Moving to Hingham or nearby (Boston, Plymouth: rental, house, neighborhood)

[ach]

We're moving to Boston area soon and I was wondering which town we should pick on the South Shore near the water...we will be working in Boston Financial district. I've heard Hingham is good - is this true and are there any specific areas in Hingham which are better or should be avoided? How is the school system; which elementary schools are good? Also, do you know of any preschools in the area that are good? how is Cohasset, Scituate or Marshfield compared to Hingham? Thanks a lot in advance

[Patapsco]

Hi there -

There are plenty of posts on these towns to give you some idea, so you might try using the search feature, as well as the data pages on the city-data website. And of course other sources, too...

On the preschool situation, the Hingham Newcomers Club puts out a directory of preschools which has been incredibly helpful! For obvious reasons, most are in or near to Hingham, but it's a great starting point.

You don't say what your budget is, other criteria might be, etc., and that may help steer us in giving you advice.

We haven't actually moved up yet but have been researching the same areas, with the same commute.

Good luck!

[ach]

Thanks Patapsco - I"m quite new to this so please bear with me. Our house budget is about 800K. Really, the following factors are important to us: schools system/pre-schools and safety, close to beach/water, "village feel', housing, commute to Boston max 45 min-overall the best compromise between these factors within our budget. I will look more specifically into schools system and housing in these towns, however I have difficulty actually finding out if they are any good (and which ones in for ex Hingham is the best elementary school etc). Great idea re the Newcomers Club I will have a look. You say you have not moved up yet, does that mean you also are planning to move there from another state/area/country?

Cheers

[Patapsco]

Hi again -

Yes, we're moving up from the Baltimore/Columbia, Maryland area.

We found a furnished rental house to live in while we look for something to buy.

For school-hunting, check out Greatschools.net
They rank based solely on test scores, but at least they also provide some demographics like student:teacher ratios, % of kids getting free lunch, etc.
The best is to be able to sit in on PTA meetings, etc., but that doesn't help when you're doing this from far away...

Like my husband said this morning: who knows what a high school will be like by the time our kids would be students there. (They're 2 and 1 now)

The basic rule of thumb (PC or not...) is that the more educated/higher-income a community is, the better the schools, GENERALLY.

On the commute... Hingham is your absolute best bet for a 45 minute commute, at least for South Shore. That's what we were hoping for, too, but it seems we don't really have the budget for Hingham. You'll be fine with $800, I think.

How old are your kids? When are you moving?

Take care,
K

[Patapsco]

ps: Cohasset has more of a "village feel" but is further off the beaten track a bit, which of course is good and bad, depending.

There are 2 preschools there that I know of, but don't know much about either one.

Scituate and Marshfield are more affordable, but according to GreatSchools.net they don't score as highly, and probably don't have the budgets of Hingham/Cohasset, either. Certainly doesn't make them bad schools, though, I suppose. Don't know much about it, aside from the internet. Maybe some locals can chime in, here?

[ach]

Thanks a lot - very useful tips! It's difficult to decide the are we wanna move to without visiting, so we're planning a trip to MA soon to have a look around. My husband already have a house in Marshfiled (that he's renting out), so I guess the options are either to move in there then decide if we wanna move to Hingham later or sell it and buy something in Hingham right away...let's see. What areas r u looking at now? Do you know how the school systems work - i.e. are u automatically accepeted into the nearest public school or will they place you whereever there is an open spot? Our son is 4 years old, so we will be looking at pre-schools / pre-kindergarten first, then elementary schools. Guess we need to go private for that - especially since we need to have access to the before-and after 'school' program too (we will both be working full-time). Not planning to move until Sep at the earliest - maybe later. What about you?

Cheers
C.

[BogieOrangeman]

Originally Posted by Patapsco

ps: Cohasset has more of a "village feel" but is further off the beaten track a bit, which of course is good and bad, depending.

There are 2 preschools there that I know of, but don't know much about either one.

Scituate and Marshfield are more affordable, but according to GreatSchools.net they don't score as highly, and probably don't have the budgets of Hingham/Cohasset, either. Certainly doesn't make them bad schools, though, I suppose. Don't know much about it, aside from the internet. Maybe some locals can chime in, here?

From personal experience, I found Scituate to be lacking compared to Cohasset and Hingham when I graduated in 1999. When I arrived at college, I felt like I lacked many of the advanced classes and opportunities many other students had. I've heard they've improved since 99, but according to rankings I know towns like Hingham and Norwell are fairly highly rated for the area.

[RESouthShore]

Hingham is a nice town and there are not any really bad areas per se. If you like the old fashioned, antique look, homes off of Main Street and in South Hingham would suit your needs. If you like the beach and water views but with homes much closer together, try Crow Point. If you like lots of kids and an old fashioned neighborhood feel, Liberty Pole might work for you. There are tons of sidewalks everywhere and on Main Street the sidewalks are set way back so that you are not right next to the traffic. South Elementary has had overcrowding problems but is considered a good school. It doesn't have much land around it and the playground is small. Plymouth River Elementary also has a good reputation and has lots of grass, fields, etc. around it. Out of all of the elementary schools Foster probably has the worst reputation. It is still a good school compared to many town though and some of the negative reputation is just incorrect perception.

Right now you would do alright buyng a home with $800 k. The average price of homes on the market in Hingham right now is $936,000 so you might not get as much house as you'd like for the money. You might want to check into Norwell and Hanover which have good school systems and the home prices are lower. Hingham definitely wins hands down for the upscale atmosphere out of those three but depending on what your needs are, one of the other towns might work just as well for you.

Good luck!
Katie