HIGH: Westwood’s a Great Place to Live!
Originally founded in 1641 as “West Dedham,” Westwood has grown to become one of the most desirable places to live in all of Eastern Massachusetts. In fact, as recently as 2005 CNN/Money Magazine ranked the town as the 13th-best place to live in the United States, while U.S News & World Report places Westwood High School among the top 30 in the state.
Factor in the town’s easy access to highways I-93 and I-95, along with Route 128 Station offering local access to Boston and Providence, as well as Amtrak service to New York City, Washington, D.C., and beyond, and it’s to no wonder so many people want live in Westwood.
LOW: But Watch for Low Bridges!
However, for Movers Westwood offers its own unique set of challenges when it comes to moving. For example:
That’s a video that the Westwood Police Department posted of a moving truck crashing into the train bridge on East Street. You can check out the WPD’s YouTube channel for about a dozen more videos of trucks too tall for the ten-foot-four-inch tall bridge.
This is a hazard that many drivers don’t realize when renting a truck. It can be easy to forget, since simple moving trucks up to twenty-six feet in length don’t require any special sort of license. So often people who regularly drive a standard-sized car will think these trucks can navigate the same roads that cars do. (Trust us, they can’t.)
HIGH: Parking is Ample . . .
On the other hand, parking in the suburban town generally isn’t much of an issue. With much more open space than more densely packed Massachusetts neighborhoods (such as, for example, Boston’s North End), the median price of a Westwood home is almost $600,000. That price generally includes a driveway large enough to accommodate moving trucks. It’s certainly best to keep driveways and streets as empty as possible prior to the arrival of your movers, but special arrangements generally aren’t necessary.
Safe Responsible Movers Westwood – The Colburn School (pictured) is part of Westwood’s Colburn School-High Street Historic District, a rural neighborhood that was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2000. Photo by John Phelan (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Moving Yourself? Here are the Resources You Need:
The nearby Penske in Norwood is a good, reliable option for renting a truck for your move, as is the U-Haul less than a mile down from it on Route 1.
If you have some time between moving out of your old home and moving into your new one, that same Route 1 U-Haul offers storage units, as do both the Public Storage on East Street in Westwood and Dedham’s Extra Space Storage on Allied Drive.
If you’re looking for supplies for your move, you can check out our guide to moving supplies for the quickest ways to prepare. Or you can head back to Norwood, where both the U-Haul on Route and the nearby Home Depot stock plenty of moving supplies like boxes, ratchet straps, mattress bags, and other helpful supplies.
Moving from Westwood to a more densely-packed area? When moving to Boston, Somerville, or Cambridge, it’s probably a good idea to consider downsizing. Apartments and homes closer to the city tend to have narrower stairwells, tighter areas for truck parking, and less space in general. We’ve listed a few good choices for donating old clothes and furniture before, but the options closest to Westwood are the Greater Boston Habitat for Humanity ReStore in West Roxbury, Savers in Norwood, and the Salvation Army, which has locations in Norwood, Sharon, and Canton.
Thinking of moving from suburban Westwood to more densely populated Boston, like Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones? You might want to think about downsizing. By digboston (MMB_Dig_fenway01) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Looking for a Painless Move? Hire Movers!
Don’t feel like dealing with doing the move on your own? Luckily there are companies, like us, who specialize in moving your stuff for you. It’s important to do your research and make you’re hiring the best movers possible, so be sure to compare not just rate quotes, but user reviews on sites like Yelp, Angie’s List, and Google.
Westwood Town Hall, from 1910. Westwood is one of many small New England towns that practice and open town meeting form of government. By John Phelan (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The oldest meeting house in Norfolk County, The First Parish (pictured) was built in 1809 in Westwood, MA. By John Phelan (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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