If you could choose any suburb, which one... (Boston, Lynn: high school, contractors)

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

Inspectors definitely have a lot of leeway in their interpretation of the code and I've found sometimes they're more strict and sometimes they can be more lenient.

I've found it depends more on who did the work. If it's somebody they've inspected hundreds of times and it always meets code, the inspection is a 5 minute social call where they don't actually inspect anything. If it's somebody from out of town they don't know, they're fussy. If it's a DIY and they don't know the owner, they're really strict. Basic human nature.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by timberline742

True. And what I learned is that if there is a Mayor, it is a city. It appears that isn't 100% fool proof. North Providence RI is a town, and has a Mayor. I was sure it must be incorporated as a city, since there was a mayor, but it doesn't appear to be the case. Very curious. I hope I'm missing something there, because it flies in the face of what I was taught.

Let's go down the rabbit hole, shall we.....

RI allows cities or town to have any of these types of government structures:

council–manager
mayor–council
town council–town meeting
administrator–council.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by robr2

Let's go down the rabbit hole, shall we.....

RI allows cities or town to have any of these types of government structures:

council–manager
mayor–council
town council–town meeting
administrator–council.

Interesting. Thank you. It's just so very different from what I learned on government structures. But, that's RI for you.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Interesting. Thank you. It's just so very different from what I learned on government structures. But, that's RI for you.

Then NJ will throw you for a loop with township, borough, village, town, and city any of which can have one of 11 types of government. And don't get me started with places that aren't anyplace ie my in-laws lived in Marion County outside of Ocala, FL - it is a place that isn't a place.

[Vanderbiltgrad]

Weston and Wellesley.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by robr2

Then NJ will throw you for a loop with township, borough, village, town, and city any of which can have one of 11 types of government. And don't get me started with places that aren't anyplace ie my in-laws lived in Marion County outside of Ocala, FL - it is a place that isn't a place.

Different places have different set ups -- townships, cities, municipalities. The town where I lived before I moved here in PA was goofy and I could never figure it out. The city where I was told I lived and had my mail delivered was not actually where I lived. It was close by, but I did not live there. I lived in an area known as an unincorporated portion of the township where I lived. The schools were organized by township, but cities might straddle two or more townships, and thus their residents might attend two or even three or more different school systems. And some towns could straddle counties, too. I could never figure it out.

And my in-laws now live somewhere in or near Ocala, FL as well.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

Weston and Wellesley.

Yep.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

I would think if someone wanted someplace far different from Newton and had $2M to spend, they'd go to a town like Dover. But sure, I guess it is true that there exists *someone* out there who would pick Sharon above all other places. In a mathematical sense, the chances are something greater than zero. But I do not believe it applies to any significant number of people.

"In a mathematical sense". You really didn't get what I was saying at all.

I can't imagine anyone who could afford Newton (or Wellesley or Needham) would pick Sharon.

Maybe you don't mean it this way, but what you're saying is that the only reason people live in Sharon is that they're too poor to live somewhere better. Maybe you actually think that. Coming from the Louisiana, I've certainly heard the South described in similar terms (maybe exchanging ignorant for poor). And I'm sure it's true in some cases, but to think it's true in all (or almost all) is insulting.

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

Also, I am finding it odd that anyone is categorizing Newton as a "congested city." It is not at all what I think of when I hear the words "congested city." It's a higher density suburb, and there are parts of it with too much traffic (although where I lived before had too much traffic that you could not even drive through at certain hours, and the town was not at all what one would consider a city by any stretch).

It's all relative. Surely you can understand that Newton isn't all that dense for you, but might be a bit crowded for someone else.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

"In a mathematical sense". You really didn't get what I was saying at all.



Maybe you don't mean it this way, but what you're saying is that the only reason people live in Sharon is that they're too poor to live somewhere better. Maybe you actually think that. Coming from the Louisiana, I've certainly heard the South described in similar terms (maybe exchanging ignorant for poor). And I'm sure it's true in some cases, but to think it's true in all (or almost all) is insulting.



It's all relative. Surely you can understand that Newton isn't all that dense for you, but might be a bit crowded for someone else.

Not that they're "too poor to live somewhere better," but if, after all factors are considered, a family decides that they have $2 Million to spend on a house, I do not see why they would pick Sharon. Now, there certainly are people who would simply choose never to spend $2 Million on a house, for whatever reason. Maybe they prefer to have that cash in their retirement fund, or in stocks or bonds or on a vacation home. Those people could have the same amount of money or even more money than the people who have a $2 Million housing budget. That does not necessarily mean they would be considered "poor," at least by most people.

And I do not mean to pick on Sharon. I mentioned it in response to a post recommending Sharon in this particular instance, which I think simply does not make sense.

As far as density, yes, Newton is certainly more dense than many other places, and certainly there are people who would not like that. But to call it a "crowded city" just strikes me as odd. When I think "crowded city" I think Manhattan or Tokyo -- you know, a real *city* that is *crowded*. I understand that Newton is technically a "city," (as discussed in various replies above), but I don't think that anyone is buying based on that classification. Framingham just became a "city" and now has its first "mayor" but I doubt anyone bought in or moved out of Framingham based on that alone. Really, I just find it an odd descriptor. I think it would apply more to most of Cambridge. (Which is not to say that if it applies to Cambridge, it would be impossible for it to apply elsewhere, just that I don't think that phrase fits.)

[tysmith95]

Newton, for it's location only a few miles west of the back bay and downtown Boston, is acutally pretty spread out and uncongested.