Reasons to Buy a Home in Cambridge, MA

After years of renting in one of Boston’s storied neighborhoods, Bostonians looking to buy a condo or home that’s within city limits but still has easy access to Downtown should look no further than Cambridge.

Located on the north side of the Charles River just across from Back Bay, Allston, and Brookline, Cambridge is commonly thought of as an academic town, offering proximity to Downtown while providing potential homeowners with sweeping historical properties nestled next to storied college campuses - most notably, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Prospective buyers touring with their real estate agents can expect to find gorgeous, tree-lined streets featuring spacious homes complete with lawns and brickwork sidewalks. Boston is known as the college town of college towns, but Cambridge offers new homeowners much more, and this guide prepares buyers on what to expect when exploring real estate opportunities in the city. 

Come for college, stay for the location

Buyers should always ask why they are buying a home and what factors are motivating that decision, and location is critical, depending on what their job are. For folks working in academia, many residential units in Cambridge are within close proximity to many collegiate institutions throughout Boston. 

Beyond professors and academic administrators, other aspiring homeowners will enjoy the town’s convenience into Boston’s Downtown. Considering the various technology companies that grew out of MIT and Harvard’s illustrious school programs, technology workers looking to live near a wellspring of start-ups in Kendall Square are well-suited to buying a home in Cambridge. 

Architecture 

While industries have evolved in Cambridge over time, many historic homes continue to dot the tree-lined streets found in between MIT and Harvard. Prospective buyers can still find historic homes in the Mid-Cambridge, West Cambridge, Harvard Square, and Half-Crown Marsh regions of Cambridge, MA. 

There are plenty of home styles ranging from double or triple-storied Georgian-style homes built in the 1700s, sprawling Federal-style compounds hailing from the 1800s, and a variety of Greek Revival-style homes on the brick-lined streets of Cambridge. 

Perhaps the most impressive of the bunch is the Gothic Revivals, as their broad porches and columns support balconies providing homeowners with a tiered view of the surrounding neighborhood and campuses. Brick-faced Colonial Revivals can also be found in Cambridge, providing a spacious living for local residents seeking a change from the winding streets of Beacon Hill. 

If you prefer luxury condo living, Cambridge provides a few options across the city, from the Regatta Riverview complex to the South along the Charles River to high-priced units across from Danehy Park in North Cambridge. 

Real estate prices in Cambridge, MA

Cambridge real estate prices have seen consistent growth over the past decade. The housing market demand in the area is driven by a combination of primary residence buyers, investors acquiring rental properties, and the new trend of parents buying real estate for their college-student children. 

In a review of active listings to start October 2020, the average listing price in Cambridge, MA is $1,520,362.

Homes for sale in Cambridge, MA

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Transportation options 

Bordered by Route 3 to the South along the Charles River, Cambridge offers drivers a few options to drive into the heart of Boston or make a bee-line North towards suburban towns like Arlington or Belmont.

While taking a drive around town promises gorgeous views of Cambridge’s college campuses, the MBTA Red Line provides local residents with access to Downtown Crossing, thus connecting commuters to the Green, and Orange Lines. Additionally, the 71, 73, 66, and 1 Bus lines allow you to easily explore Cambridge without having to search for parking.

Like Charlestown, Cambridge has several bridges connecting the city to Boston. The Eliot, North Harvard Street, Western Avenue, Cambridge Street, Boston University, Longfellow, and the Charles River Dam Bridges all connect neighborhood explorers to Back Bay, Kenway / Fenmore, The West End, North Brookline, and Allston. 

Things to do in Cambridge 

Considering that Cambridge is home to two of the most world-renowned universities and is minutes away from a dozen others, there are a plethora of locales, events, and activities for would-be homeowners to partake in once they move to the area. 

Harvard’s storied history provides neighborhood explorers with access to the school’s Museum of Natural History, the American Repertory Theater, and learn about early American lifestyles at the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. If you are inspired by the arts, you should check out the Busch-Reisinger, Arthur M. Sackler, and Fogg Art Museums, all located on the Harvard campus. 

While it is easy to spend a multitude of days exploring Harvard, prospective homeowners checking out Cambridge should allot time to seeing the sights and sounds of the Charles River. For nature lovers checking out the waterfront, they need only go to East Cambridge to walk along the Charles River Dam Bridge to explore marine life and more at the Museum of Science. 

Heading westward from East Cambridge sends prospective buyers towards the Cambridge Galleria Mall, where a variety of boutiques, restaurants, and coffee shops await shoppers exploring the riverfront. 

For folks looking to relocate to Cambridge, Charles Square, home to the Charles Hotel, features easy access to the city and its surrounding neighborhoods and is home to a variety of farmers’ market events, where locals and tourists alike can sample the vegetables grown in the outlying farmlands of Middlesex county and beyond.  

History is an understatement

Founded in the 1630s by Puritan colonists, the original name of the settlement was The Newe Town, but colonists changed to Cambridge in 1638 to honor Cambridge, England. 

Chosen for its safe positioning just north of the Boston Harbor, Cambridge was one of the original settlements of the Massachusetts Bay Company, alongside Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and Weymouth. Before renaming Newe Town to Cambridge, the leadership of the Massachusetts Bay Company founded the Newe College to train ministers. This institution eventually grew to become what we know today as Harvard University, named after John Harvard, a benefactor to the original colony. 

Similar to nearby Charlestown, Cambridge used to encompass a larger area including Newton, Lexington, Brighton, and Arlington, and each of these towns became independent throughout the 1700 and 1800s. 

While Cambridge originally served as an agricultural town where farmers came to trade goods with sailors coming into Boston’s port for trading, the region played a critical role in the Revolutionary War. In 1775, General George Washington traveled to the commonwealth, where he led a troop of American soldier volunteers in the siege of Boston, effectively creating the roots of the United States Army.

In the years following the war, city planners built the West Boston Bridge, cutting out the eight-mile march merchants had to take through the Boston Neck to reach Beacon Hill. Coupled with the creation of the Canal Bridge and others, Cambridge flourished, and developers filled in salt marshes to create tracts of commercial and residential real estate. 

Cambridge has equally impressive industrial roots, and businesses took hold in Kendall Square, providing jobs creating glassware, ink, snacks, and packaging. By the 1950s, the industrial boom began to fade, but students of MIT and Harvard took up shop in the relic buildings of Kendall Square to create a technology powerhouse in the 1960s through to today. 

Now, instead of creating packaged goods, many technology start-ups created by alumni of MIT and Harvard call Kendall Square of Cambridge, MA, as their home. 

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