Tom

Waltham is in the final stages of a $150-$200 million school rebuilding program of all of its elementary schools as well as three middle schools. This ambitious project required careful staging/phasing and temporary relocations. To wit: after the Northeast Elementary School (at 40 Putney Lane) was rebuilt on adjacent woodlands, students from MacArthur Elementary School were temporarily "moved" into the original Northeast building. This allowed the aging MacArthur building to be demolished and rebuilt. - Wed May 28 2008, 15:32

You may wish to consider the historic, affluent Piety Corner neighborhood, sometimes known as "The Lanes" because the narrow, winding streets are, in fact, lanes. Generally, this neighborhood includes Greenwood, Clark, Lura, and Worcester Lanes off of upper Bacon Street as well as several residential streets and cul-de-sacs off of Totten Pond Road, Lexington Street, lower Lincoln Street and Curve Street.

Piety Corner contains many of Waltham's most historic houses, some dating to the 1700s. Many lots are heavily wooded as the elevation rises toward Prospect Hill Park. Moreover, the neighborhood is very convenient to Route 128 via Totten Pond Road. Beyond its origins as one of Waltham's 'country manor' neighborhoods, there are a variety of housing styles, with Colonials, Victorians and newer, post-war suburban tract homes on lots of varying sizes. Prices vary, but are generally in the $500,000 to $800,000 range.

It is the neighborhood I grew up in, and even today--living in Washington, D.C. for 23 years after graduate school--I treasure the narrow, quiet streets, the nearby woodlands of Prospect Hill Park, and the stately, historic homes. - Mon Apr 21 2008, 18:50