Cambridge vs. Brookline — And Brookline Wins
So I’ve had a bit of a rivalry with a friend who thinks Cambridge is the best thing since sliced bread. I, on the other hand, prefer Brookline. So imagine my glee this past weekend when I opened The Boston Globe to find a direct comparison between the two cities.
The gist of the story is this: home sales and home prices plummeted in Cambridge, while home sales in Brookline declined by only half as much, and home prices increased. In Cambridge, several single-family houses sold for less than the assessed value; in Brookline, a house would have to be ravaged by fire for that to happen.
In short, Brookline is on firmer real estate footing than her sister to the north. No doubt, Brookline is wealthier, and more suburban than Cambridge. And wealthier communities, the analysts say, withstand downturns better.
But there’s more. Brookline is just a nicer place to live:
- Brookline has better schools.
- Brookline has more parks and green spaces than Cambridge.
- Brookline is more accessible by T than Cambridge, where large swaths of town (Cambridgeport, Fresh Pond and Inman Square) are largely isolated from a fast and reliable way into downtown Boston.
- Brookline has the same progressive tendencies of Cambridge, but without all the attitude.
- Brookline is urban, like Cambridge, but it’s tempered by trees and broad sidewalks.
- Brookline has better housing.
Cambridge has cachet born of its proximity to two of the world’s top universities. It’s dense, quirky and on the move. But when it comes to quality of life, the grass is greener on the Brookline side of the river.
New on the Market in Brookline, Brighton
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