Relocating to the North shore... heeeelllppp :) (Boston, Lowell: apartment, rentals, home)

[jstar1027]

Hi everyone,

I am going to be attending graduate school in Lowell in the fall. I know it's a bit of a hike, but I have settled on the North shore area. I can't imagine not living right near the ocean, so I am willing to deal with a longer commute for two years. I will also be moving with my partner and a friend and they would also prefer to be near the ocean.

I am really interested in the Beverly/Salem area. It seems like rents are fairly reasonable.

When browsing craigslist though, it seemed if many rentals in the Diamond district of Lynn were pretty cheap. I read something on this beard about the diamond district of lynn being okay. Do other people agree with this?

I want to live in an area that is pretty safe, has a decent downtown (or is near a town with a good downtown), and is affordable.


If anyone has some suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Also, some feedback on the diamond district in Lynn would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[NickiBoston]

Beverly and Salem would probably be you best bet. The apts are generally nice , but it may take you a bit to find one! You would also be close to the highways there as well...I would not recommend living in Lynn at all. I have live on the northshore my whole life and I still do not venture anywhere in Lynn. Good luck with the search!

[capecodcathy]

While a Cape Cod girl now, I grew up in Lynn. While there are some very "seedy" areas, there are also some very nice areas. I haven't been there in a few years but the areas closest to the coast (Lynn Shore Drive) were always nice. Many great old Victorians and architecture. My recommendation would be to take one of those famous "Sunday Drives" and just explore
As far as convenience, I don't believe Lynn, Salem, Beverly, Swampscott, Marblehead or the surrounding towns, is a good commute to Lowell. You must drive many back roads (1A or 114) just to get to a main highway and up to Lowell.
I'd try to find something closer to where you're going to school

[holden125]

It is not much closer, but I think you might face less traffic (somewhat) if you check out Newburyport. It has a very nice downtown and is a straight shot on 495 to Lowell. Still a 45 min drive w/o traffic, but maybe you can go at off hours and keep it to 45 mins. It's a bit farther from Boston, you didn't say whether you wanted to be close to the city or not, but you can make it in an hour on the train. It is also close to some nice beaches, particularly Plum Island, and to honky tonk beach towns like Salisbury Beach (though I guess that is becoming a bit gentrified). An easy trip to Portsmouth or Portland as well.

[CityGirl52]

Do you really have your heart set on living in Beverly/Salem or Lynn? I personally don't like Lynn either! BUT that's not to say you won't find a great apartment there, because you possibly could and it'll be great for YOU. As one of the previous posters suggested to you, Lynn Shore Drive definitely is quite nice, I have a good friend that lives along there and YES it's stunning where that whole area is; yet other parts of Lynn? Nothing to write home about. Any where near the coast is of course very very nice. Your commute in to Lowell would be horrible from there don't forget, especially in the winter months, yikes, you can have that, some times it's pretty rough with the weather, don't forget.

Newburyport would be ideal if you could find something there you know. You'd have such a better commute "down" to Lowell in the end and that should be the bottom line with this issue of where to live, don't you think? You'd be going against traffic and then they'd be no long hauls with tons of red lights at all, on the side roads if you did chose Newburyport or even Ipswich or Amesbury for that matter. You'd just have to get out to I-495, which is quite easy from the Amesbury area, then it's straight down to Lowell all the way and trust me, it's no big deal at all. I shoot down to Andover from the seacoast quite a bit and it's nothing. No big deal with traffic tie-ups or anything like that, it's smooth sailing all the way down usually. SO much better than dealing with Rte 1 & Boston's tie ups, it's like I died and went to heaven doing this type of a commute!

So check it out and even check towns out like Amesbury or Ipswich may be? You'd have the best of both worlds and not a bad commute at all from anywhere near that part of Mass., instead of down by Beverly/Salem area so think about it good. The further up the north shore you go, the better off you'll be for the drive to Lowell, because getting to I-495 will be SO much easier for you, honest!