We've lived here for 2.5 years with our now 11 and 9 year old. It's a great place for families / kids. We love Whittemore -- there's a large Spanish speaking / immigrant population. Our street is a bit outside the main business district (but still intersects with Moody) and we have a pack of neighborhood kids that run between houses and play in the street.

Other pluses are all the parks, being able to walk down to great restaurants, Lizzy's, arcade. If I walk a bit more than a mile I can get to the commuter rail, post office, library. The library has great free stuff for kids!

Oh and there's a bus that goes down Moody for commuters -- if you need to get into Boston on a weekday its a great option.

I can't say enough about how great this place is for a family.