Boston for retirees (Brookline, Marshfield, Easton: apartments, condos, townhome)

[nancy thereader]

How is Boston & its suburbs for people who are retired? Are there condo complexes for people who are over 55 (the way there are in many states) ?
Are there senior citizens groups there?

I know it's cold in winter, but how are the springs and autumns?

How is the shopping?

Thanks for any help.

[bostonguy1960]

We don't seem to have many senior living options, at least not like in Florida. Whenever I check Craigslist for housing in many of their cities, it seems as if half the condos or mobile homes are 55+. If you check Boston's CL, you won't find many 55+ or senior listings.

Sure, I'm aware of some complexes in various local towns for seniors, but it seems that one may have to be poor and/or handicapped in order to qualify -- but I could be wrong on this. Oftentimes, one needs to be 62 or older, not 55+ as in other states.

I have seen a listing in a monthly apartment guide publication with a nice 55+ community in Marshfield, not far from beaches on the way to Cape Cod; however, it seems more luxury.

At local libraries, I often see a local monthly newsletter for seniors. At my library, I find a monthly newspaper called "Fifty Plus." Brookline has a nice senior center, less than 10 years old.

Some complain how short our springs can be. Around the Boston Marathon (mid April), we finally have flowering trees, but we probably don't see full green in the trees until late April? Halloween can see tick or treating temps over 50-55 but this year was cold, windy and low 40s. Thanksgiving's highs are usually 45-52, I'd guess.

Shopping is good with lots of major malls, lifestyle malls and smaller specialty stores and outlets. I think clothing is not taxed up to $300 for a particular item...not sure about purses, wallets, shoes or leather jackets. Someone else could correct me on this.

[CaseyB]

There are several adult communities located in the suburbs, all price ranges.

You can get an idea of the types available here: Active Adult Communities - Housing Developments - Boston.com

I hate cold weather, so I won't comment on that.

Most cities/towns have organizations for seniors, although I think you might be young for something like that.

[mmyk72]

Why on earth would someone who doesn't already live in MA move here after retiring.... I'd think if you're going to move, might as well to a low tax, low housing cost type of location... I'm years away from this, so please enlighten me.

[missionhill]

Could be wrong but I think in the Boston area you'll find many older people staying in their homes rather than selling and moving into age-segregated complexes. One reason is that property taxes in Boston and its suburbs are relatively manageable; the property tax cap in place for 30 years has kept the lid on. In the New York suburbs, school costs drive the property taxes through the roof. There you can easily be paying $15,000 to $25,000 and more per year. Once their children are out of school and especially when people retire, they find it doesn't make sense to stay in their homes. Many migrate to warmer climates, others to apartments in the "city" where property taxes are lower. There are plenty of assisted living complexes around Boston for the older old people, but you'll find plenty of people 60 through 80 right at home.

[CaseyB]

Yes, there are certainly plenty of retired people who stay in their homes, but there are also those who no longer find it convenient to own a single family, whether they are just tired of the general upkeep (think about this past winter, lol) or they go south for the winter months or just like to travel in general . They've made the decision that a condo or townhome suits their needs better at this stage of their life and not necessarily for financial reasons.

[nancy thereader]

Most cities/towns have organizations for seniors, although I think you might be young for something like that.

I wish. I am older than dirt.

I have a son (my only child) who lives in Boston and that is the reason that I am considering moving there.

[ogre]

What I'm thinking may be your first move is to take a look at the link CaseyB provided. Get an idea what's out there in the way of senior communities, then talk with your son, and us on here, about what the general area is like around any senior community that interests you. People who know the Boston area can provide you a lot better info about the shopping and other amenities in particular local communities than about the metro area as a whole, because there's wide variation from one suburb to another in the shopping that is readily available.

As for the spring and fall weather, on average spring progresses from being very brisk in March (likely to seem like winter to you if you've lived in Santa Cruz for a number of years and gotten used to the weather there) to cool and often damp in April to a beautiful mix of pleasantly cool days and pleasantly warm days in May, becoming consistently warm but usuallly not unpleasantly hot in late May and early June. Those are averages, though. Springtime around here is highly variable, and you could very easily have a high of 90 one day in mid April, then have a chilly, rainy spell starting a couple of days later, or have a couple of days of dank, gray, raw weather interrupt the generally very pleasant weather in May.

Fall makes the reverse progression from mainly pleasantly warm, bright, sunny weather in September, to a mix of sometimes cool, sometimes chilly, occasionally warm in Oct., to mostly brisk weather in Nov. Fall is not usually as prone to the sudden ups and downs in the weather that spring is, at least not to the same degree as spring, but fall weather still varies some from day to day, rather than there being extended spells of days staying close to average.

One note on the property tax cap (Proposition 2-1/2) which MissionHill mentioned is that there is a provision allowing citizens to vote to override the tax cap. Some towns have a history of doing this more than others, so if you plan to own rather than rent, once you have a list of possible towns, you'll want to learn something of each town's history related to Prop. 2-1/2, and whether a given town usually stays within the cap or has a history of frequent overrides.

[Jimrob1]

Theres a retirement community on the Easton/Norton line in the southeast suburbs of Boston. It would be about 40 minutes south of the city. It would generally be more with traffic tie ups and snow storms. This is a newer community I think it opened in 2006 and its home ownership. I was visiting Mass at Thanksgiving and remember driving by and seeing a sign I think that said $300.000 homes. I didn't pay alot of attention to it. As you know Eastern Mass and the closer to Boston one gets the COL is very high. I have no idea what the name of the development is. I will look it up on the net.

Norton is a nice smaller town. Country feel suburban area with the cities not far away. Norton is home to Wheaton college and the town is surrounded by many other towns with shopping, Medical and commuter rail into downtown boston. Providence is about 30 minutes south. Easy access to I-95 and 495.

[Jimrob1]

The development I mentioned is called Red Mill Village, Norton, Mass. Its 55 and over and is a New England Village style community. The prices start at $382,000 and then up towards $500,000. There are senior groups in just about every town in Mass, as Im sure this Red Mill Village has them also. Every town usually has a Senior Center. Guess its safe to say those living in Red Mill Village don't wait for the Social Security Check every month. Im from one of the neighboring towns originally, and the cost of living for housing and utilities has always been high. Somewhat similiar to much of Calif in regards to COL.