Milton

Governor Hutchinson's Field is a prime spot in Milton.

THE GOODS The Neponset River was the force that created this community, the falling water powering the mills and generating the cash that financed elegant homes perched above the grit at the feet of the Blue Hills. The first chocolate factory in the nation - now the Walter Baker apartment/condo complex in Lower Mills - was built here. The great granite slabs carved out of the Quincy quarries were shipped off from a landing on the Milton side of the Neponset. Civic activism is strong with groups promoting racial harmony, alternative energy, and bike riding to help the environment. The streets are studded with the trees, and the town itself is green with large tracts of conservation land, anchored by the Blue Hills Reservation, which offers hiking, biking, horseback riding, skiing, and swimming at Houghton's Pond.

PRO Milton's diverse housing stock offers something for every imaginable taste and most, but not all, budgets. Stately mansions grace the Milton Hill and Brush Hill neighborhoods, while older sturdy Colonials and American foursquare and post-war capes are found throughout town. Condo living is available, but sparsely so. Mostly this is a place of single- and two-family homes. And with multiple transit options - interstate highways, MBTA bus, and the Mattapan Red Line trolley line - Milton has become an inner suburb of choice for Boston commuters.

CON Starter homes are in short supply here, and usually are short on space, too. There is virtually no commercial property tax base beyond a smattering of stores in small shopping districts, so homeowners bear the brunt of town expenses. Eating out means "out of town." There's no restaurant scene here. Noise from Logan International Airport traffic can be sonically disruptive.

JOHN ELLEMENT