Boston Magazine recently released its first ever ranking of top places to live in Greater Boston - and spoiler alert, our cities and towns ranked pretty well! I'm not at all surprised given how vibrant our cities and towns are.
The rankings are based on factors such as housing, safety, mobility, health, entertainment, diversity, education, and employment. Here's where our cities and towns ranked on the list of 141!
Highest Ranked: Arlington (#10)
With an overall score of 6.53 (for context, Cambridge is #1 on this list with an overall score of 7.31), Arlington was ranked highest for its safety, health and educaiton, but lowest for employment and housing. Nothing surprising about those - it's not necessarily a destination for workers, and the housing market has been hot for years!
Winchester (#18)
Ranked highest in education (according to this report), Winchester also fares well in the housing category. When I talk to other parents, those are two of the top reasons why they move to Winchester, so this tracks.
Woburn (#38)
Woburn's overall score of 5.94 (just ahead of Medford with 5.90), is highly ranked for its health, entertainment and diversity.
Medford (#40)
Medford's highest ranked categories were its housing, entertainment and diversity, which tracks! I'd love to see that educations core of 4.7 be on the higher end, but that tells me I need to pay more attention to the work happening in our local government (and regardless of where you live, you should, too!).
Burlington (#53)
Burlington's highest ranked category was entertainment at 8.4 out of 10. Tons of local businesses, from Wayside Commons and 3rd Ave to the Burlington Mall are always hosting awesome family-friendly events. And, the Burlington Recreation Center is honestly top notch, planning all kinds of actitivies and almost always offering a sensory-friendly option.
Wilmington (#63)
Wilmington's highest scores were in housing and entertainment with scores of 6.9 and 6.2, respectively. That tells me these scorers have never enjoyed Fun on the Fourth! In truth, the entertainment score was based on liquor licenses and restaurants, so Fun on the Fourth wasn't in consdieration, but maybe it should've been. 🤣
