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 Infrastructure and Services:
An airport serving general aviation, the military, charter, and commercial customers (Hanscom Field) 2 commuter train stations on the line between North Station in Boston, and Ayer and Fitchburg to the west We are right between the 2 Boston circumferential highways: 128 (I-95) and I-495 Route 2, a major east-west highway between Boston and the NY state line, goes right through town, but bypasses the old town center, the "Milldam."
Several private/independent schools including: Nashoba-Brooks, Fenn, Middlesex, and Concord Academy We have a fantastic Public Library Lots of small businesses and startup companies as well as some big companies Like Welche's, Sybase, Tom-Tom and others. We have condos, housing for senior citizens, contemporary houses (like you see in NJ - ugh), houses built from the 17th century on, and some rentals. We probably really on-the-ball, conscientious police and fire departments. Other great retail resources include: three bookstores, which for a town this size is pretty impressive; three great bakeries (Nashoba, Concord Teacakes, and Sally Ann's); and several farmstands, like Hutchins' Organic Farm and Verrill Farm.
4 Dunkin' Donuts (at last count) and 1 Starbucks, some decent restaurants, though we wish for more/different ones One of the great things about Concord is the great towns next door: Lexington, Lincoln, Bedford, Carlisle, Acton, Maynard, Sudbury and Wayland. Concord ALSO has Town Meeting! I LOVE Town Meeting...it's really neat, to take care of the town that way!
Annual Events:We have a great Family 4th of July Celebration every year at Emerson Playground and the Official Town Events are:
We Got Culture:
There are family dances (contra and/or folk dancing for children and their parents) on Sunday afternoons once or twice a month during the winter -- this should be of interest to anyone moving to the area with kids, even if you don't have experience with that kind of dancing. These dances are popular enough that when you go to a folk festival, and people find you are from Concord MA, they say, "You can go dance at the SCOUT HOUSE?" There are also several open mike nights here every month, and other live music weekly. We also have AUTHORS (houses and cemeteries). I can't think of any other small town that can lay claim to as many influential 19th century writers and thinkers. We have an intellectual heritage here that is among the best in the country. Did anyone mention the Emerson Umbrella and the Musketaquid Earth Day group?
What Concord Doesn't Have:It's also interesting to think about what Concord doesn't have and only has in varying degrees.It has no Wal-Mart, and it has no movie theaters per se. It has sidewalks and neighborhoods in varying degrees. In some places your children are almost guaranteed to have playmates within walking distances, in others a car ride is almost required. In some places it has sidewalks, but in many others it does not. It is also a very pretty part of this planet, that still clings to some of its rural charm despite the extensive pressures of suburbanization.
Clubs:I don't think anyone has mentioned that Concord also has two sportsmen's clubs, The Concord Rod and Gun Club, that holds an annual fishing derby for all Concord kids, up to age 12, plus it has archery, trap shooting, pistol shooting, fishing (stocked trout pond), and the Musketaquid Club, which I don't know too much about, but it also has a shooting range and I believe has a kid's fishing tournament.Also, 2 country clubs, one of which each year hosts one of the PGA Senior tour matches.
Wildlife:A national wildlife sanctuary (Great Meadows Natural Wildlife sanctuary)3 Rivers -- the Concord, Sudbury and Assabet; Walden Pond, White Pond and many other ponds and streams
We have: skunks, beaver, deer, raccoons, coyotes, fisher cats, snapping turtles, box turtles, painted turtles, blanding's tortoise, great blue herons, green herons, night herons, red fox, barred owls, great horned owls, otter, 'possom, rabbit, red and grey squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, horses and cows (domesticated), pileated woodpecker, muskrat, wild turkeys, and an occasional bear and moose. More wildlife: Several years ago there were a few mentions in the police log of a kangaroo getting loose and hopping along Sudbury Road. And just last week (?) there were some llama on the loose. There are salamanders that lay eggs in vernal ponds too, and many varieties of birds. Concord apparently has the highest participation rate for the statewide annual bird count. We also have a first-rate naturalist and author in Peter Alden. There are wonderful flora as well as fauna: Concord is a botanist's dream, having more detailed records going back longer in time than anywhere documenting the flowering plants that have been here and those that are here now. And we have the Harvard Forest in Estabrook Woods where ecological research has been going on for generations.
Putting It All Together:Long long ago, when my husband, kids, and I were coming back east, we put marks on a map of all the places Hugh might like to work. Concord was in the center and it had great schools. The rest is history. The best part of our experience has been that Concord is not a place that requires you to prove your worth by having ancestors here for many generations before you are accepted. It is a town that values the efforts of the many folks who are willing to step up and do the work of building community, whether that is local volunteer government, youth sports, community theater, faith groups, scouting, or hospital board.
Check out the Annual Town Report on the Town's web site (go to frequently requested reports). This report informs the community on the activities of the elected and appointed officials. While you are at the web site go to the Town Clerk page and check "committee meetings" for the full range.
Artwork: Courtesy of Art Today
 
 
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High school students have the option, at no cost, to attend either the excellent Concord-Carlisle High School or the excellent Minuteman
Vocational Technical High School.
Lots of pizza places and excellent ice cream
I can add to the wildlife picture, tons of insects, beautiful insects like
dragon flies, butterflies, fireflies, & ladybugs, tons of mosquitos, tics,
spiders, weird ones like walking sticks, all kinds of frogs, from peepers to
bullfrogs, coyotes, we once saw a flying squirrel in our front yard. The nature
is often a great escape when dealing with the to put it mildly, the much less
attractive and much less fair aspects of this town. 
Within our borders there are two prisons, eleven religious institutions, a
weekly newspaper, a national historic park, a state park, a national
wildlife refuge, an airport, an Air Force base, a hospital, four thriving
independent schools, an excellent public school system, a range of museums
and a host of other visitor sites, a respected research library, an active
farming population, still a bit of industry, many businesses from local to
international, three bustling Town centers, and let us not forget three
rivers.