lesbian couple looking to buy outside of boston (Cambridge, Somerville: rent, loft)

[slopes24]

My girlfriend and I have been renting in Watertown for a couple of years now but we're getting ready to buy our first place. We're looking to spend somewhere between 300-400K and want to be relatively close to Boston but in a suburban area where we can get a single family home. The trouble is most of the areas nearby are out of our price range. We also want to be somewhere that's gay/lesbian friendly and relatively young since we're in our mid 20s and don't have any kids. Any suggestions? Some people have suggested Wayland, Maynard and Dedham...any help would be appreciated!!!

[Beachcomber4]

Hull is an area where many gay and lesbian couples have been buying homes in recent years. There are some good restaurants along the beach and in downtown Hingham which is a short drive. There is alot of nightlife in the summer but not sure about winter. You can take a commuter boat from there to Boston.

[goyguy]

Arlington's reputation as being heavily populated with Archie Bunker types has changed considerably, to the point where I personally recommended it to two gay men who were thinking about buying a place there. Cambridge and even Somerville are getting to be pricy enough that people who would've settled in one of those cities are taking themselves (and their value systems) farther out Mass. Ave. Sushi restaurants have proliferated in the center of town, a sure sign of gentrification, and the Henry Bear's Park toy store now has a branch there. There are also numerous cutesy gift shops in town to enhance the new feel of the place. With the drop in housing prices, there should be a lot of nice choices available in your affordability range.
Jamaica Plain is of course still Boston's lesbian community epicenter, but homes have gotten a lot more expensive. And if children are in your future there'd be the Boston Public Schools to contend with or avoid.
Burlington, Billerica, and Waltham are all more reasonably priced to live in, but the lack of a "youthful" presence might deter you although Moody St in Waltham is full of great places to eat and hang out at. Maynard has a good reputation as being GLB friendly, and it's also a small and "home town" sort of place, but it's pretty far out in the sticks.
Where are your work places - and is that a factor in deciding what town you'd sleep in at night?

[brightdoglover]

I don't think any towns in the area are particularly gay-UNfriendly. I do think your price range is more of an issue and if you want to live in a very suburban type area (you're kind of young to want that, unless you're planning on kids).
Frankly, I'd consider a condo in Watertown or a condo somewhere closer into town if I was your age(s) and in a couple, not because of being gay, but just for a lively environment that's not rooted in family or long-time residents.
Hey, how about Arlington?

[VlyRoadKid]

Originally Posted by slopes24

My girlfriend and I have been renting in Watertown for a couple of years now but we're getting ready to buy our first place. We're looking to spend somewhere between 300-400K and want to be relatively close to Boston but in a suburban area where we can get a single family home. The trouble is most of the areas nearby are out of our price range. We also want to be somewhere that's gay/lesbian friendly and relatively young since we're in our mid 20s and don't have any kids. Any suggestions? Some people have suggested Wayland, Maynard and Dedham...any help would be appreciated!!!

Well, we live abt. 20-25 minutes (if you take I-91 N) from Northampton. You COULD live THERE (but LESS expensive), which would be ideal, not just for a lesbian couple but for anyone who wanted most of the amenities of say, Greenwich Village (so sez my professor friend), but ALSO the tolerance.

Northampton is SOOOOO tolerant, it almost forgets to put itself on the map, so others do it FOR them and often screw it up...but NOT about the tolerance toward gays/lesbians (sorry for not capitalizing the "l"...I'm just lazy).

You must know that not only is Northampton EXTREMELY tolerant...as in...NOT NOTICING, your orientation...but there are business opportunities for gays and lesbians that would not exist anywhere else but say, SF and Berkeley.

My husband worked for a company owned, run and staffed almost exclusively by lesbians. It was weird--he was one of their "token straight males" (so they openly said!). Heh-heh!

It's not just in this area that the Northampton crowd is tolerant--it's also in politics, arts, music...you name it. I'm TRYING TO get my loner-Kerouackian kid back here to do his musical punk thing...but I'm so damned tolerant, he might end up in Oahu, selling iPods at Radioshack.

Oh! I forgot the point of your question---for $400K, you could get a SWEET condo or loft around here...totally OUT of your price range in say, Boston.

You could also rent an even better single family house in the burbs and don't be worried===they won't mind or probably even notice. There's a Lesbian couple who's rented across the street from us (and we're in a more northern suburb/town) since 2000 and nobody a) noticed and/or b) cared.

This place we call The Valley---it's Very Special! Saying you're gay is like saying you're a vegetarian....I mean....pretend you're in SF! Seriously. My ONLY complaint with the girls across the street is that SOMETIMES...they turn around in our driveway too much! (Is that a Lesbian thing??? 'Cos if it IS...Just kidding! HAW) I know they're screwing w/me! It's a power thing, just like the next-door neighbor who's so straight he could prop up the RR underpass with his ah-ha-ha...!

Well, you get the pic...I HOPE! I hope you try it out here...I did and have been BLISSFULLY happy since 1970 (I'm a commie/pinko/liberal/hippie/alternative lifestyle...bla-bla-bla!).

TRY it here...you won't regret it (at least not for the USUAL reasons!).