I want to live somewhere pretty and calm. That doesn't mean that it has to be in the middle of nowhere. I find Somerville pretty, and mostly calm (it could be calmer.)
I think I want to live near 93/95 because I'm comfortable with the places those arteries take me. I also don't hate somerville and I think if I lived off the end of 1 I would feel very cut off from the places I'm used to.
Since this is the "forever" house, I'm more than allowed to be picky, even if it's on gut reactions. It does mean the likelyhood of use finding it this cycle gets lower, but only time will tell and it's been pushing us to work on our clutter and our house. I think it's also been forcing us to think about our finances and retirement goals. So it's all good.