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Old 03-14-2016, 10:50 AM
 
3,808 posts, read 3,119,507 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 495neighbor View Post
Seconding Ayer for the OPs list. Hudson and Maynard too.
Ayer's a very reasonable short term solution, but there's no way I'd send a kid through the school system. I rented in Ayer for two years and while perfectly safe, it's inhabited by some truly impoverished and under-educated families. There were moments when the town felt indistinguishable from rural Georgia and I found myself romantically longing for Lowell as though it were Cambridge. For those with kids, I'd recommend seeking out other towns. With OP's kid being a toddler, he can afford to rent there a few years and decide whether the town is making a turn for the better ... it seems to be.
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Old 03-14-2016, 02:36 PM
 
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As someone currently raising a toddler in Ayer, I have nothing but good things to say about the day care facilities in the area and the available playgrounds, recreation. Although you will meet people that fall under Shrewsburried's description, they are not the whole town. If you are just renting for a year or two, I think you'll be fine.

Maynard, Hudson, Sterling -- all good suggestions. If you want more restaurant options, Chelmsford is worth checking out. Groton is nice, but not many rentals. Further out on 119 (Townsend, etc.) are nice but the commute would be a pain.
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Old 03-14-2016, 06:13 PM
 
Location: North Quabbin, MA
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As others have covered - Ayer, Sterling, Leominster, are good suggestions for quick commute. Littleton or Acton also would be quick commute to Devens and on the commuter rail line, though more expensive and not much in the way of widely walkable centers there. Sterling also has no destination center but is a very nice rural residential town. Maynard or Hudson have nice town centers, walkable, but no rail line. Ayer is in the same mold as these latter two but less cleaned up, has the benefit of rail line though. Clinton, also in the same mold, may be the farthest behind on the revitalization curve but also in striking distance and has some good neighborhoods but overall a somewhat down n out vibe still hanging on.
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Old 03-14-2016, 08:55 PM
 
3,808 posts, read 3,119,507 times
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Originally Posted by FCMA View Post
As others have covered - Ayer, Sterling, Leominster, are good suggestions for quick commute. Littleton or Acton also would be quick commute to Devens and on the commuter rail line, though more expensive and not much in the way of widely walkable centers there. Sterling also has no destination center but is a very nice rural residential town. Maynard or Hudson have nice town centers, walkable, but no rail line. Ayer is in the same mold as these latter two but less cleaned up, has the benefit of rail line though. Clinton, also in the same mold, may be the farthest behind on the revitalization curve but also in striking distance and has some good neighborhoods but overall a somewhat down n out vibe still hanging on.
On point post, but now that I've spent time in both Ayer and Clinton, I find Ayer to be decidedly weirder. It's not that Ayer isn't generally nicer (it is), rather, it's that a considerable percentage of its population "just ain't from here". It has a transient vibe which Clinton, in my limited experience, just doesn't have. Clinton may feel a bit depressed, but Ayer feels like a different state when the locals are out and about. An oddly non-new England culture.

If OP were to rent Ayer, I suggest staying in the downtown area near the rail trail. There's a decent mix of SFHs there and good access to everything. As a dog owner, I loved Ayers walkability ... particularly with the rail trail into Groton.
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