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Neighborhood Tour of Newton, Massachusetts
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Neighborhood Tour of Newton, Massachusetts
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" We're about five miles west of Boston I'm standing on the banks of the tomorrow. The river that since the 1600 served as a thoroughfare for all the outlying western settlement the come down river into Boston Harbor. Now in the 1600 settlers on both sides of the river paid their taxes and came to worship in Cambridge the home of Harvard University. Back then they'd built what they called the great bridge right on the site where today we have the Lars Anderson rich in 1654. The settlers here on the south side of the river got a little bit Fed up with making the trek all the way in to Cambridge to do their -- they also got tired of paying taxes. For the maintenance of that rich and so they decided to build their own meeting house and to create a new town which subsequently has been called. -- the -- it was settled slowly at the start families came independently and settled in a pattern of large isolated farms that. Some of the oldest houses survived today -- fifty beacon street and the old ward family farm house both restored about twenty years ago by yours truly. In an effort to give Newton -- focus the town fathers move the original meeting house in 1721. To Newton's geographical center the site where the Greek evangelical church now stands but it didn't really work. Even today Newton is a city of many villages. These villages so -- development to the railroad. Train tracks -- west from Boston in the 1840s. And by the civil war Newton had become one of the nation's first casualty unit with fully 13 of its breadwinners commuting to work in Boston. Serious development had begun as the original large farms that were sold and developed one by one. For instance John Kendrick who was the president of the New England anti slavery society in the nineteenth century lived here in this 1732. Farmhouse and when he lived here he was master of all he surveys. Just before World War I can -- land was subdivided so that this neighborhood of elegant homes could be built. Newton became one of Boston's most desirable suburban communities houses sprang up in a variety of styles colonial in Greek revival with grand classical details contrasted with brick. Shingle style with a it's a symmetrical design and shingled Kurds. -- revival mixing the use of Stucco and brick and a wide variety of other popular American style. As they're affluent congregations moved west to new churches and synagogues followed some of Boston's finest architects were retained for the jobs. Alexander ST John -- facts and George checker and the firm apart -- Richardson to name a few. Newton today's called the Garden City since serious development began here the citizens have tried to preserve its gracious rural atmosphere. Landowners along what is now commonwealth avenue actually went so far as to donate some of their property so that this busy route into Boston could be widened into -- boulevard. But traffic from even more distant western suburbs and from New York City eventually created the demand for the Massachusetts turnpike. When this leg through Newton was completed in the 1960s. It obliterated so much private property that some owners had to be compensated. This supermarket spanning the -- was one of the first air rights buildings built in the United States. After World War II the tremendous demand for more modest starter homes for the families of returning veterans sparked a change in zoning laws that make possible the development of the oak hill subdivision. -- lands that until then had been deemed on billable because it was all wetland some of Newton's first pre fabricated homes went up -- some selling for about 7800 dollars with no money down. Ended a five year period during the fifties ten new elementary schools were built in Newton to accommodate the baby -- Today with a population of more than 80000 the Garden City is still one of Boston's most desirable suburbs -- project house's in Newton Highlands another of the many villages that sprang up as Newton's remaining meadowlands were developed. It's got small town appeal with a bustling little downtown area its own train station and the benefits of Newton's excellent school system. Just a few blocks outside the village of Newton Highlands this three bedroom colonial revival house was built in 1935. Just as the demand for more affordable suburban housing was growing and lot sizes were getting smaller let's meet homeowners Lyndon Tracy Gallagher. Hi folks -- about. Great that the -- Now our first question is in what brought you to new what would you like about this location."
" We like it because it was that the proximity to Boston is great Trace and I spent a lot of time in the stadium weekend it was and had a great neighborhood feel to it there was schools that were really close to -- young kids how old are your children they're -- and -- two girls to girls and so the schools were very important factor right yet being hypocrites system so we were happy -- Company and find the house tonight. And the neighborhood is an important part of the equation very important most of the friends of around Karen can ride the bikes and lawn and."
" Walked to both of schools program schools and eventually and I schools children but. Now a few years later you've lived here for how many years -- eight years the kids are growing up in the house is a little bit too tight. Why didn't you just shop for a larger house I think it comes back ultimately bought for the fact that we'd like the neighborhood so much we did shop we looked around we've looked at alternatives we've looked at you know putting the money that we might put into an addition and when the bigger house. And it came down to the fact that we confront anything we like as much both in terms of the locations specifically in the neighborhood in general great."
