Thoughts on Duxbury & South Shore? (Boston, Marshfield: fit in, spring break, house)

[Patapsco]

Hi there -

We're working on whittling down our long list of towns, and today I'm focused on the South Shore.

My husband will be commuting (preferably by ferry or train) to the financial district; I'm a stay at home mom of 2 toddlers, and our house budget we think (but not sure yet) will be in the $500-600K range, *maybe* can stretch to 650 for the "perfect" house/neighborhood.

While we know there's more bang for the buck inland, we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be near the water, if we can afford it. That said, our priorities are:

relative ease of commute to train/ferry, (and ideally an hour door-to-door), good schools, family-friendly environment (meaning lots of stuff to do with kids, etc), and welcoming (or at least not hostile, ) to newcomers (from MD), you know, the usual stuff...

Hingham/Cohasset look great, but I'm not sure we can swing buying there... which (finally!!) brings me to my questions about Duxbury!

1) The commute -

Is my guesstimate of it taking probably 1:15 door-to-door fair or accurate? Figuring an hour for the train, 5 minute walk to office, plus drive to train? More? Less?

I've looked up train schedules. I know from Kingston it's about an hour to S. Sta. how long does it take from Duxbury to Kingston? Mapquest says 13 minutes, but is that still true during rush hour?

is it better to go train via Kingston, or to drive up to one of the new Greenbush stations once they're open? Or does it matter?

How is the drive from Duxbury to Hingham to catch the ferry? Is that do-able, or is that something that only looks good on paper?

2) friendliness of Duxbury?

I've read on other posts it might be hard to "fit in" there unless you're a certain, um, income level? Or does anyone care? I don't want my kids growing up thinking they have to "buy" their friends, so to speak, but we all know how it can be being on the less affluent end of things, too...

Good schools are usually in more affluent areas, as are seaside towns, but I don't want to get us in over our heads, either, so any advice would be great.

Guess I sound like a real reverse-snob! Sorry! hopefully this makes sense.

Anything you all think I should take into account, I'd love to hear.

Thanks in advance,
Patapsco

[seldomseen]

Living on South Shore can be very nice depending on which town you live in. As a whole Duxbury, aka Deluxebury is a very nice town, and is considered very affluent. It does have it's "poor" sections though. Duxbury is a sought after town to live in if you can afford the price.

[baystater]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

Living on South Shore can be very nice depending on which town you live in. As a whole Duxbury, aka Deluxebury is a very nice town, and is considered very affluent. It does have it's "poor" sections though. Duxbury is a sought after town to live in if you can afford the price.

Ditto here on Duxbury.

[Patapsco]

Hi -

Thanks for responding. I guess I still have a few questions -

1) Is it better to take the train from Kingston, or to drive to one of the new Greenbush lines and drive from there?

2) Is it doable/desirable to drive up to catch the ferry at Hingham from Duxbury?
Or is that crazy?

3) by your comments, I'm assuming I'm on target that Duxbury's a great place to be with kids?

4) also, by the references to "affluent", does that mean that you need to be so yourself to be happy there? Or is it just an affluent area, that if you can find a house you can afford, you're still ok?

I ask b/c my folks moved heaven and earth to get me into better schools in the DC suburbs, in an affluent area... and we were NOT affluent ourselves... and a lot of the kids made my life a living hell, just b/c I wasn't being dropped off in a BMW, wearing designer jeans, skiing at Aspen for spring break, etc. etc.... do NOT want to subject my kids to the same...

thanks again,
P

[beachlady58]

Originally Posted by Patapsco

Hi -

Thanks for responding. I guess I still have a few questions -

1) Is it better to take the train from Kingston, or to drive to one of the new Greenbush lines and drive from there? They all are about the same.

2) Is it doable/desirable to drive up to catch the ferry at Hingham from Duxbury?
Or is that crazy? It's great but a 1/2 hour ride to the ferry

3) by your comments, I'm assuming I'm on target that Duxbury's a great place to be with kids? I live here - it is very sought after

4) also, by the references to "affluent", does that mean that you need to be so yourself to be happy there? Or is it just an affluent area, that if you can find a house you can afford, you're still ok? It's fine - no one is really too hung up on this.

I ask b/c my folks moved heaven and earth to get me into better schools in the DC suburbs, in an affluent area... and we were NOT affluent ourselves... and a lot of the kids made my life a living hell, just b/c I wasn't being dropped off in a BMW, wearing designer jeans, skiing at Aspen for spring break, etc. etc.... do NOT want to subject my kids to the same...

thanks again,

Hi- I posted the answers to your questions above. I have lived here for 15 years and it is a great place to raise kids. I blew off work today and went to the beach and THAT is why I live here. Have you been to the 7 mile beach here? It's great. The schools are great. The one thing is that it is VERY VERY COMPETITIVE in sports. My boys are training for 3 sports right now. Pleople move here for the sports and the lax. Send me a private message if you like. THere are a ton of great homes here in your price range right now -You cannot go wrong with Duxbury. PS no one calls it Deluxberry excpet the "wanna be's" -people that wanted Duxbury and settled for Marshfield

[baystater]

Originally Posted by beachlady58

Hi- I posted the answers to your questions above. I have lived here for 15 years and it is a great place to raise kids. I blew off work today and went to the beach and THAT is why I live here. Have you been to the 7 mile beach here? It's great. The schools are great. The one thing is that it is VERY VERY COMPETITIVE in sports. My boys are training for 3 sports right now. Pleople move here for the sports and the lax. Send me a private message if you like. THere are a ton of great homes here in your price range right now -You cannot go wrong with Duxbury. PS no one calls it Deluxberry excpet the "wanna be's" -people that wanted Duxbury and settled for Marshfield

Oh No! You didn't just call my town a bunch of want-a-be's did you? I can't let that slide. My town is not the highest on the tome pole and it not as exclusive as Duxbury. But is a good soild town for working class and lower middle class folk. And I much perfer that to Duxbury exclusiveness. I like the simple easy going life style marshfield offers. Plus great beaches as far as I'm concerned.
Also let face it. Duxbury is full of Cohassett what-a-be's. Cohassett is where the really high and mighty live. Most of the people in Duxbury dream of living there. They just can't afford it.
One last thing my high school football team is better than Duxbury's.
Go Rams!

[beachlady58]

Originally Posted by baystater

Oh No! You didn't just call my town a bunch of want-a-be's did you? I can't let that slide. My town is not the highest on the tome pole and it not as exclusive as Duxbury. But is a good soild town for working class and lower middle class folk. And I much perfer that to Duxbury exclusiveness. I like the simple easy going life style marshfield offers. Plus great beaches as far as I'm concerned.
Also let face it. Duxbury is full of Cohassett what-a-be's. Cohassett is where the really high and mighty live. Most of the people in Duxbury dream of living there. They just can't afford it.
One last thing my high school football team is better than Duxbury's.
Go Rams!

Baystater-Why would I want to go live in Cohasset where there is small almost non existant beach? I don't get it.

Don't they call your town "Marshvegas" ? Speaking of sports if you come into our gym you will see that our state championships for out number the Rams winnings. You may have beat us in football last year but do you remeber the few years prior to that? Lou Silva does! I am confident that you will not be happy this Thanksgiving!

[baystater]

Originally Posted by beachlady58

Baystater-Why would I want to go live in Cohasset where there is small almost non existant beach? I don't get it.

Don't they call your town "Marshvegas" ? Speaking of sports if you come into our gym you will see that our state championships for out number the Rams winnings. You may have beat us in football last year but do you remeber the few years prior to that? Lou Silva does! I am confident that you will not be happy this Thanksgiving!

1. Duxbury's football team is going to lose again.

2. Could care less why they call our town Marshvegas. Our Beaches are better and have more variety than Duxbury's one beach.

3. Cohasset is not just about the beach there. It's about high living with with really economic players.

Hey look Duxbury is a nice town with easier access to Boston than both Cohasset and Marshfield. But to be honest it just not my type of town. I like the old school blue collar feel. And Duxbury I just don't compare to Cohasset. Why do you think property cost so much there? Do you think it to spite Duxbury?

[beachlady58]

Originally Posted by baystater

1. Duxbury's football team is going to lose again.

2. Could care less why they call our town Marshvegas. Our Beaches are better and have more variety than Duxbury's one beach.

3. Cohasset is not just about the beach there. It's about high living with with really economic players.

Hey look Duxbury is a nice town with easier access to Boston than both Cohasset and Marshfield. But to be honest it just not my type of town. I like the old school blue collar feel. And Duxbury I just don't compare to Cohasset. Why do you think property cost so much there? Do you think it to spite Duxbury?

I guess that you are the Cohassett wanna be and had to settle for "blue collar" Marshvegas.

I could not disagree with you more about your post. Our football team has killed your most of the recent games that I have been to. I saw the team this year and I am confident of a win. Our "rival" town is actually not Mfield but Hingham.

Your many beaches are not as good as our 1. Duxbury does not have better access to Boston than Mfield or Cohassett. I guess we could not disagree more.

[baystater]

Originally Posted by beachlady58

I guess that you are the Cohassett wanna be and had to settle for "blue collar" Marshvegas.

I could not disagree with you more about your post. Our football team has killed your most of the recent games that I have been to. I saw the team this year and I am confident of a win. Our "rival" town is actually not Mfield but Hingham.

Your many beaches are not as good as our 1. Duxbury does not have better access to Boston than Mfield or Cohassett. I guess we could not disagree more.

1. Again Marshfield Rams Will prevail.

2. "I guess that you are the Cohassett wanna be and had to settle for "blue collar" Marshvegas."
I have not assumed anything personal about you or made any personal attacks against you in specific. Please don't do that to me. It's just rude and against the rules of citydata. And no I like Marshfield I wish to live there. But If I had to choose between the Cohasset And Duxbury. I would obviously choose Cohasset.

3. Lastly we can debate easier access to Boston but Duxbury has a closer shot to the highway that Marhfield remember we have through either Duxbury or Pembroke to get to the highway.

4. Again Marshield beaches in my mind are better and more varied than Duxbury's One beach. Of course we will have to agree to disagree on that one.