Cheapest places to live 45-60 min from Boston?

[lrfox]

^Or they could use public transportation which is readily available all along the Route 2 corridor from Fitchburg into Boston?

I won't pretend that Leominster and Fitchburg are my favorite places on the planet. However, it irks me that so many people in Massachusetts tend to write off entire cities/towns based on stereotypes and generalizations. It often comes from two places:
1) Those who have NEVER lived there and only passed through or hit a shopping center or two. As if you can get a solid feel for a town from driving through at 50mph or going to a strip mall or two.
2) Those who have NEVER lived anywhere else. These folks can be excellent when recommending a pizza place, but their point of view is skewed as they have no relative perspective. When it comes to the urban areas, many of these folks were born there and are "stuck." because of higher costs outside of MA's secondary cities. As they say, the grass is always greener.

The biggest problems with these secondary cities (like Leominster and Fitchburg) are 1) Perception (negative), 2) Schools, and 3) Socioeconomics (larger minority population than their suburban and rural neighbors and generally poorer). Crime would be fourth (and not at all unrelated to numbers 2 and 3).

Perception- Generally people perceive these places as bad. The hardest thing to change about any city is the perception. Even if it gentrifies and crime decreases, it takes years to get people to come around based on preconceived notions. This isn't to say Leominster or Fitchburg are in the midst of major improvement (to my knowledge they aren't), but they are victims of negative perception. In Massachusetts this is worsened by the fact that most people see Boston as THE "city" and everything else as "other." It's a small state geographically and the older cities in the eastern half of the state are essentially urban suburbs of Boston now. They aren't, however, traditional suburbs and that leads many to write them off entirely. The reality is that even the worst cities in MA have some nice really nice, livable neighborhoods. Generally at a great value too. Some cities (like Lowell, Worcester, New Bedford and Haverhill) are getting some recognition for their revitalizations and being nice, affordable urban alternatives to Boston; but the overall perception of Massachusetts' "other" cities is fairly negative.

Schools While the schools in many of these secondary urban areas can be passable for the right student, they generally range from mediocre to bad... especially when compared against the better funded suburban counterparts. Many of these cities have nice neighborhoods, but the schools are for everyone and many of these schools can't afford to provide good educations for all of the kids. Without kids, the school issue is no problem.

Socioeconomics Because of the fact that these cities are often cheaper than the more affluent suburbs, you have much larger poor, immigrant populations there. It's probably more apparent due to the fact that many of MA's older cities are industrial centers that have lost much (nearly all) of the industry that shaped them and morphed into urban suburbs to Boston. It's often a major turn off for white suburbanites to see these poorer minority populations. No one will call themselves prejudice or racist; but in lilly-white New England many find this bothersome. If you don't fear that anyone with less money than you or a different skin color is a "criminal," then you can do just fine in these cities. What's more is that even in the worst of the cities, there are still fairly white, fairly affluent neighborhoods.

Crime Perhaps the most overblown gripe of all of these smaller cities is that crime is "sooo bad!" With only a few exceptions, it's not. Most of these cities are safer than Boston and many of the larger cities in the region. On a national level, cities like Fitchburg, Lowell, Haverhill, Leominster, etc. are all actually pretty safe. As with any urban area, crime does exist, but it's overblown. Way overblown.


In a nutshell, you can find excellent value in some of these "dumps," especially if schools are no concern (even if they are, private and charter schools are always and option). It's a shame that people feel it's OK to write an entire city off. Sure, those cities aren't for everyone. However, they can be a lifesaver for someone looking for value near Boston. They may even surprise you with what they do offer.

[brightdoglover]

The problem I see with listing a commute by minutes of driving is that, if you're coming into Boston/Cambridge by car, you spend more time sitting in traffic as you get closer to the city if you're driving in normal rush hour times. So, it could take you a relatively few minutes to get from, say, Gardner, to the Concord Rotary, and then you could spend a whole lot of time wasted sitting in traffic on Rt.2 in towards town.
I drive 20 miles door-to-door from the Ayer area on Rt.2 to Belmont. It takes about 25 minutes. But I drive in at night and out in the morning and look at the traffic clogged up going into town in the morning as I sail home west on Rt. 2.

[Bostonmania]

Malden is really quick and convenient, and they have cheap rentals. I dont know if you have kids but the some of the schools aren't very nice. Could you be a little more specific about what you're looking for?