anyone moved from NJ to Boston's North Shore? (Salem, Beverly: neighborhoods, college)

[sonnymoz]

i may be relocated with my wife and children to the NS area near Gordon College/Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton/Wenham). I'm moving from NJ and i wondered about the differences in life styles...I grew up here in Jersey, about 30 minutes from NYC, so I am assuming it would be very similar, but I don't know anything about the city of Boston, really, or life in it's suburbs....how about living in Gloucester? I saw The Perfect Storm and learned a bit about the town....anyway, any help would be great!

[Parsec]

I lived in NJ for 17 years (mostly in Livingston, about 30 min from NYC too), and now in Boston's western burbs for about a year. You know how each of NJ's townships has its own identity, but newcomers are usually welcome? Well, many of the towns in MA are very small and have many generations of the same family living in them. They each have their own identity too, but are a bit less welcoming to newcomers. The key is to find a neighborhood that you can relate to (i.e. young families w/children your own age, or a bunch of empty-nesters). Another thing about the towns in the north -- most of the smaller towns are mostly white, with the minorities (blacks, hispanics, southeast asians) residing in the cities like lawrence and lowell. it's very different from northern jersey where every town within 30 min of NYC is actually a minority-majority (whites make up less than 50% of the population).

[augustwest]

The specific area of the North Shore you're referring to is Cape Ann, which has a distinctive, old puritan Massachusetts feel to it. Reserved, lily-white, educated, affluent, maybe a little snobby. I have lived there and I am familiar with the Gordon crowd.
Hamilton/Wenham are very rural and upscale, Manchester is also very upscale Essex and Ipswich are more affordable, lots of farmland.
Beverly and Gloucester are the only diverse neighborhoods on Cape Ann - afforable (relatively) and urban. Salem is too and close enough to Gordon.

Great beaches - Singing, Crane, Long, Wingaersheek ... awesome place to live in the summer.

You'll definitely be getting a potent dose of pure Massachusetts up there.