Thoughts on Lowell? (Boston, Cambridge, Lawrence: apartments, rent, loft)

[ddonaghe]

My fiance and I are moving to New England from Williamsburg, VA. I have lived in both MA and NH before, so I have a general idea of what the good and bad areas are. Unfortunately, we are young and just starting out - my fiance is graduating from law school in May and we have a wedding to pay for that takes place in October.

Originally, our plan was to move to Manchester or the Derry/Londonderry area - but given our financial circumstances I fear our budgeted rent money would not go very far. I know we can get a lovely apartment in Lowell for the same cost as a run down apartment in NH. Plus, NH has a lot fewer apartment options than does MA. Also, I plan to pursue work and graduate studies in Boston, so the commuter line is a real plus. My fiance, who will work in Manchester NH, does not want a commute in excess of an hour - so other areas closer to Boston are not an option for us.

That being said, I'm concerned about Lowell's crime rate. We were looking into loft style apartments on the canals in Lowell - Boott Mills, Massachusetts Mills, an apartment on Market Street and a few others in that general area. Does anyone have any thoughts on this area or these apartments? Safety is my main concern. I would never move to Lawrence because I've seen the decline firsthand and would not feel safe there. How does Lowell compare?

What about the downtown part? Are there cafes, shops, etc? I've read good things about a vibrant art community in Lowell, which makes me happy since I will be pursuing graduate work in museum studies/art history.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[surfingatwork]

Originally Posted by ddonaghe

That being said, I'm concerned about Lowell's crime rate. We were looking into loft style apartments on the canals in Lowell - Boott Mills, Massachusetts Mills, an apartment on Market Street and a few others in that general area. Does anyone have any thoughts on this area or these apartments? Safety is my main concern. I would never move to Lawrence because I've seen the decline firsthand and would not feel safe there. How does Lowell compare?

What about the downtown part? Are there cafes, shops, etc? I've read good things about a vibrant art community in Lowell, which makes me happy since I will be pursuing graduate work in museum studies/art history.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I was raised in lowell (20 years lived there) but do not live there now (i live in a small quiet town in mass near the cape). i do have family and friends that live there. friends of mine do live at the mass mills and they like them very much (except for when the river overflowed last year). Lowell is defintely improving. after i graduated HS (in '90) it started to go down hill but the city has done a great job in turning it around.

That being said is it completely safe no but it is better than lawrence (my dad used to work in lawrence so i know all about that decline). lowell does have gangs, prostitutes and drug dealers that hang around downtown (esp the appleton st area - i'd stay away from there). i'd stay away from captain john's bar and that area as well (lots of trouble). Market street's not bad. The dubliner is a great pub/bar (lots of fun, live irish music).

There are some great restaurants in downtown like cobblestones and i've heard the little french bistro that's there is also good). There's not a lot of shops downtown (there are a few nice ones but there are also a bunch of really cheezy clothing type stores more geared towards kids in da 'hood) but there are art galleries. During the winter the city holds a big feastival called winterfest and in the summer there's the folk festival (both festivals are scattered throughout the downtown area and are a lot of fun. the folk festival takes over downtown including market street which shuts down completely.

I just checked out boott mills website and i have to say if i didn't know lowell i would want to live there in a second. it's not as great as that website makes it look like.

The high school is located downtown so before and after school expect to see kids hanging around downtown.

[ddonaghe]

Thank you for your honest assessment. I've learned that things often look more promising on the internet than they are in reality. I was planning on going up there and taking a good hard look myself, but this seemed like a good venue for getting other's opinions on the area beforehand.

I appreciate your insight and recommendations, too!

[surfingatwork]

Originally Posted by ddonaghe

Thank you for your honest assessment. I've learned that things often look more promising on the internet than they are in reality. I was planning on going up there and taking a good hard look myself, but this seemed like a good venue for getting other's opinions on the area beforehand.

I appreciate your insight and recommendations, too!

You're welcome. Good luck.

[surfingatwork]

I forgot to mention the winterfeast is coming up in February (i believe it's the weekend of the 9th).

[smarty]

Originally Posted by surfingatwork

I forgot to mention the winterfeast is coming up in February (i believe it's the weekend of the 9th).

For the family:
Families from around New England can celebrate the wonders of winter at Lowell’s Annual Winterfest Celebration, February 9-10, 2007. After all, how can they resist free ice skating, face painting, magic shows, tundra rides, fireworks and paling around with the lovable Lowla Bear? The Lowell Winterfest also includes crafts, live entertainment, a soup bowl competition and the crowd pleasing favorite – the National Human Dogsled Championships.


For the Adults:
The Boston Beer Summit Winter Jubilee is this weekend
beersummit.com

Affligem, Allagash, Berkshire Brewing, Boston Beer, Boston Beerworks, Boulder Beer, Brasserie Bosteels, Dubuisson, Dupont & Urthel, Ommegang, Brooklyn, Cambridge Brewing, Chimay, Cisco, Clipper City, Concord, Geary, Dogfish Head, Eurobrew, Frank Boon, Gardner Ale House, Harpoon , Haverhill Brewery, High & Mighty, Ithaca, Koningshoeven Trappist, La Resistance, Left Hand., Long Trail, Merchant du Vin, Mercury, New England Brewing, Newport Storm, North Coast, Offshore, Opa-Opa, Oskar Blues , Otter Creek, Owen O’Leary’s, Paper City, Pennichuck, Rock Art, Rogue Ales, Saranac, Shelton Brothers, Smuttynose, Southern Tier, Spaten, Star, Stone, Stone Coast , Stoudt’s, Thomas Hooker, Tigris Distributing, Unibroue, Vanberg & DeWulf, & Woodstock will be there!

[Cary]

Hi -

I currently live in Lowell since 1987 with my lovely wife. I taught at the graduate level at the University. Nice subjects, calculas, PASCAL, Stats, C.
Anyway, surgery has limited my mobility etc. I know have a service/site dog.
Please, review http://ADAtech.org to view an introduction to myself.Moderator cut: use Classified Ads, please

Good Luck,

[shanita9186]

Originally Posted by ddonaghe

My fiance and I are moving to New England from Williamsburg, VA. I have lived in both MA and NH before, so I have a general idea of what the good and bad areas are. Unfortunately, we are young and just starting out - my fiance is graduating from law school in May and we have a wedding to pay for that takes place in October.

Originally, our plan was to move to Manchester or the Derry/Londonderry area - but given our financial circumstances I fear our budgeted rent money would not go very far. I know we can get a lovely apartment in Lowell for the same cost as a run down apartment in NH. Plus, NH has a lot fewer apartment options than does MA. Also, I plan to pursue work and graduate studies in Boston, so the commuter line is a real plus. My fiance, who will work in Manchester NH, does not want a commute in excess of an hour - so other areas closer to Boston are not an option for us.

That being said, I'm concerned about Lowell's crime rate. We were looking into loft style apartments on the canals in Lowell - Boott Mills, Massachusetts Mills, an apartment on Market Street and a few others in that general area. Does anyone have any thoughts on this area or these apartments? Safety is my main concern. I would never move to Lawrence because I've seen the decline firsthand and would not feel safe there. How does Lowell compare?

What about the downtown part? Are there cafes, shops, etc? I've read good things about a vibrant art community in Lowell, which makes me happy since I will be pursuing graduate work in museum studies/art history.

Thanks in advance for your help!

wELL I HOPE YOUR WIFE MAKES GOOD LUCK I AM A 20 YEAR OLD MOTHER I MOVED TO LOWELL FROM REVERE I THINK THIS CITY IS NO GOOD THE MILLS ARE NICE BUT MARKET S IS HORRIBLE IN FACT THIS CITY IS HORRIBLE ITS BOARING BUT ANYWAYS I LIKE THE MASS MILLS ARE NICE GOOD LUCK ANYWAYS:

[Eddy G]

There is a lot to like about Lowell, it's an add slogan but true.

I live near by and if we didn't have kids I would have moved there by now.
The schools ain't the best around and it's still a big city environment.

The housing is cheaper then the surrounding areas.
I've still seen some beautiful old homes go for short money in some of the better areas of Lowell.

That little French bistro (forgot the name) is a great spot.
One of our favorites is an Italian steak house called Fuginata's (sp).
In the spring and summer you can sit out on the sidewalk and eat under the stars. It's pretty cool considering the mess that same area was only a few years ago.

Lots of entertainment at the Tsongas Arena and Music Hall in town.
You got Minor league Baseball and Hockey. College sports at U-Mass.

I think its a pretty cool place.

It's rich in history and the Art community is ever growing.

[bassdeal]

I agree with surfingatwork's earlier assessment. I around Lowell from 1981-1997 (Billerica, Westford, Chelmsford) and in Lowell from 1997-2003. Interesting in that I now live near you in Accomac, VA (Eastern Shore Virginia). The only reasons I moved was to be able to teach college full-time and to be closer to my mother which turned out to be her last year with us.

When I went looking for a place to live in Lowell I found several townhouses/condos on the north side of the river (Pawtucketville) that were quite nice and a bit more price competitive. The one issue here is commuting across the bridges over the Merrimac River. Can be some significant traffic backups.

I really enjoyed the park that runs along the north side of the river. I did a lot of running and X-country sking there. I also could walk to the Lowell-Tyngsboro-Dracut State Forest where I did short-distance hiking and X-Country sking.

I feel Lowell is a very walkable city. I walked everywhere when I lived there.

The Lowell Folk Festival is a must if you are a music fan. I still go every year and plan my summer around it (always the last fill weekend in July). Just a great time.

Lowell has become much nicer than Lawrance for a few reasons including historically better city administration, the creation of the Lowell Urban National Park, and the presence of the University of Lowell (OK, Univeristy of Massachusetts-Lowell).

I hope this helps a bit. I am now homesick :-(.