It's Boxborough, not Foxborough!
When I tell people that I live in Boxborough, they’d go “ohhh where the Patriots are!”.
Nope. Sorry, not Foxborough.
Boxborough… you know, south of Tyngsborough, north of Southborough, Westborough, Marlborough, and also, north of Northborough?
Here, I’ll save you a Google search:
You may have passed it en route to the I-495, and gotten out of town before you realized that you have visited Boxborough.
It’s ok, it’s a hidden treasure, and we love it this way.
Here are five reasons why I love my town.
#1 Plugged into nature: trails and wildlife
I’m not sure I’ve come across a Thickly Settled sign in my town. But if you’re thinking that development will change that density (or lack of), you’re likely to be wrong there. Boxborough residents are adamant about keeping the rural character of town - and for good reasons.
We are grateful for our trails. All 25 miles of them.
You could click here for a map of Boxborough’s trails. I’ve got one printed out at home and stuck on my door in the warmer months.
There are conservation trails, paved ones, and handi-capped-accessible ones. There are those that are amidst wetlands, and others that have paths flanked by fallen logs and beautiful shrubs.
I’ve not been to all of them, but here are a couple that I’ve gushed about.
Update: Read my post on Hager Trail too.
There’s a perfect trail for you out there, waiting for your discovery.
You don’t get that in the surrounding towns.
Little-known Boxborough and its rural surroundings is incredibly peaceful.
Eldridge Pond is 5th on the list of 10 Beautiful Massachusetts Lakes And Ponds With A Magical Aura About Them by Only In Your State.
Trails aside, I love that I could catch the occasional herd of deer or see their hoof prints on the snow, at my backyard. I like driving by the wetlands and spotting birds of prey perched on a branch. The cutest thing I’ve seen in my life is a family of possum crossing the road.
#2 Location
Being in real estate, I’ve only seen too many listing in my area with the descriptive phrase “Location, location, location!”. It’s an overkill, but one that is admittedly true when buying real estate.
Location is what affects your daily living. I don’t go walking on trails everyday, but I certainly go to the grocery shop, my office in Woburn, the KW office in Andover, the movies and all client meetings in between.
To be right by I-495 and Route-2 (which goes all the way to downtown Boston) is a great convenience that I value.
These are the amenities that directly impact my quality of life:
Grocery shops within a 15 minutes’ drive
Market Basket (Littleton), Wholefoods (Westford), Roche Bros (West Acton), Trader Joe’s (Acton).
For ethnic produce, there’s New Oriental Supermarket (Littleton, around the corner from Market Basket) for Chinese products and Shiva’s Super Bazaar (Acton) for Indian ones.
For incredibly curated organic produces and produce, there Debra’s Natural Gourmet (West Concord). Debra’s price tag is not for me, but they’ve got an awesome spice shelve where often I stock up on my spices.
Like to support local farms? Idylwilde Farms (Acton) has an amazing range.Movie Theatre
I like a clean theatre and O’Neil Cinemas right by Market Basket in Littleton is spanky new. To top it off, tickets are $6 on Tuesdays! Six dollars!!Commuter Rail
I don’t often take the commuter rail, but I’m always grateful for the one in South Acton, because parking in downtown Boston is a nightmare and practically daylight robbery. Yeah, if my family owns a parking garage downtown, I’ll be all set.
You might have noticed that none of the amenities that I’ve pointed out are within Boxborough. It doesn't matter does it? They are accessible within a 15 mins’ drive AND we get to keep our trails!
#3 LELWD
No, I didn’t spell lewd wrong. LELWD is an abbreviated word for Littleton Electric Light & Water Departments. They are so awesome, they deserve a full mention here instead of being a part of my amenities list above.
Why?
Because I’ve never paid more than $110 in electrical bills in a month. That’s for heat, stove, and lights. That anomaly happened at the peak of my first winter here when I was still adjusting from living at the equator to… well you know how it gets.
Take a look at the rates of comparison below.
Source: LELWD
$95.26 as compared to National Grid’s $178.91? That is a whooping 87% increase if you move to Acton.
The lowest bill I’ve paid? $16? Too insignificant to recall, but it was definitely in the tens. In full disclosure, that was in the summer when my husband and I were away for the entire month save for two days. Still! $16 to keep your house in running order!
LELWD is saving me money, all day everyday.
#4 School Systems
I don’t have children (yet), but I imagine that when I do, I’ll be staying put.
The Acton Boxborough Regional High School and R.J Grey Junior High School need no further justification for their excellence. Lucky us, Boxborough students get the attend them too!
But that’s not all.
We get Blanchard Memorial School that serves all-day Kindergarten and Grades 1 through 6th. I haven’t done research on Blanchard Memorial because I’m frankly not at that parental stage yet, but from what I’ve heard, parents are extremely satisfied with the level of education there.
There’s a correlation between the net population migration and presence of school-aged children in families.
Screenshot taken the Boxborough 2030 Masterplan
#5 The community
Reasons #1 to #4 are attractive to me, but Reason #5 makes me stay.
I feel safe. I mean, for the most part I do feel safe in the surrounding towns, but there are pockets of neighborhoods that aren’t quite the same.
I also feel very welcomed in this town, of which I don’t take for granted. I don’t feel judged for being with my husband who is of a different race, and visibly older. People pay no attention when we are together; diversity seems to overall, be celebrated.
On the second point, I did not feel the same way back in Singapore, and that’s my home country.
Ok I’ll be objective and state my dislikes about Boxborough
I don’t like that we are all on septic and well water. These systems cost money to maintain, and they cost a limb to replace or repair. A property near wetlands or a pond will cost upwards of $35,000 for complete design and installation. These costs are not going anywhere but towards the direction of Tyngsborough.
I do get annoyed that I have to go to Burlington or Natick for my shopping. Yes, there’s online shopping, but it’s also nice to take a stroll in the mall, look and touch things. In Singapore, I grew up going to malls. There’s a mall right beside the train station where I would hang out with my peers after school. When I was working, my office was literally a building above a mall- I had meals, makeup, and even McDonalds’ at my doorstep.
There are no food options. Such is suburban living, but there’s a dearth of good places to eat. I eat like there’s no tomorrow when I’m in Manhattan. Thank heavens for Oscar’s Burrito because it’s a minute from where I live, where my husband and I go for our burrito lunches at least once a week. The owner - Oscar, obviously - has got 20 years of working in the Boston fine dining scene. I recommend the Blackened Cajun Chicken burrito. What do I know about Mexican food you say? I know Oscar’s is good enough to sustain me for repeated lunches when I’m too lazy to cook. Hey, also, his restaurant is frequented by the athletes that go to the Colonial Figure Skating Club by the next building. His burrito powers Olympic-level athletes, ok?!
Wanna find out more about Boxborough?
Check out the Boxborough 2030 Masterplan here. And don’t forget to hit the trails when spring is here!