Opinion on Weymouth, Hingham and Scituate (Boston, Marshfield: best towns, real estate, buying a home)

[sjm1027]

I would love to hear from people that know about Weymouth and the surrounding towns. My wife and I want to relocate and are targeting Weymouth, Hingham and Scituate. We are quickly finding out that finding a 3 bedroom 2 bath with 2 car garage in Hingham is far to much money but not sure about Weymouth and Scituate prices.
So there has to be a HUGE difference in Hingham and I am not quite sure why the price is so high there. Anyone know why? My children are out of school, I am 53 and looking at my last home (I think)

Thanks

[CityGirl52]

I'm sure you'll get a lot of various debates on this issue, may be, may be not. I can tell you that Hingham was always a very nice community with beautiful, charming older homes! My parents even came very close to buying a home there and changed their mind because they decided on the north shore instead of the south shore back then when my father wanted OUT of the city all together! Hingham has access to getting in to downtown Boston via their commuter boat which every one loves these days & plenty of buses leaving from there too from what I'm hearing about it from co-workers. It's just on the other side of Weymouth & pretty quick to drive in from there to get in to downtown Boston, especially if you know the short cuts the way most of us do!

As far as Scituate is concerned, always remember that the closer to the coast you are? The more expensive it becomes. I have relatives that live in Scituate, they've been there for years and years and now there kids are all natives. I can tell you that they finally have the commuter rail there now; the Greenbush stop and the No. Scituate stop on the commuter rail & it's working out great for all those tons of hard working commuters that live there these days! So that way it's GREAT, if you work in downtown Boston. The schools are much improved from what they always used to say about them. There's three beautiful beaches in Scituate, Minot, which has been unfortunately ravaged by erosion these days, & Peggoty & Egypt beaches.
You can't go wrong with any of the surrounding towns of Scituate either, so spread those wings a little! There's Norwell, Marshfield, Duxbury & Hanover too!

Although Weymouth & Hingham are closer to Boston, that's a very big advantage (especially during the winter months with commuting, so remember that!) I would think you'd do well in either of those towns for real estate searches? I would be surprised if you couldn't find homes of interest. If that's where you really want to live I'm sure you'll eventually get what you want there.

Also, do a search right here on City-Data for the towns of Hingham, Weymouth, Scituate or even Duxbury you'll get a lot of pretty interesting responses from people!

Good luck in your search!

[clevedark]

Those three towns are all so different. What is it that you like about them?

Weymouth is huge and is instersected by lots of busy roads. More blue collar feel. Not much charm, though.

Hingham is an upper middle class bedroom-ish old-money-aspirational kind of community (the kind of place where insecure adults lie about where they went to college if it was a state university--for real!). It's a nice big town, has beautiful houses. It's kind of preppy and athletic. Lots of civic pride and activity. Sailing the pretty harbor.

Scituate is more laid back and focused on the beaches and harbor. It's a charming town. The people are very proud of their town. There's a darling waterfront section at the harbor with shops and restaurants. Very nautical and old fashioned.

I have to put in a plug for Marshfield--it's also laid back, more blue collar than Scituate, lots of nice beaches. Lots of different kinds of housing stock. The center of town, while practical, is a conglomeration of strip malls. But you can get a pretty nice house for a good price. There are some pretty large properties available if you want land but don't have millions of dollars to spend. Marshfield Hills is the prime neighborhood--charming colonial era houses with a distant view of the ocean. One acre zoning. North Marshfield is on the other side of 3A, and that's more of a countryside feeling, just as charming as Marshfield Hills. Then there are various seaside neighborhoods that have significant summer residents, as well as year rounders. It's close to Rt. 3. I always liked it. In fact we have a summer house in Marshfield Hills and adore it. If we are able to hold onto it through this financial turmoil we might retire there.

[northsouthnorthsouth]

I live in Weymouth near Hingham and have family and friends that live in Scituate. Here's my short answer:

Hingham: Expensive due to good school system, commuter rail and boat, "charm and history" and it's filled with a lot of rich people. I would like to live there, but that's because I have small children and am looking for a good school district to carry them throughout their school career. I would also only live there if I lived near downtown or the Crow Point area near the water. If you're living in South Hingham and don't need the school system, you might as well be living in a cheaper surrounding town.

The two I would consider would be Weymouth and Scituate- more bang for your buck.

Scituate- Choose Scituate if you don't have to worry about commuting, don't care about getting into the city much or don't mind taking the commuter rail. It's more remote- farther from the highway and city. However, I really like the laid back beach feel and it's a nice, well kept town overall.

Weymouth- Choose Weymouth if you want more commuting options and better access to the city. I go in all the time and my husband commutes every day. He takes the bus and train and we often take the commute boat, nearby to us, to and from the airport. You could find something near the water with a possible "Hingham feel" for much less money. However, it does lack in the "charm and history" that Hingham and Scituate have.

Scituate sounds like the best bet for you, in my opinion, unless commuting and city access is a big deal.

Good Luck!

[sjm1027]

Thanks, I agree with you. I also think Hingham location is awesome and the school system id good. Scituate is a little out of the way but also beautiful.... I appreciate your time
Thanks

Originally Posted by northsouthnorthsouth

I live in Weymouth near Hingham and have family and friends that live in Scituate. Here's my short answer:

Hingham: Expensive due to good school system, commuter rail and boat, "charm and history" and it's filled with a lot of rich people. I would like to live there, but that's because I have small children and am looking for a good school district to carry them throughout their school career. I would also only live there if I lived near downtown or the Crow Point area near the water. If you're living in South Hingham and don't need the school system, you might as well be living in a cheaper surrounding town.

The two I would consider would be Weymouth and Scituate- more bang for your buck.

Scituate- Choose Scituate if you don't have to worry about commuting, don't care about getting into the city much or don't mind taking the commuter rail. It's more remote- farther from the highway and city. However, I really like the laid back beach feel and it's a nice, well kept town overall.

Weymouth- Choose Weymouth if you want more commuting options and better access to the city. I go in all the time and my husband commutes every day. He takes the bus and train and we often take the commute boat, nearby to us, to and from the airport. You could find something near the water with a possible "Hingham feel" for much less money. However, it does lack in the "charm and history" that Hingham and Scituate have.

Scituate sounds like the best bet for you, in my opinion, unless commuting and city access is a big deal.

Good Luck!

[clevedark]

Marshfield is fantastic, and even more bang for your buck than Scituate....

[foozman]

Its a good question but I believe, and my experience has been, that it is a blue chip town, relative to your investment dollars. The town is absolutely beautiful, as you will see by driving around. Weymouth is a great value but is a city and as such has issues a city would have (lots of renters,iffy schools,drugs,crime,illegals etc..). Some of those issue do spill over into Hingham however. Hingham has become somewhat legendary as a frame of mind/Identity (hard to explain) and a way of life. It fits many peoples self images of success (mine included) and what a community should be.. AND many many people that grew up here want to come "home" to raise their families. I am young and grew up here and hocked my soul to get back in. We looked in Weymouth but for the extra money I wanted to buy the blue chip property in one of the best towns on the South Shore. People pay here for proximity to Boston of which I dont partake, but I know when I go to sell the schools the town governments stewardship of the development of the town, as well as the repuation will go a long way in any market to insulate me from catastrophic results.. Scituate is a great town but is very small (population) and relatively isolated from Boston and points west. If you look you can find a home in Hingham in the mid to high 400's that will be a great investment. Weymouth is almost the same price (for comparable properties in neighborhoods) and I dont think the towns compare relative to sense of community and lifestyle. Many Hingham haters abound on the South Shore, I run into them all the time. I believe it is truely a have and have not PRECEPTION. Hingham has all sorts of socio economic citizens that are active participants in the town and make for a feeling of good old fashioned home town. Good luck!

[Beachcomber4]

Hingham is lovely and I would say "go for it" if schools were part of the equation.

I LOVE Scituate. We seriously considered moving there. It's a great seaside town. It has a mix of professionals and blue collar residents and that just adds to the flavor of the town. I just saw a story on a local news station and Boston Magazine rated Scituate as a great town for potential buyers. They made the point that is was much more friendly than many other south shore towns and definately more affordable.

Good luck!