should i move to ashland, ma? (Boston, Framingham: crime, transfer, neighborhoods)

[gobosox]

my wife and i are thinking about moving to ashland, ma. any input would help. pros/cons? is the town nice? how are the schools? are there specific neighborhoods that are better or worse than others? what is the general reputation of the town?

[foggysail]

Why in the world would one want to move to Ashland?????

OK, this is how I see it. There are those who want to spend everybody elses money for so called social issues without regard for those who are face with large/larger tax bills.Fortunately, the last two Prop 2 1/2 overrides FAILED; I hope my letters to the Metrowest Daily News helped. This is what I can recall going on in town over the last years. OH-- I moved here in 1974.

About 15-18 years ago there was a school problem requiring a $20 million expansion at the high school. That override passed and the construction began. About 5 years later the school committee "learned" there was a space problem at the renovated school and demanded a NEW SCHOOL BULIDING. Yup, a new $40+ million school! And they built it! Next there was a senior center that became a must have. Few more bucks went there. It is located on Union Street. OH, cannot forget the new library or the millions spend rebuilding the town hall. Now dogooders want a new police station and a new fire station. Many people in town just want to buy food and pay their utilities.

Staffing --- we have assistants for the assistants all at big bucks but I am getting ahead of myself. The school committee chairwoman said last year to those who rejected the override---"I HOPE THOSE WHO VOTED AGAINST THE OVER RIDE CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT!!!" Rumor has it that over 20% of the classes taught at the high school have less than 10 students. Geez, why send little John to private school when they have equivalent schools here in town?

I guess Ashland is about the same as most small towns in Massachusetts. We are approaching Utopia, we WILL get there as long as somebody else pays the freight. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND MOVING TO MASSACHUSETTS if it could be avoided. Just wait until the pension deficits need to be funded! Remember, teachers, firefighters, police and God knows who else have lucrative pensions that pay as much as 85% of their highest salaries plus a formula that allows retirement in their early 50's.

Good luck!

[gobosox]

wow, thanks for the input. aside from the town's spending problems, how do you feel about the place? nice atmosphere? nice downtown? neighborhoods/areas to stay out of? safe?

[scarletfire]

There are a few earlier threads on this forum about Ashland. If you do a search of the Mass forum you should be able to find lots of feedback.

Best of luck!

[gobosox]

thanks. a few posts seem a bit dated so i was looking for some newer feedback.

[scarletfire]

I don't know of much that's changed. There was a spike in crime a bit last year but I don't know if that is an anomaly.

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by gobosox

wow, thanks for the input. aside from the town's spending problems, how do you feel about the place? nice atmosphere? nice downtown? neighborhoods/areas to stay out of? safe?

We like the town!!! It has an MBTA station that allows convenient transportation to Boston. Further, the town's location is central to malls and highways althought the highways do not pass through the town which is just fine with me.

I travel to RI frequently on business. I can make my trip in 45 minutes, the same time it takes to get to Needham. Town roads are in fine shape, crime is not a problem at least to my knowlege. There are 2 CVS and PapaGino's here in town to illustrate business does exist. ONe of the finest stores for groceries is the Market Basket located on Pond Street. There is a Shaws further up the road but we find the prices at the Market Basket much lower than any local market including Stop & Shop.

Again as I mentioned earlier, all Massachusetts towns are facing serious problems, Ashland is not alone. It is a fine place to live and raise your family.

Foggy

[gobosox]

thanks foggy. are there neighborhoods that you find more or less favorable than others? what would you say the overall reputation of ashland is like amongst metrowesters? can you think of a couple of reasons not to live there (aside from the toxic cleanup issue, which i get mixed responses about)?

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by gobosox

thanks foggy. are there neighborhoods that you find more or less favorable than others? what would you say the overall reputation of ashland is like amongst metrowesters? can you think of a couple of reasons not to live there (aside from the toxic cleanup issue, which i get mixed responses about)?

There is only one reason to not live here and it has nothing to do with cleanups. The reason is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ cost! Other towns??? Maybe no better than we.

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Just wait until the pension deficits need to be funded! Remember, teachers, firefighters, police and God knows who else have lucrative pensions that pay as much as 85% of their highest salaries plus a formula that allows retirement in their early 50's.
Good luck!

This is shocking but true. I found this out when my dh worked for UMASS and I called them up because his "retirement" was yielding an obscenely low amount of interest. The above was explained to me. (basically you are not in it for the interest, you're in it for the retirement benefits)

Something like if he worked for the state for 10 years, upon retirement he would be entitled to 60% of his highest earning year, plus medical. And if we were willing to cut that back to 55%, that benefit would be transferable to me if he died. This pretty much means that if he retired and collected for 20 years, he would collect MORE THAN HE EVEN MADE WHILE AN EMPLOYEE. Forget about more than he even contributed, which he would surpass after only about 3-4 years. Crazy, just crazy. Tried to convince him to stay four more years but he wasn't having it.

Anyway, my only experience with Ashland was driving through it roughly 12 years ago when I worked in Framingham. I remember it being a nice town (I think I know which Market basket foggy is talking about, and let me tell you I haven't found a cheaper grocery store). NOw that is OUT OF DATE info, lol!!!!!

Sorry to bring this OT, but the fact is that above fact seems to be little known by most people but a huge looming expense.