The town of Ashland and Needham Bank have inked a first-of-its-kind public-private venture that should help attract new businesses to Ashland’s downtown and generate new small business loans at Needham’s Ashland branch.
The idea that 495 has become a low-cost alternative for homebuyers and businesses is great spin. But the gulf in prices points a grittier reason for the shift: Discouraged by increasingly grueling commutes, buyers are simply bypassing the outer suburbs in favor of communities closer to Cambridge and Boston.
Communities west of Boston and near Interstate 495 continue to enjoy commercial rents and home prices well below averages in the metropolitan area despite steady population growth, according to a new report.
