Young family moving to Eastern MA - suggestions?? (Boston, Worcester: renting, high crime)

[nborg678]

My husband and I with our 2 year old moved from KCMO to Massachusetts for work. Currently we are renting a home in Plymouth until we find a place to purchase.
Our jobs do not really limit us to one specific area - he works from home and I travel from Newburyport out to Worcester, all over Boston and surrounding areas, South Shore and RI.
We are really looking for something within 1 hour of Boston (in case either of our jobs change and we have to commute) and that has a nice downtown area that we can walk to - restaurants, shops, nice outdoor feel to it. We love Plymouth just for that but we are looking to consider other towns as well.
Schools are important for obvious reasons - oh, and we don't want to spend $1M on a Cape home with 1200sqft!!
Any suggestions??

[kmann-sherborn]

For towns with a great town center, shops, restaurants, and nice outdoor feel plus well rated schools I'd recommend:

- Marblehead
- Rockport
- Concord
- Wellesley

They're all very desirable towns with a lot to offer. Marblehead & Rockport are probably a little less convenient for access but are very lovely and definitely worth exploring. Please feel free to drop me a line if you'd like more info. Those are top towns that many of our clients explore.

Have a great night.

[MikePRU]

Can you give us an idea of your budget? There are lots and lots of great towns in MA some more desirable than others and prices can vary quite a bit from town-to-town.

[unit731]

"oh, and we don't want to spend $1M on a Cape home with 1200sqft!! "


What does that mean?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by unit731

"oh, and we don't want to spend $1M on a Cape home with 1200sqft!! "


What does that mean?

It means they don't want to spend a lot of money and end up with a small, older home. At least that's my guess.

[Scrub]

I would consider Mashpee MA. Its a little more of a commute, but the new town center of Mashpee Commons is in the middle of a 20 year plan which if you can be near would be nice IMO.
Otherwise Plymouth, Marshfield, Duxbury, Concord and many more.
Most towns in MA have town centers with restaurants. The older towns closer to Boston have better public transportation and access to the commuter train.
Your going to pay more and find older homes in just about every town center that you could walk home after a night out.
You really need to weigh being close to town and newer construction. For a $M you could build a brand new home on the Cape. The closer you get to Boston that number will only go up.
BTW, I built custom homes in the area for over 20 years. Plymouth is a great town and would look right there, but study your neighborhoods carefully.
Unfortunately the local public housing has a pretty high crime rate. The police actually shoot and killed a 17 old kid trying to escape from a B&E in a car a few years back who lived there.
Hope that helps some! :-)

[klysik]

nborg678, a better idea of your budget would greatly determine which location may be best..I totally get the comment about spending $1M and not ending up with a small cape, but does that mean you want to spend $1M but just get a much bigger house for the money? Like most areas, the south shore is so diverse that sometimes it comes right down the the $.
Right away I would suggest Newburyport..the best downtown walking area hands down (I lived there as well as Plymouth and downtown Boston) and the schools are good (Unfortunately, Plymouth schools aren't as good as Newburyport). I would hesitate to say anything over the bridge towards the cape unless you want to deal w/terrible bridge traffic in the summer. Hingham is a great walking town but I am sure $700k is probably the average price of a home..if not higher.