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Welcome

Welcome to the Area

The Waltham West Suburban area is a diverse patchwork of cities, small towns, modern residential communities, 19th century neighborhoods, historical and industrial landmarks. The region includes some of the Boston area’s most established communities, one of its earliest industrial centers, and the latest in high-tech industrial development. As part of the nation’s seventh largest metropolitan area, Waltham is an economic, political, and cultural center for Massachusetts as well as New England.

The area consists of winding country roads and modern expressways that connect the Waltham West Suburban region to Greater Boston. Waltham, the main urban center, is nine miles west of Boston. It is a historical repository of America’s industrial revolution, a vital community with a rich ethnic heritage, and one of the nation’s highest concentrations of electronic and space technology industries. Weston, three miles to the west, is a quiet community of tree-lined streets and comfortable homes that began to attract wealthy Bostonians early in its history. Just north of Weston is Lincoln, a rural town that thrives in its natural setting and
country charm.

Waltham
www.walthamchamber.com
www.city.waltham.ma.us
Waltham flourished throughout the 18th century as a gateway on the “Great Road” to the western parts of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1814, the Industrial Revolution came to town with the establishment of the Boston Manufacturing Company textile mill on the Charles River. Forty years later, the American Waltham Watch Factory, the first factory to mass-produce watches, opened on the banks of the Charles. These companies, along with a bleachery and dye works and other factories, attracted a steady stream of workers from Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada creating an ethnic mix that continues to be the source of the unique character and community strength of the city and its many distinct neighborhoods. Although a population of more than 60,000 classifies it as a city, “Old Waltham” retains much of the small town flavor of its immigrant and culturally diverse heritage.

Waltham’s current success is attributed in part to Raytheon which was an important part of the city’s recovery from the Great Depression. Today Raytheon, a Fortune 100 company, is one of a host of high technology firms in Waltham and the West Suburban area.

Building renovations, environmental improvements and growing business activity attract increasing numbers of people to work and shop in the dynamic downtown business district and in the areas along River Street, Lexington Street, and Second Avenue. The city’s population more than triples every day as people come to Waltham to work, shop, or enjoy cultural and recreational attractions.

Waltham is the home of the Reagle Players, the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, and three prestigious colleges: Brandeis University, Bentley College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. These schools offer the community a variety of program

Weston
www.weston.org
Weston grew up on a rugged uplans in the visual and performing arts.d plateau twelve miles west of Boston. It was first settled by Puritan farmers in the mid-17th century. By 1679, a small community of businesses had formed to fill the needs of the surrounding farms. The opening of the Worcester Turnpike in 1810 slowed the town’s commercial growth until the 1880’s when boot and shoe factories sprang up, quickly followed by manufacturers of area textile machinery, and an organ factory. Farming continued to be an important factor in the local economy and the beauty of the countryside was an attraction to wealthy Bostonians who helped to shape the residential character of the town in the 1870’s.

The town experienced a new burst of growth in the 1920’s and 30’s as newcomers commissioned some of the nation’s finest architects to build luxurious homes in Weston. Today’s residents, numbering just over 10,000, live in quiet, well-kept affluent neighborhoods. A highly-desirable place to live and raise a family, the community offers hundreds of acres of wooded and open space with playgrounds, golf courses, and more than 60 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. It is also the home of Regis College and Pope John XXII National Seminary.

Lincoln
www.lincolntown.org
Lincoln is a picturesque rural town thirteen miles northwest of Boston. This community of slightly more than 7,000 is set in an area of open country and landed estates created in the last century. Bostonians recognized early that Lincoln was an attractive place for country estates, many of which are now preserved as schools, museums, public buildings, and parks.

Intent upon maintaining the country air of the town and its surroundings, Lincoln’s citizens have created a Conservation Commission. The Commission and the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust have acquired significant parcels of land to protect it from development. The result is 7,000 acres of woodland and agricultural areas for wildlife preservation and hiking trails.

The West Suburban area encompasses several additional communities including Newton, Lexington, Watertown, Belmont and Wellesley. From the Mass. Turnpike to Route 128, Route 495, and Route 2, the West Suburban Area provides quality living, working, learning, entertainment, and recreation in the Boston Hub, just west of the city.