Littleton? Stow? (Boston, Cambridge, Arlington: houses, rent, job)

[MovingForward]

Hi all. We presently live in Arlington, which I love, but eventually I think we will probably move a bit further out in order to have a bit bigger house and a lot more land (at least an acre--we are actively involved in animal rescue). We love the Stow/Littleton area. Anybody have any information on what life is like in them thar parts??? Thanks.

[brightdoglover]

Littleton is wonderful. A lot of houses have larger lots due to the septic system requirements. I don't know what the dog restrictions might be (outside of a leash law) because I'm into adopting senior mutts and currently likely have more than I'm supposed to... I live on a half-acre, which is sort of isolated in the middle of other people's trees or wetlands or such. I fenced in the quarter acre of lawn, and have a quarter acre of trees between me and the quiet back road.
Littleton no longer has an animal control officer- shares one with Groton, I think. Lots of dog people around.
I don't know much about Stow, except it's bigger than Littleton, very nice, and likely has properties with larger lots, and is likely more expensive than Littleton.
The library here is wonderful. A lot of people here are from here, so people like being here. There are about 1/4 populaton over-65, from the post-war moving here. There are modest houses and more expensive newer houses, which I must admit are pretty nice, not big boxes and not McMansions. There's *a lot* of conservation land with nice trails, and the leash laws are not observed there (not that I saw, anyway). There's a nice rural feel, but only 20 miles straight shot to my job in Belmont.
Ironically, I was in East Arlington the other day, thinking of how it would be a good place for my old age (as Cambridge/Arlington were for my younger years).
Don't know your budget, but there are older properties with outbuildings and large lots of land, and you will see the occasional horse.
I have six mutts, ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 17. I figure that you can have more dogs if they're older/calmer.
I wish you well and thank you for your rescue work. Feel free to direct mail me if you like.

[MovingForward]

I completely forgot about this thread! Thank you so much, brightdoglover, for your response. We're still ruminating on Littleton. I've heard that Rt. 2 is a real nightmare during the rush hour commute--do you find this to be so?

Bless you for your kind heart in rescuing the senior dogs. They are so very difficult to place. Arlington has a 3-dog limit.

[goyguy]

I'm "tickled" that BDL saw this thread - talk about two peas in a pod! :-)
There are few dissimilarities between Littleton and Stow, except that - yes - being more "landed" would be somewhat easier to accomplish in Stow. Nearby Bolton, Pepperell, and Dunstable are much the same in that regard. Littleton trivia: it's the only town in Massachusetts with a separate Center and Common. It's also the only town out of the five I've brought up which has a commuter rail station (on the Fitchburg line out of North Station, first stop west of South Acton - which happens to be the terminus of many of the trains on that line.) Route 2 does get snarled, around the West Concord rotary in particular, thanks to its narrowing west of 128. So why buck the traffic if the train means you don't have to? If you do have to drive, there are interchanges on 495 with direct access to Littleton (one of which is via 2A, which forks off from Route 2 at said rotary.) Getting to Route 2 from Stow would mean either contending with twisting, two-lane roads (Route 117 or 62) or going out of your way to 495 in Bolton.
Two more Stow/Littleton distinctions I've come up with as I type are: somewhat better opportunities for taking care of day-to-day errands in Littleton (i.e. its own Donelan's grocery store), and - for those to whom this is important - the church serving local UU's is in Stow.
Would children (aged 4-17) be involved in this move? Schools matter. You'd be better off staying in Arlington if so IMHO.
And, are you dead set on moving northwestward? If not, also consider the relatively inexpensive North Shore towns of Wenham, Rowley, Middleton, and Essex. South of the city, Halifax, Plympton, Norfolk, and Wrentham are four more localities which remain somewhat affordable as well as at least semi-rural. Friends of mine were able to significantly trade up when they moved out of the city, swapping a spacious house with postage-stamp lot for a rambling dwelling on FOUR acres in Norfolk. "My 2 cents"

[brightdoglover]

I don't drive during rush hour- I drive east on Rt.2 at 11p at night (to Belmont) and back west at 7:30a. Even around 7-8a, traffic does seem quite backed up on Rt. 2- I think a lot of people come down 495, and take Rt.2 east, or are headed to 128. I don't know if I'd call it "a nightmare" (like 93 south) but it is crowded. The few times I've had to go in to town during "normal" working hours, if I left Littleton at 6:30a, I'd get to Belmont at 7a. If you leave after 6:30, roughly, it gets incrementally more crowded. (For a period of time, I had to get to South Boston at 8a- there was no reason to try unless I left around 6:15.

[brightdoglover]

P.S. Regarding senior dogs, I lost one since I first posted. Age 17, cattle dog mix I got at age 14. Curiously, my only major vet bills were both from the two Corgi/Border Collie mutts I got as puppies- one died at age 11 of a rare liver failure (spent four days at Tufts) and his brother was in the ER for three days last winter after being attacked by another dog. My other seniors are healthy, and most dogs tend to go downhill "of old age," not of debilitating ongoing treatable diseases, like people.
I do love the seniors. I have my eye on a chow mix, a Katrina rescue out at Best Friends in Utah. Gotta branch out from the herders.
Everyone has an animal niche, and mine is older herding-type mutts, usually male, although I've branched out twice to girls.

[findingmesomeday]

Schools in Stow aren't good?

[brightdoglover]

Yes, they are, as far as I know.

[BostonYoureMyHome]

Schools in Stow are good.

Not sure why anyone would mention that Littleton has its own Donelan's as a difference, as there is a large Shaw's in Stow on 117. Stow is smaller and has that small town feel to it. It's close enough to big roads like 495 and 290, but there are lots of farms too. I've often thought I'd like to settle in Stow someday. It's a neat little town.

[smarty]

I'm not sure about Stow is close enough to big roads like 495 and 290. How close is it? I find that I need about 20 minutes just to get to a major highway (unlike Littleton).

If you like a quiet town and farms, it is a great choice.