Please name an ideal place to live in MA... (Boston: low crime, houses)

[love4travel86]

Which towns in MA match all or most of my criteria? (NOT including Boston. I don't want to live in Boston). I currently live in a small town in MA that doesn't have too much to offer, but I plan to stick around MA in the long run. Please let me know your opinion.

- Walkable "downtown" or main street with unique shops, restaurants, a place that's at least somewhat thriving at night.
- Near a body of water, ocean lake, pond
- Relatively safe, not much crime
- Plenty of shopping plazas, centers, and/or a mall right in the town, or at least within a 10-15 min. drive
- This point is not as important, but would prefer a town/city that is at least middle to upper middle class.
- Not OVER THE TOP as far as traffic congestion, but tolerable
- Places to walk, pretty views, options available to take yoga/pilates or other fitness classes, organized community events

hmmm... curious to hear what you all recommend! Thanks everyone.

[Valerie C]

Amesbury and Newburyport both come to mind. These are north shore small cities.
Amesbury Downtown Business Association

The Official Web Site of Newburyport Massachusetts - Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and Industry

I should point out that Newburyport is going through some changes that not everybody is a fan of. As an upscale port town, Newburyport has drawn the attention of big name, big dollar developers. Chain stores are wanting to come into town to get a share of the loot. The charm of Newburyport is mainly (IMO) in the small independent shops and restaruants. It's not a "mall" atmosphere... If anyone is even considering moving to Newburyport, this blog is a "must read": The Newburyport Blog » Blog Archive » Newburyport, Downtown Economic Overlay

My fear for Newburyport is that eventually it's going to look like every other place on earth where they can plunk a a Chico's, a Starbucks, a Taco Bell and an Applebees. Instead Newburyport has things like The Monkey's Fist, Angie's Coffee Shop, Agave and The Grog.

Oops... now THAT got off topic, didn't it! Sorry

[melissasorrentino]

Lynnfield is a nice community. They are currently undergoing putting a center. We really don't have one. It's been a fight because this is a tight community and they are afraid of change, and I admit being skeptical, but when it's done it sounds like it's going to be nice. They have a virtual tour of what it's going to be like on the lynnfield website.

One thing is we are a small town, but a hop, skip and a jump from EVERYTHING. 20 minutes to get downtown. People tend to go to the wakfield lake if you want somewhere to walk by water. We do have a pond and recently that's another place at town meetings that's been in question to do something about. It's not much of an attraction right now because nothing there but houses. (However, don't think that one is going to change)

Schools are fantastic and it's because the parents make it (aside from great teachers of course,mostly young and energetic). Tons of at home moms and even some dads, which is why we're tight. Home prices are higher than surrounding towns, i.e. wakefield, saugus, peabody, lynn. However, I think you can get into a great neighborhood at a decent price. My neighborhood is phenominal. Very tight!

I like to visit Newburyport, as it's very close to Lynnfield. However, I think you'll lose that sense of belonging and community because it's so diverse and large with tourists.

Like I said...Lynnfield is a small town with not much in it (but great people) yet it's close to EVERYTHING! I think the people make the town...the town doesnt make the people.

I just moved here myself 3 years ago and could not be happier. I'm an at home mom and was able to find a great group of friends for myself and the kids. :-)

I lived in a larger city south shore and it was horrible...everyone kept to themselves..playdates forget it hard to come by...it just was not like here at all. My life has changed so much because my kids and I have met so many great people.

[puffle]

Arlington is a pretty active community with many bodies of water, upscale areas, near Burlington Mall and very walkable with a bit of an urban, suburban feel to it.

[Giantone]

My choice would be the Berkshires,Lenox ,Lee,Stockbridge,Williams.

[RMP059]

You're gonna get a lot of very diverse answers. Most towns in MA are relatively low crime. Many towns have the shopping mall within 10-15 minutes. Most have water of some sort. Some towns have vibrant downtowns, some....not so much.

I think Arlington and Newburyport are good suggestions; but Lynnfield not. It's a suburban bedroom community. Very convenient, but you have to leave the town for most everything. It's a nice upscale bedroom community with great schools, but not what comes to mind when someone says "Walkable "downtown" or main street with unique shops, restaurants, a place that's at least somewhat thriving at night". Amesbury never struck me as town w/ much going on either, but I havent been in the town in ages (whereas I travel to Lynnfield at least once a week).

Beverly might be a good choice too. If you wanted to live closer to Boston while not being in Boston proper, Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline would be your choices. Newton and Wellesly maybe? Not that familiar w/ those west-lying towns.

[meltinjohn]

Move to Billerica. Hub of some great nightlife to come. Watch it grow there!

[eastcoastlady]

Some areas of Newton might be right up your alley.
If I was staying in MA, I would move to Natick center. It has a few little shops and a cute park and is 10 minutes from RTE 9 which has every box store you can imagine and a high end mall. It is also a 15 min drive to the mass pike if you want to go downtown, that is useful.

[VlyRoadKid]

If you are looking for all those things, try either Northampton or Amherst, MA! The only thing lacking is a very close water source, except for the Connecticut River, but there are clean lakes and ponds within a 10-20 minute drive. The Berkshires are close, but you have all the culture brought in by several area colleges (UMass, Smith, Amherst, Hampshire and Mt. Holyoke, to name a few): concerts, dance clubs, art exhibits, festivals and so on.

If you're athletic, this is an excellent place to live: there are bike paths, open roads in the valley, hiking trails, boating on the River and lakes, parks for rollerblading and many gyms. If you attend or work at one of the colleges, you can use the facilities at ALL five colleges listed here, which includes several, large, indoor pools!

Northampton & Amherst have GREAT nighttime attractions, shops, low crime, lots of culture and are quaint. The traffic can be a bit much, esp. in N'ton, but only at rush hour.

There are several movie theaters nearby, as well as movies and concerts at the colleges. There are two malls between Northampton and Amherst, on Rte. 9 and a HUGE one (the Holyoke mall at Ingleside) about 15. minutes south of N'ton on I-91. There is more downtown shopping in Springfield, about 20 minutes away.

There are other nice towns in the Valley, such as Greenfield, with MUCH lower housing prices, but the nightlife isn't as good. Still, Northampton & Amherst are just a 20-25 minute ride away.

Better yet, the people here are very diverse and tolerant, as well as interesting. Most people don't care about your religious beliefs or personal life and making friends is MUCH easier here than in other parts of MA (I lived Newburyport for a year and the only friend I had was someone I'd gone to college with!). Also, it was SO boring in the winter!

Other than the relaxed atmosphere in this area, the things I loved most about living here are: the natural beauty and the fact that you can have all the benefits of a city, yet be in the country in 5-10 minutes!

I've lived in many places, often beautiful, quaint or exotic, yet there's NO place like The Valley!

[ogre]

The suggestions of Berkshires towns and Northampton/Amherst bring up another piece of information that would be helpful for those making suggestions, which is whether you are interested in any particular section of MA. Do you prefer towns near Boston or not so close to Boston, or is any part of the state a possiblity?

Regarding some suggestions already made:

I agree that at present Lynnfield does not fit the "walkable downtown" criterion. Nice town, but you'd be taking a chance on how long it would take them to develop the town center MelissaS has said they are working on.

Newton and Brookline fit a lot of the criteria you listed, but are a little short on bodies of water, though the middle section of the Charles River does brush one edge of Newton. Both are densely populated suburban towns with some urban elements, and some good local shopping.

Wellesley? It's more suburban, though very affluent suburban, with sidewalks and roughly a grid pattern to the streets. Its downtown is fairly good-sized. Whether Wellesley's downtown would work for you depends on what kinds of stores you're looking for. There is at least one upscale department store, plus some basic-needs stores (drugstore, and a supermarket along the main street maybe a mile or so away from the primary downtown area), a few small specialty shops, a couple of coffee shops, and a little ice cream place. There used to be a hardware store on a back street that runs parallel to the main drag. Not sure whether it's still there. A bookstore or two. It's nice and upscale, but not as absolutely packed with a great variety of small stores and numerous eating places as you see in the most vibrant dowtowns. There is at least one large pond in Wellesley, but overall the town may come up short on the body of water criterion, depending on how large a body of water you're talking about.

Natick is a nice pleasant town. Its downtown area is clean and attractive, but may not be as lively as you want, depending on what you're looking for in a downtown. There is an arts center in downtown Natick, where they have occasional small performing arts events, including some concerts by reasonably well known, but not necessarily really big-name, rock/pop singers of the past ('70's, maybe some '80's). Mostly, though, downtown Natick, though pleasant in appearance, is kind of basic in its offering of stores, and most of it closes down by 7PM. If that is enough of a downtown for you, then you might consider Natick, because the town is pleasant and clean, and it also has a road that is lined for a couple of miles in Natick, and Framingham next door, with malls. The northern edge of Natick also borders a nice lake, Lake Cochituate, though again it depends on how large a body of water you'd like.

Aside from these thoughts about towns already suggested, some additional possibilities I can offer are three coastal towns north of Boston: Marblehead, Rockport, and Ipswich. All are affluent towns with beautiful coastal scenery and busy downtown areas. The town of Ipswich as a whole is spread over a wide area, so unless you lived near downtown the "walkable" criterion would fit more in the sense that once you arrived downtown you could park and stroll rather than in the sense that you could walk to downtown from most sections of town. Marblehead and Rockport are more compact. Based on your criteria, the main drawback of all three towns is that they may be a bit isolated from large shopping areas such as malls. Also be aware that all are quite touristy in the summertime.