages for additional storage, and many homeowners have had added in-ground pools. Prices for homes can range from around $450,000 to $1.1 million. East Braintree’s location is considered ideal because it’s “situated at the bottom of the expressway,” Matlack says. This area is where the expressway splits into two, making access to downtown Boston or The Cape a simple feat. For those who do not wish to drive, the neighborhood’s location is less than 3 miles from the East Braintree/Weymouth Landing commuter rail line and Braintree T station. The community is also considered “absolutely walkable,” Matlack says. “There are lots of dog walkers around the area.” For trips outside of Boston, Logan International Airport is 16 miles north, which is about a 30 minute drive. Braintree Public Schools serves the neighborhood's students and its “schools are widely known for being superior,” Matlack says. Students can start their education either at Morrison Elementary School, which receives an A-minus rating on Niche, or at Donald Ross Elementary School, which earns a B rating. The schools then converge, and students continue on to East Middle School, which receives an A-minus rating, and then finish up at the B-plus rated Braintree High School. Locals can also choose private school options such as the A-plus rated Thayer Academy, one of the top 10 private high schools in Norfolk County. True to its name, Pond Meadow Park provides a wide variety of meadows and a 20-acre pond. Naturalists delight in fishing, hiking, camping and canoeing along the water, and joggers and bikers can make use of the over 2-mile-long paved bike path. To many locals, it is “a favorite dog walking place,” Matlack says. “In fact, I was just there a couple of days ago.” Splashers and sluggers alike can find a whole day’s worth of fun at Watson Park, home to the East Braintree Little League program and a new splash pad to help beat the summer heat right along the Weymouth Fore River. The park is only for residents and their guests and “is definitely the place to go,” Matlack says. While East Braintree is almost entirely a residential neighborhood, there are still some spots for those looking to dine out. Spazio Restaurant and Bar is centrally located in Braintree, and “has been there for a long time,” Matlack says. The deep green accents inside allow customers to relax in the low lighting as they enjoy a variety of dishes with Mediterranean and Italian inspiration. Residents are a short distance from Walmart and H Mart as well as additional shopping at popular malls like Southshore Plaza Mall and Derby Street Shops. East Braintree has quick access to a wide variety of seasonal and year-round events for locals to enjoy. Braintree’s 4th of July Celebration is one of the town’s larger events and features an entire day’s worth of excitement, including a parade and festival, live music and 14 different food vendors. History buffs can enjoy year-round education at Adams National Historical Park, which is the birthplace of both John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Residents yearning for the water can join the Metropolitan Yacht Club on the eastern end of the neighborhood, which has been a part of the community since 1947. With both Massachusetts and Boston being famous in the medical fields, the location of East Braintree offers a wide variety of hospitals and healthcare facilities. Both Southshore Hospital and Arius Health Braintree are two local options, and more specialized and intensive medical facilities are available in downtown Boston.

Welcome to the end of the line – at least, the end of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s red line. The subway line ends in the town of Braintree, meaning the suburb is as far south as you can live from Boston while retaining rail access to the big city. The town’s neighborhood of North Braintree is tucked between Interstate 93 and Braintree Station, so residents have two direct routes to cover the 10-mile trip to downtown Boston. Meanwhile, North Braintree residents get to enjoy an amenity-rich suburb of 38,000 people. Those amenities are highlighted by South Shore Plaza, a 200-store mall that’s the retail anchor of North Braintree. It’s not just a spot to browse for outfits, shoes and toys; the mall contains a Target, so you can pick up groceries while you’re there. The mall also includes cafes and ice cream shops, but South Shore Plaza isn’t the only place to grab a bite in North Braintree. Less than a mile west sits 110 Grill, where waits for tables aren’t uncommon, and the hamburgers are layered with smashed tater tots and caramelized onions. Follow up dinner at 110 Grill with drinks across the street at Widowmaker Brewing, or turn the meal into dinner-and-a-movie night by catching a flick at the AMC cinema next door. “There’s just a lot of stuff in the town in terms of what people need,” says Compass Realtor Nick Rivers, who grew up in Braintree. Between the mall and the train station are a couple thousand houses, mostly ranch homes and Cape Cod-style houses separated from nearby neighbors with tight, fenced yards. Although Rivers says there isn’t much new development in the residential market, he adds that homeowners frequently expand their properties. “I’ve seen a good number of ranch homes and small Cape Cods being built up into bigger homes. There is a lot of adding but not a ton of new construction.” Two-bedroom condos and single-family houses may be on the market in the $500,000s, but four-bedroom homes often sell for $1 million or more. “We’re seeing more seven-figure houses than I thought I’d ever see in this town,” Rivers says. Homes here sell in an average of two weeks, so house hunters should expect a fast-paced, competitive market. Braintree Public Schools earns a Niche grade of B-plus, and Rivers explains that local schools are a draw for the community. Prior to fifth grade, most students stay in the neighborhood to attend Hollis Elementary School. At the school, which gets a Niche grade of A-minus, kids learn high-tech topics like computer science. From fifth through eighth grade, kids head a mile outside the neighborhood to East Braintree to take classes at East Middle School; not only does the school earn an A-minus from Niche, but the campus was renovated in 2019, adding a 3D printer lab and expanding the media center. The town’s high school, Braintree High, stands less than a mile outside the neighborhood in South Braintree. The B-plus-rated high school boasts a comprehensive arts program, with students pursuing pathways in animation, fashion and more. Parents who pick up their little ones from Hollis Elementary and find the kiddos still have energy to burn can drive less than 2 miles east of the school to Penniman Park. There they can slide, swing and climb on the playground. Of course, residents of any age can enjoy the park’s basketball court or softball field. Though the 3.5-acre park hugs Route 3, a cluster of pine and maple trees blocks views of cars and concrete. Back by Hollis Elementary is Daughraty Gym, where local youth can enroll in summer clinics to sharpen their athletic and artistic skills. Those who need easy access to Boston but want a suburban lifestyle with plenty of creature comforts should keep North Braintree on their minds.

With a mix of retail hubs, highly-rated schools and quiet residential streets, the neighborhood of South Braintree is a popular destination for folks looking to make the 13-mile move out of Boston and into the South Shore suburbs. Once the site of a shocking robbery that led to the infamous national headline-making Sacco and Vanzetti criminal trial in 1920, South Braintree is today a peaceful community that, according to Kris Conrad-LaRue, an associate broker with Success! Real Estate, "has something for everyone." Born and raised in Braintree, Conrad-LaRue describes the area as "a great suburban town with a lot of history and things to do," where people put down roots and really care about their community. "It's a great place to grow up and make memories. People who grew up there tend to stay, or if they do move away, they tend to come back. It's very community-based." Along South Braintree's quiet, sidewalk-lined streets sits a selection of home options, including modern townhomes and condos, as well as charming single-family houses built from the 1920s to the early 2000s, including Cape Cods, colonials, bungalows, and ranch-style homes. "South Braintree has a larger amount of newer homes and subdivisions than East Braintree," Conrad-LaRue says. "And most of the newer single-family homes are three to four-bed colonials with a two-car garage." Home sizes range from 700 to 5,300 square feet, and prices span between $240,000 and $1.2 million. Area youngsters attend Braintree Public Schools, including Liberty Elementary for kindergarten through fourth grade and South Middle for grades five through eight, both schools earning an A-minus rating from Niche. After South Middle, students move to Braintree High, rated a B-plus and a member of the National Art Honor Society. "The education people get out of Braintree schools has always been very good," Conrad-LaRue says. "People really like the school system." South Braintree offers plenty of opportunities to get close to nature. There's the 84-acre Cedar Swamp Conservation area - the first location in Massachusetts to be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern - which is not only a wildlife habitat but also an excellent spot for hiking and canoeing. The Braintree Town Forest is another peaceful hiking spot, with 130 acres of picturesque woodland with natural trails. French's Common, a smaller bit of green space next to Braintree Town Hall, is more about playing than hiking with its playground, tennis and basketball courts, baseball diamond and shady picnic spots. For indoor recreation, there's the Thayer Sports Center, a multi-use facility with tennis, pickleball, volleyball and hockey areas. Home to the Militia Hockey Club, Thayer Sports Center hosts youth hockey tournaments throughout the season. Those who prefer a club and ball over a stick and a puck can book a tee time at the Braintree Municipal Golf Course or some practice time on one of their golf simulators. South Braintree's convenient amenities continue with the Pearl Plaza and Ivory Plaza shopping centers, which feature numerous stores, like Shaw's Grocery, TJ Maxx, Best Buy, Michael's and Nordstrom Rack. In addition, South Braintree is only 2 miles from South Shore Plaza, a large indoor mall featuring over 200 brand-name stores, including Macy's, Nordstrom and Target. South Braintree also features a mix of locally owned restaurants, including Campanale's, which has served classic Italian food in a cozy, old-school trattoria-style interior for nearly 60 years. Southside Tavern, a local hotspot, is a modern pub with American-style eats and signature cocktails. A favorite coffee shop is The Casual Cup Cafe, beloved for its massive list of coffee flavors and delicious sandwiches and pastries. Finally, for a sweet treat, there's Daddy's Dairy, an ice cream shop with over 80 hard and soft-serve flavors. With South Braintree minutes from Interstate 93 and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Braintree light rail station, residents have options for commuting into Boston. "On a good day, you can get into Boston fairly quickly," Conrad-LaRue says. "But there's so much in South Braintree, you don't really have to leave." South Braintree features a mix of classic small-town-style events and fun annual festivals. At the Thayer Library, established in 1870, folks can attend Scrabble tournaments and book clubs, while kids can participate in one of their many craft workshops. Southside Tavern holds trivia nights every Tuesday, and the Braintree Craft and Vendor Market hosts multiple fairs and markets throughout the holiday season, which feature crafts and home goods from local vendors. The Braintree Greek Festival is a lively annual celebration of Greek culture, with abundant food, drink, and traditional music and dancing, that draws visitors from all over the South Shore.