Case Study · Greater Boston · Condominiums

45 Minutesto Mass Ave

Condo Edition

A commuter's study of 14 Greater Boston towns around the Novartis campus in Cambridge, measured against one buyer's brief: a condominium with 2–3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, within walking distance of a train station and 45 minutes of the campus, up to $600,000.

CDG Digital Media · November 2026 · Data: MBTA · Mass. Association of Realtors · Walk Score · MWRA

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01 — The Brief

One buyer, one address

This study measures towns against a single set of requirements, anchored to the Novartis campus at 250 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge.

Commute Within 45 minutes of the campus Required

Price Up to $600,000 Required

Home Condominium · 2–3 bedrooms Required

Bathrooms 2 full bathrooms minimum Required

Train Within walking distance of a train station Required

Utilities Public water and sewer Required

Size 1,600 sq ft or more Preferred

Setting A walkable town on the water — or one or the other Preferred

Bedroom, bathroom and square-footage requirements apply to individual listings, and town-level condo data does not report unit size. Condo fees are not covered. This study measures towns on commute, condo price, station walkability, utilities, walkability and waterfront.

01b — The Destination

Novartis, 250 Massachusetts Avenue

Novartis lists its research unit (Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.) at 250 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. The Cambridge campus also includes 181 Massachusetts Avenue, at the corner of Albany and Osborn streets, and 22 Windsor Street. The campus sits between Central Square and MIT, served by the Red Line, several bus routes and the free EZRide shuttle from North Station.

Red Line

Central station

10 min

About 0.4 mi on foot from 250 Mass Ave (Walk Score). Kendall/MIT is the other nearby Red Line stop.

Shuttle

EZRide from North Station

8–12 min

Free shuttle from North Station; buses every 8–12 minutes on weekdays (weekend service every 20). Morning buses stop at Vassar St/Mass Ave near MIT. Ride time varies with traffic.

Bus

Routes 1, 70, 85, 47

0.1–0.3 mi

Route 1 stops about 0.1 mi from 250 Mass Ave; routes 70 and 85 about 0.2 mi; route 47 about 0.3 mi (Walk Score).

02 — The Lines

Every route into Cambridge

The towns in this study sit on 8 transit routes into Boston and Cambridge. Schematic — directions are approximate and distances are not to scale.

Red Line (Braintree branch)
Greenbush Line
Blue Line
Newburyport/Rockport Line
Haverhill Line
Orange Line
Red Line (Alewife branch)
Fitchburg Line

Red Line (Braintree branch). Trains from Quincy and Braintree run straight through to Kendall/MIT and Central — no transfer.

Greenbush Line. Commuter rail from Weymouth to South Station, then the Red Line.

Blue Line. Revere's three Blue Line stations run to State, with transfers to the Orange and Red lines.

Newburyport/Rockport Line. Commuter rail from Chelsea, Lynn, Swampscott, Salem and Beverly to North Station.

Haverhill Line. Three Melrose stations on the Haverhill Line run to North Station; Wyoming Hill takes 17 minutes.

Orange Line. Wellington in Medford and Malden Center run to Downtown Crossing, then one stop to Park Street for the Red Line.

Red Line (Alewife branch). Davis in Somerville is three Red Line stops from Central, with no transfer. Somerville also has Orange and Green Line stations.

Fitchburg Line. Commuter rail from Waltham to Porter in 13–14 minutes, then the Red Line to Central.

03 — The Commute

Station to campus, minute by minute

Each bar is the scheduled weekday-morning trip from a town's main station to the campus: the ride into Boston or Cambridge, then the connection to Central and the walk. Time spent getting to the home station is not included.

Main rideConnection + walk45-minute limit

45 min

SomervilleRed Line

16 min

QuincyRed Line

32 min

WalthamCommuter Rail

32 min

MedfordOrange Line

34 min

MaldenOrange Line

37 min

BraintreeRed Line

38 min

ChelseaCommuter Rail

43 min

RevereBlue Line

45 min

MelroseCommuter Rail

48 min

WeymouthCommuter Rail

51 min

LynnCommuter Rail

55 min

SwampscottCommuter Rail

58 min

SalemCommuter Rail

65 min

BeverlyCommuter Rail

70 min

The main ride. Red Line trains from Quincy, Braintree and Somerville run straight to Central with no transfer. Commuter rail riders get off at North Station, South Station or (from Waltham) Porter; the Orange and Blue lines reach downtown transfer points.

The connection. From a downtown terminal, the trip continues by subway, shuttle or on foot to the campus on Massachusetts Avenue.

The 45-minute line. Towns whose scheduled station-to-campus time exceeds the brief's limit are dimmed.

Scheduled times from MBTA timetables — the fastest regular weekday-morning commuter rail trip, or the first subway trip of the day — plus fixed connection allowances. Real trips vary with delays and transfer waits. See Data for each line, station and source.

03b — The Stations

Can you walk to the train?

Every rail and subway station in each town, scored by the Walk Score of the station's own location. A score of 70 or more is what Walk Score calls "Very Walkable" — most errands can be done on foot.

Station area 70+Below 70Score not found

Somerville

Davis 98 Assembly 91 Union Square 98 East Somerville 91 Gilman Square 92 Magoun Square 90 Ball Square 91

Malden

Malden Center 96 Oak Grove 59

Lynn

Lynn 95

Waltham

Waltham 95 Brandeis/Roberts 33

Quincy

North Quincy 88 Wollaston 82 Quincy Center 93 Quincy Adams 59

Chelsea

Chelsea 90 Bellingham Square 93 Box District 84 Eastern Ave —

Salem

Salem 93

Beverly

Beverly Depot 91 North Beverly 70 Montserrat — Prides Crossing 41 Beverly Farms 58

Melrose

Wyoming Hill 89 Melrose/Cedar Park 90 Melrose Highlands 72

Swampscott

Swampscott 88

Revere

Wonderland 76 Revere Beach 87 Beachmont 80

Medford

Wellington 86 Medford/Tufts 84 West Medford 82

Weymouth

Weymouth Landing 83 East Weymouth 62 South Weymouth 22

Braintree

Braintree 78

Every station. Each chip is one MBTA rail, subway or Silver Line station inside the town's borders, colored by line.

Station-area Walk Score. The bar inside each chip fills to the station location's Walk Score, out of 100.

The 70 line. Stations whose surroundings score 70 or higher stay lit; the rest dim.

Walk Score measures distance to everyday amenities from a point; it does not measure distance to the station itself. The brief calls for walking distance to a station; the score describes the neighborhood around it.

04 — The Price

What a condo costs

Median condo sale prices by town, against the brief's $600,000 ceiling. Source: Massachusetts Association of Realtors, full-year 2025 condo sales.

Median condo sale price2024 median (marker)$600,000 ceiling

$600,000

Lynn

$355,000

Weymouth

$381,900

Malden

$424,000

Chelsea

$427,500

Revere

$430,000

Beverly

$450,000

Quincy

$455,000

Swampscott

$475,000

Braintree

$479,950

Salem

$520,000

Melrose

$525,000

Waltham

$627,500

Medford

$655,000

Somerville

$892,500

Median sale price. Half of condos sold for more than this figure, half for less. The median condo in each town is not necessarily 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths or 1,600 sq ft.

The $600,000 line. Towns whose median condo price sits above the ceiling are dimmed.

A year earlier. The black marker shows each town's 2024 median. Five of the fourteen towns rose from 2024 to 2025 — Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Swampscott and Salem. The other nine fell.

Massachusetts Association of Realtors town reports (December 2025, via ShowingTime), condominiums, January–December 2025 and 2024 MLS closed sales. Medians cover every condo sale in a town, not only units matching the brief, and do not account for seller concessions.

05 — The Towns

14 towns, grouped by direction

Each card opens a full profile. Blue figures meet the brief's 45-minute and $600,000 limits.

South Shore

Red Line

Quincy

Quincy Bay · Wollaston Beach

32 min $455K median 63 walk

Red Line

Braintree

Weymouth Fore River

38 min $480K median 38 walk

Commuter Rail

Weymouth

Hingham Bay · Wessagusset Beach

51 min $382K median 37 walk

North Shore & Harbor

Blue Line

Revere

Revere Beach

45 min $430K median 67 walk

Commuter Rail

Chelsea

Mystic River

43 min $428K median — walk

Commuter Rail

Lynn

Nahant Bay · Lynn Shore

55 min $355K median 70 walk

Commuter Rail

Swampscott

Nahant Bay beaches

58 min $475K median — walk

Commuter Rail

Salem

Salem Harbor · Derby Wharf

65 min $520K median 70 walk

Commuter Rail

Beverly

Beverly Harbor

70 min $450K median 51 walk

Inner Ring

Orange Line

Medford

Mystic River

34 min $655K median 68 walk

Orange Line

Malden

Malden River

37 min $424K median 73 walk

Commuter Rail

Melrose

Ell Pond · Middlesex Fells

48 min $525K median 62 walk

Commuter Rail

Waltham

Charles River · Moody St

32 min $628K median 57 walk

Red Line

Somerville

Mystic River

16 min $893K median — walk

06 — The Matrix

Every town, every requirement

A filled square means the town meets that measure, based on the figures in this study. Ordered by number of measures met, then by commute time.

Town	≤45 min	≤$600K	Station	Utilities	Walkable	Water	Met
Quincy							6/6
Malden							6/6
Chelsea							6/6
Revere							6/6
Somerville							5/6
Waltham							5/6
Medford							5/6
Braintree							5/6
Lynn							5/6
Salem							5/6
Weymouth							4/6
Swampscott							4/6
Beverly							4/6
Melrose							3/6

≤45 min: Estimated station-to-campus time of 45 minutes or less
≤$600K: 2025 median condo sale price at or under $600,000
Station: At least one rail or subway station whose surroundings score 70+ on Walk Score
Utilities: Public water and sewer town-wide
Walkable: City Walk Score of 70+, or a ranked neighborhood of 70+
Water: On the coast or a river

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