Family Relocating to Boston Area - Please Advise (Quincy, Peabody: rent, mortgage)

[SwiftCreek]

Wow! You guys are awesome! The recruiting manager called me this afternoon and told me he would personally drive me around Ashland & Southboro. I agree with NY'er's opinion on schools. I was raised in a podunk farming town southeast of Montreal and made it through grad school at BU and MIT (although I never spent time in the burbs). My wife and I believe that the family and community raise the child, not tutors focussed on test scores.

Southborough sounds like my personal first choice, but Ashland's proximity to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods might sway my wife. We don't want to be in a busy area so Framingham gets bumped. Medfield is too far out too.

Do you have suggestions for neighborhoods in those towns? I will not be able to take the commuter rail more than a few times a week as I will need to visit client sites from time to time. I would probably leave for the office (when driving) by 7:00 am so I don't think traffic will be too much of a problem. right?

Thanks again. All feedback is greatly appreciated!

[MagicTouch]

LOL .... There's a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods on Middlesex Turnpike next to the Burlingon Mall in Burlington.

[SwiftCreek]

I take back some of what I said. My wife is still curious about Newburyport. One of the people I will be working with lives there and says he drives in (6:30am) and it takes 40-45 minutes. Does anyone have info on that area? My wife thinks it's beautiful (and her best friend conveniently lives in Hampton, NH).

Thanks again :-)

[2KidsforMe]

Swiftcreek-I live in Southborough and love it. I think we have a great location. Close to all of the shopping in Natick and Framingham, as well as Westborough, but not too close. It takes me about 15 minutes to get to the Trader Joes. I'm over by the Commuter rail station, just to give you an idea of timing. There are no bad neighborhoods. Some are older with smaller homes, some are full of mega-mansions. It depends on your price range. As far as developments go, I like Liberty Estates & Woodbury Estates, but there isn't anything for sale there right now. Homes there typicall run from the high 600's to maybe the mid to uper 800's. Shipper Farms is nice, and a lot of the real estate homes are located off Sears Road or East Main St.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by SwiftCreek

I take back some of what I said. My wife is still curious about Newburyport. One of the people I will be working with lives there and says he drives in (6:30am) and it takes 40-45 minutes. Does anyone have info on that area? My wife thinks it's beautiful (and her best friend conveniently lives in Hampton, NH).

Thanks again :-)

I don't know a lot of detail about that area, but I do know Newburyport has a reputation as a really nice town. From the little I do know of that area, the one concern I might raise would be commuting time, given what you listed as your preferred time. It depends on the time of day you would usually be commuting, and where you'd be commuting to, such as whether you would always be driving into downtown Boston or would be meeting clients at different places around the metro area. That commute that runs 40-45 minutes at 0630 is going to jump dramatically in the time it takes if you're looking at leaving an hour or hour and a half later.

[2KidsforMe]

I love Newburyport, and we even looked up there before settling on Southborough. The trouble we had with it was that it seemed so hard to get in and out of there, and it was a bit of a drive to any major shopping or dining centers.

[SwiftCreek]

I spent 2 days in Newburyport this week and it was hard trying to look outside the area. The town is definitely a destination town. However, I enjoy coaching 2 soccer teams and if i'm stuck driving 1+ hours each way, I know i'll have to kiss that activity goodbye. My wife kept asking where the shopping was (when we were in NBPT) and we were told it was in Peabody or Seabrook, NH. It sounds like the consensus is that NBPT is beautiful, but the commute would be a challenge. My office is in the financial district which makes any commuter rail into south station much more appealing too. I'll have to share these postings with my wife this weekend.

2KidsforMe - was Newburyport similar in price to Southborough? The housing market was dead up there. We went into a nice reproduction cape on 1.25 ac that had been on the market for 4 mos. Ironically, we were the 1st showing in 4 mos. Price had also dropped about $50k. Is the market in Southborough/Ashland that soft?

[NY'er lost in MA]

Originally Posted by haberstroh

PS: One more thing, shopping is just not as great as in NJ, does not even come close. Not even the main routes like 9 and 1. What's up with that? :-)

One suggestion: the new Natick Mall....

But sure...nothing like Paramus shopping....

[NY'er lost in MA]

Ok- we moved to Ashland from Salem, MA.

Let me give full detail on the commute to and from the North Shore Swift...

I too work very close to the Financial District in the Seaport District at times and also work on the road visiting clients.

I would leave Salem (26 miles from downtown) at 7:15am and get in right at 9am. 95 and 93 are HORRIBLE. The entire state of New Hampshire commutes in on 93. Bumper to bumper- the whole way- everyday.

Some days I would be out visiting clients and be able to break away early and head north around 2:30-3pm. Guess what? Traffic! 40-45 minutes to get back to Salem. Ridiculous. And just a tip- NEVER try heading north on 93 at 5-6pm...

Ok...so that is Salem. Well...Newburyport is 45 miles north of downtown. And guess what roads you will have to take in and out of the city? Drum roll.....

95 and 93- the death traps! Oh and not to be a punk, but your colleague that supposedly gets in in 40-45 minutes.....how fast is he driving? Downtown in 45-46 miles from Newburyport. Care to change your answer Being totally honest- that commute is going to be a minimum of 1.5 hours each way. With accidents and the frequent road work, you're looking at 2 hours easily.

The one point I will agree on is that the town is beautiful. But with your observation that it is a 'destination' town, comes alot of tourism. And that means traffic and yahoos during the summer.

The North Shore also has a complete lack of good shopping. The malls in Peabody are decent, but not great- they are 10 minutes apart from one another.

The other day I left my house at 7:30am (Ashland), went through the drive through at Dunkies, on the Pike at around 7:45am. Thick traffic all the way into the city with it backed up a little at the tolls at the 95 junction. Either way- the traffic is moving at about 45-50mph...so steadily along. I got into the Seaport District which is farther than where you would be going at 8:35am.

Commutes- hands down...Metrowest is much better.

Swifty- I'd be happy to tour you around and show you some of the highlights of the area.

Also- there is a Starbucks and Dunkies right up the road, a Quiznos, Cold Stone Creamery, and a 4-5 star Tuscan restaurant. (Southborough)

We live right on the Southborough border BTW..

[2KidsforMe]

I've seen some 50k price reductions in Southborough too. When we were looking a year and a half ago, Newburyport was just a tad cheaper than Southborough for comparable houses. As you got closer to the water the prices went up a lot. Like I said, we loved Newburyport, but it felt so remote, even though milage wise it may not be. We have gone up there in the winter, and it was soooo quiet.
Right now there are some nice homes in Southborough in the high 600's that maybe would have been $750 a year ago. Be mindfull that Southborough has several "through" roads that run through it. I personally would not want to live on one. I prefer a more neighborhood setting. Sometimes you see nice new construction that seems well priced, only to find out that it sits on a through street. The traffic isn't heavy per se, but if you have kids, I wouldn't like it. It might be tough to find something in Southborough for under 500k, but not impossible. It all depends on your comfort level, but we stretched a bit to buy a nice home here, and we are glad we did. BTW, the new Natick Mall is beautifull. We are only about 7 miles away. I'm a Southern California girl at heart, and I love my malls

p.s NY'er, we must be neighbors. I live on the Ashland line. We go to the Starbucks all the time!