Framingham...Downtown (Hudson, Dennis, Grafton: real estate, renting, lofts)

[macmacmac]

Looked at some new lofts in downtown Framingham. It's the old Dennison mill building. The lofts are exquisite and not too too bad in price. But........I took a ride around the neighborhood after seeing the condo and it didn't look that great. I don't know Framingham at all. Anybody with knowledge of the area? I'd love to investigate these condos further but not if I need to stay locked in it all the time! Thanks in advance.

[2KidsforMe]

Well, honestly I would not do it. Downtown Framingham may not be really dangerous, per se, but it is pretty run down and sketchy.

[scarletfire]

I would definately not buy downtown Framingham. There's quite a bit of drug crime there. For the most part the 01701 zip code in Framingham is more desirable than 01702 although there are a few exceptions.

In that price range you can find some nice options elsewhere in that area though, even a few condos & ranch homes within Framingham, townhouses in Hopkinton not far from the Commuter Rail and Rt 9, and some quite upscale townhomes in Grafton not far from the Pike.

If you don't need to be near the train there's a nice complex in Hudson called Assabet Village. Most of the units aren't very fancy but they're pretty good sized units in a nice wooded area and are quite reasonably priced. Hudson's not really my favorite town in the area because I find the downtown rather depressing but there are parts that are pretty.

Best of luck! :-)

[CaseyB]

You don't want to be in downtown Framingham after dark. The Dennison condos sound nice, though. I wouldn't mind seeing them.

[dmoss79]

Downtown is really bad; dirty, and crime all around. I would never live there no matter how cheap a condo is. Look into Framingham north of rt. 9 and the town is fine -just not downtown!

[ogre]

Macmac . . . are you looking at buying or renting? If you're buying, one key question about downtown Framingham is how likely it is that the property values will rise. In other words, how good an investment would this be? A few respondants have said downtown Framingham is dangerous. Personally, I don't feel unsafe in the area at night. However, I'm pretty good-szied, as well as reasonably street-smart, and tough enough to handle myself as well as I need to, so there aren't too many places I'd be afraid to go at night. Maybe the really BAD areas of big cities, but that's about it. If this doesn't describe you, you might consider the safety issue. Whether or not the area is really all that dangerous, if you didn't FEEL safe, that would be no way to live.

In any case, if you're planning to buy, look carefully at the value of the investment. If you bought in downtown Framingham now, when the neighborhood is run down, you could make a killing IF this happened to be the next downtown area to go through a big revitalization. My gut tells me this is unlikely. Framingham is a large suburban town, and serves as a retail center for a number of communities in the local area. The really prosperous business district is north of downtown, along route 9, with a bunch of malls, auto dealerships, restaurants, etc. Route 9 attracts shoppers from all around the western suburbs, and has been the main deal in Framingham for decades, while downtown has wallowed. Framingham is very spread out, and so-called downtown is well away from the real center of things. My gut tells me that downtown is not going uphill anytime soon, but, I'm not a real estate professional. Anyone know any good websites about evaluating neighborhoods? If so, maybe one of those would give you the definitive word on this area's future. Best of luck.

[Gabriel 11:11]

I'm from (Bracciano) Rome Does anyone get any pic about Framingham to show?
Thanx and Merry xtmas everyone.