Chelmsford
Miles from Boston 24
Population 33,858
Median house price $365,000 (January-June 2006)
Tax rate $13.12
Transportation Routes 3, 3A, 4, 27, 40, 110, Interstate 495. Member, Lowell Regional Transit Authority.
MCAS Chelmsford 10th-graders ranked 79th in English and 90th in math out of 278 systems, according to a Globe analysis of 2005 results. Third-graders ranked 35th out of 299 systems in reading. Sixth-graders ranked 207 out of 306 systems in math. Member, Nashoba Valley Technical School district.
Census facts Median family income is $82,676 compared to national rate of $50,046; 44 percent held a bachelor's degree or higher compared to national rate of 24 percent.
Website www.townofchelmsford.us
CHELMSFORD -- This town once produced swords, wool, and farm goods, but is now overwhelmingly a residential community with some 80 percent of the land devoted to housing.
An ongoing construction project, in conjunction with improvements to nearby Route 3, may finally fix traffic problems in Central Square, town leaders hope.
Voters approved a $93 million budget and have invested $31 million to upgrade school facilities. Long-term capital projects include upgrading Fire Department facilities and centralizing Department of Public Works operations, according to town records.
The town, incorporated in 1655, is flanked by the Merrimack and Concord rivers and there are ongoing efforts to recover from this season's flooding.
A citizen-run group, the Open Space Stewardship Program, was launched in 2005 to maintain open space in town at little or no cost to taxpayers. The town Conservation Commission lists 13 open-space sites, including the 45-acre Thanksgiving Ground Forest, the Lime Quarry Reservation, and a portion of the Great Brook Farm State Park.
On a recent week, Realtor.com listed 129 single-family homes, ranging from $249,000 for a two-bed, one-bath, 968-square-foot home to $1.1 million for a five-bed, six-bath, 7,576-square-foot home. Median price of a single-family home in 2006 was $365,000, according to the Warren Group, which publishes real estate information.
JOHN RICHARDSON ELLEMENT 
