Lesbian family relocating to MA (Boston, Worcester: housing, rent, income)

[carrot juice]

Top Lesbian Cities & Towns

1. Northampton, Massachusetts

Dubbed as "Lesbianville U.S.A." by the The National Enquirer in 1992, Northampton, MA is the best city in America for lesbians. The Northampton area has always been a great place to live, and because gays and lesbians can get legally married in Massachusetts, it tops our list. Northampton is a small town, but because of the numerous universities, including Smith College, Northampton has all the cultural offerings of a big city.

[willdufauve]

People calling Northampton "Lesbianville - USA" isn't entirely neutral. I'd say a lot of people use the term as positive, with a sense of humor and something close to genuine affection.

Northampotn's Mayor, Mary Clare Higgins, is out, and she is generally well liked and respected, any political differences notwithstanding.

Easthampton is a more blue collar, conservative community than Northampton but the schools there are very good and houses are a little less $.

The Northampton Lesbian Pride day parade isn't the big event it used to be but you can still go dancing at Diva's.

[wheelmannn]

You can get a great house in northampton for 400k and finding a health care job should not be to hard as there are 5 hospitals with in a 25 minute ride and 1 hospital right in northampton. Not sure on landing a job in the other field but for what your looking for I would think hamp would be about the best place in the country for what your looking for.

[bibit612]

What about Provincetown? But I guess not too many jobs, huh?

[capecodcathy]

Ptown, probably not. For health care and associated professions, you'd have to go to Hyannis (Cape Cod Hospital for Falmouth Hospital).
What about the areas surrounding Lahey Clinic?

[goyguy]

No worries, carrotjuice, things can be taken out of context and interpreted all kinds of ways. I've been flamed plenty of times by people who had absolutely no clue about where I was coming from and jumped to their own (wrong) conclusions. It comes with the territory, or should I say 'net-itory.

As much as I hesitate to throw out job referrals to complete strangers, I still want to make known a service organization called Commonwealth Care Alliance. This group works to facilitate continuing-care services for Massachusetts' senior and/or disabled and/or special-needs citizens. I can visualize both of the women in this couple finding suitable and satisfying employment with them. Their Web address is commonwealthcare dot org; they're headquartered in downtown Boston, and - full disclosure - a personal friend is on their board of directors.

In this market it's not completely unheard of to find a nice house at or near $400k. But it's still not easy. The trade-off is always going to be quality of schools and level of known social openness versus affordability. I have to take partial exception to an earlier poster's words about Arlington. That town is transitioning somewhat as its older "urban refugees" die off or move away or go into assisted living. Its newest wave of residents is a new breed of urban refugees - those who dwelled in Cambridge or Boston but were priced out of the market and/or had a child reach school age. The sensibilities of many of those folks (and a relaxing of the local "blue laws") has brought in a plethora of good restaurants as well as other "Cambridge" amenities like yoga centers and multicultural gift shops. All the same, memories die hard and some of Arlington's reputation stays justified. A friend of mine who happens to be a middle-aged professional AA woman refuses to drive through there unaccompanied; she'll take a 15-minute detour because of all the times she's been pulled over for "DWB" and no other reason. A self-titled "progressive minded and sick of the suburbs" adolescent male belched paragraph upon paragraph of homophobic drivel in his blog after he imagined that a gay man in his Arlington neighborhood was "f-ing watching" him mow the lawn shirtless. Few people of color, excepting a small but visible cohort of Asians, live there. So while you see more Patagonia and North Face jackets on downtown pedestrians, library visitors, etc, and while there's a larger number of Volvos and Saabs on Mass. Ave and in municipal parking lots, the core groupthink in that town remains slanted towards an "us and them" mentality. I know personally of one Lesbian couple and a few Jewish households who dwell in Arlington and have made it work, but hesitate to suggest that it be put on a short list of communities to look into.

No one's mentioned the Berkshires yet. Pittsfield's Berkshire Medical Center and associated practices, agencies, etc might be in hiring mode. Williamstown and Great Barrington have some variety in their populations to go with a progressive reputation. Massachusetts' westernmost county is where you'd find the most land for the least money, along with no terrible school systems and some respectable ones (Monument Mountain - Great Barrington, Lenox, Pittsfield, Lee, Williamstown.)

[brightdoglover]

Ptown is not an option.NO WORK nowhere for nobody, and housing is outlandish due to summer tourists and outside second-home money. I doubt it's much of an environment for children, although of course there must be some. Oddly, it would be lesbian-friendly, but not very kid-friendly.
Anecdotally, I think Ptown is much more a haven for gay men than women.
Life there in the off-season is *very off*.

[capecodcathy]

Originally Posted by carrot juice

Top Lesbian Cities & Towns

1. Northampton, Massachusetts

Dubbed as "Lesbianville U.S.A." by the The National Enquirer in 1992, Northampton, MA is the best city in America for lesbians. The Northampton area has always been a great place to live, and because gays and lesbians can get legally married in Massachusetts, it tops our list. Northampton is a small town, but because of the numerous universities, including Smith College, Northampton has all the cultural offerings of a big city.

Well.....if the National Enquirer said it........

[capecodcathy]

Pardon me if I'm a little sensitive to the "Lesbianville" comment. I'm the daughter of two Moms and have experienced the snide remarks of many people as far back as the 70's. Thirty years has not changed much.
I guess you'd have to have been subjected to it, to be so sensitive.

[carrot juice]

Originally Posted by capecodcathy

Pardon me if I'm a little sensitive to the "Lesbianville" comment. I'm the daughter of two Moms and have experienced the snide remarks of many people as far back as the 70's. Thirty years has not changed much.
I guess you'd have to have been subjected to it, to be so sensitive.

Hey, I believe you. People don't change much, which is why I prefer to live in more liberal areas.