Very friendly neighborhood, quiet, respectful. Not a lot of engagement within our neighborhood, but certain things like education and transportation are top tier.

CNA and home care 25 years experience

There are lots of younger (i.e 30-50) year olds with children who've moved into the prev. available housing on my "nortwest side" of town. There are also a dwindling number of older people who can date themselves back to before I moved in (1992) by a decade or so...often, I heard the latter called "townies", their prefs seeming to be more "traditional" flag/parade/liquor store/VFW Natick of old. That is sort of a generalization, but its amazing that I can still remember the monodiversity of their older battles against younger residents (not to elab. here though-it would be a small periodical)!
Alas, the younger folks are probably people who couldnl't get patriated/buy real estate in Newton, Brookline, perhaps even Waltham. I can't tell if you, the reader, are from anywhere around here, but there have been at least 5-10 former modest post war rach and bumngalows which have been razed for actual upwards of 1 mil. dollar colonials! Slowly, the area is more gentrified, and though there's a bike/jog path and a moderately revitalized downtown, it seems like the old folks were thunder but these huddled multi ethnic diversely monied younger people (used to call them 'yuppies') are lightning strikes.
The metaphor could apply to dozens of towns, but since I was asked about my "community", I can't make any firm conclusions about whether it's better to be younger and have so many choices-and so many economic dead ends or hardships (from the isolation of "telecommunting" to being priced out of the city), OR whether it's more welcoming b/c the older folks have a new senior center where the town court used to be, and the police seem to be everywhere you don't want, such as highway radar 'traps', and road construction crews (or our moon pocked crater filled "Concord Road"), as proof that 'some things never change'.
In sum, I'd like to think these are all myths of my imagination or gossip, but without taking a survey, it would be a far better community in terms of all your subcategories (work, educ. transp., liveable communities), IF we had a little more 'rain' between the thunder and lightning...which would be some sense of intergenerational belonging. Babson, Bentley, Olin, and Wellesley college are sandwiched around us, and last time I had a window worker over for a repair, he said "The town is terribly managed", referring to the bus/home two tier taxation. I would hope somehow a conference or some kind of think tank for the 'future' of Natick could emerge, but like many people, I just don't wanna get wet (with all the downpours of old and young colliding in their complex and confusing connection and disparity).
When was the last time someone stood outside your town, any town..with a sign reading 'pray for rain"?!?!LOL...sounds Californinan, but then, those trends sometimes come east. For now, the middle ground as I see it, is on Speen St, where people panhandle from the middle island of commuter traffic in front of Home Depot. Apparently they aren't that young, nor old, but I still wonder.....are they a franchise, with a dispatcher and if so...who is really "getting helped" by this...makes me thunder, err. wonder! ZAAAPP-observatory skills over and out, as I'd still like to get this job-lol! THansk for reading-J.H

Downtown Natick has a wonderful library and farmer's market and a lovely community/senior center that hosts events, and council on aging.

The town of Natick has put a lot into the Community Senior Center, which was built in the past 10 years and the Recreation Department. There are a lot of activities available for all ages and abilities throughout the community. Natick Days and the Natick Art Walk are two community wide events for all ages. Concerts and farmers markets are held regularly in town.