Bedford
Median home price: Single family, $486,250; Condominiums, $404,250.
Residential tax rate: $11.38
Average tax rate: $6,086
Choice location: The Minuteman Bikeway starts in Bedford and runs 11 miles through Bedford, Lexington, and Arlington before ending at the Alewife T station in Cambridge. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy inducted the Minuteman Bikeway into the national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in June.
Cocktail party nugget:The Bedford flag on display at the Bedford Public Library is believed to have been carried by Nathaniel Page's outfit in the Battle of Concord during the Revolutionary War and is the oldest known surviving intact flag in the United States.
SOURCES: Warren Group, Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Commonwealth of Massachusetts website.
THE GOODS Like several towns bordering 128, Bedford has seen an influx of high-tech companies and residents in recent decades. The difference here is that, unlike neighboring Burlington, Bedford has been able to maintain some of its sleepy charm. Bedford has a relatively new housing stock, with a median construction year of 1966, compared to a Massachusetts average of 1951. Styles run the gamut, from older farmhouses and larger capes, to new contemporaries, some of the big box type. Newer condominiums can cost as much as houses in other towns, but then again, many are in handsome home-style structures or town houses instead of more conventional multistory, multifamily buildings. The town offers few options for renters.
PROS Bedford has a small but thriving commercial district so residents can shop and dine without leaving town. But, unlike some neighbors, including Burlington, Woburn, and nearby Waltham, the town hasn't been overrun by retail. In recent years upscale, national chain restaurants, as well as a Whole Foods Supermarket, have located in Bedford to take advantage of the business lunch crowd from office parks located along the Burlington border.
CONS Bedford's location along a high-growth corridor constantly presents temptations to expand the town's business tax base. Locals worry that the town's sleepy roadways won't be able to support more traffic without upgrades, but the relatively low density offers developers tempting targets for new homes and retail outlets.
DAVE COPELAND 