Sandwich (Plymouth, Falmouth, Wareham: low crime, homes, tax)

[sevdie]

Can anymore give me any details about Sandwich, MA? Does is have a low crime rate? What are the winters like there? Is it suburban or rural? any info at all would be appreciated. Thanks!

[nighthawk2325]

Its just on the other side of the Cape Cod canal,very quiet town,small town problems,low crime rate from what I gather, My sister lives there.The Ocean side of Rt.6A a very historic anything you build on that side has to comply with there towns historic commission rules codes.During summertime alot of tourist..there trying to stay a sleepy bed room town.In the past 5-10 years there winters have seemed to have gotten worse.One minute they can get hit worse than SE mass other times get sleet/rain...hit or miss.

[sevdie]

Thanks a lot for the info.

[Amybcb]

I live in Sandwich (moved there in Jan 2005). It's a wonderful quaint small town. I wouldn't call it rural though. I haven't been affected by tourists (came from Plymouth which I felt was much more of a tourist town than Sandwich). There is some traffic on rte 6 in summer (I tend to not leave the cape on Mondays). There are two grocery stores (both Stop and Shop), lots of small restaurants/businesses. The closest Walmart is Falmouth (bad traffic there though so I don't go to it) or Wareham (which is over the bridge, but not a far drive). The crime rate is minimal - I've not heard of anything crazy going on there. Winters have varied. Our first winter we got about 3 feet of snow which was shocking. The next two had minimal snow and this last one had only 1-2 good storms. Any other questions, just let me know.

[Atlantica]

The crime rate is low, the weather.... hmmm well, all weather around here is unpredictable- we can be getting torrential downpours and Bourne (a few miles away on the other side of the Cape) could be getting blazing sun. This winter was cold and icy but significantly less snow than the south shore and boston areas. Sometimes the Cape gets crazy ocean effect snow storms other years, we are spared.

It's hard to classify whether it's suburban or rural as it is such a large, diversely developed area. I live in a development of 40 homes with 14 acres of association owned open space, bogs, trails, ocean beach and wooded areas. I looked in areas that were heavily settled with perfectly manicured lawns, picket fences and sidewalks. There were positive attributes about each area we looked in. For us, we found we needed to narrow our choices down to location in order to launch a focussed search.

The negatives I hear over and over again: tax rate and lack of services. I think most mean "no trash pickup" because I have not found any services lacking other than that.

[twiggy]

Just a side note: You guys getting ready for us summer vacationers up there? Do you think the economy will have an effect on the tourist this year? I might just stay this time! lol

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by Atlantica

The crime rate is low, the weather.... hmmm well, all weather around here is unpredictable- we can be getting torrential downpours and Bourne (a few miles away on the other side of the Cape) could be getting blazing sun. This winter was cold and icy but significantly less snow than the south shore and boston areas. Sometimes the Cape gets crazy ocean effect snow storms other years, we are spared.

It's hard to classify whether it's suburban or rural as it is such a large, diversely developed area. I live in a development of 40 homes with 14 acres of association owned open space, bogs, trails, ocean beach and wooded areas. I looked in areas that were heavily settled with perfectly manicured lawns, picket fences and sidewalks. There were positive attributes about each area we looked in. For us, we found we needed to narrow our choices down to location in order to launch a focussed search.

The negatives I hear over and over again: tax rate and lack of services. I think most mean "no trash pickup" because I have not found any services lacking other than that.

Have to ask, what do you do with your trash? Take it yourself to a drop off?

[Atlantica]

Not sure what the summer will bring as far as tourism. The only solid evidence I've heard is that one of the ships has been taken off of the Nantucket run because of lack of reservations. I'm thinking there might be some good deals to be had but I also think that if gas prices stay down, the Cape might still be a destination for many- maybe not for long term but at least day trips. This past weekend, there wasn't a parking space to be had along the canal. And all the local clam shacks and ice cream parlors had substantial lines.

Most of the restaurants we frequent are doing well and many of the local shop owners I've spoken to in town are happily holding their own and have successfully made it through a long winter.

As far as trash, you can hire someone for short $ or haul it yourself. The town has a "trash cam" so you can check the wait time at the landfill.

[twiggy]

Thanks! Well, I am glad to here you still have cash flow down there! Hopefully it will pick up by next summer.