Beach-y town, North Shore, easy drive to Andover? (Boston, Revere: home, movies)

[Lexilula]

Hi there - we currently living in the Acton/Boxborough area, having moved here from SoCal a few years ago. Feeling like this area is a little too rural and dead for us, but we have kids, so a move closer to the city is not necessarily what we want. We'd rather be close to the water, actually.

Any advice on good North Shore towns with easy access to a beach? Newburyport would be a first choice kind of place (good location, cute downtown, etc), just haven't looked into the commute to Andover and the school situation. Marblehead is just too tough to get to any major highway, unfortunately.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[julz]

Gloucester?

[DreamworksSKG]

Why not move to Ipswich?

it has a commuter rail to Boston - and access to route 95 128/95 to Rockport/Gloucester- you would be out on Cape Ann. Ipswich is a nice coastal town and you could get a resident pass for Crane Beach --and be close to towns like Newburyport Rockport, Manchester-by the sea-Gloucester etc.

Look into Ipswich


I'd also suggest Winchester just because I live here, and the school system and youth sports and youth recreation activities are excellent. We have a lot to do for kids in town..and lots of events through the year, 2 train stations into Boston in town , and easy access to the major highways. We are only 8 miles from the city but it feels a world apart. Quaint New England small town with boutiques, eateries, and a mill pond in the center as well as a town common with farmers' markets, concerts on the common, movies on the common, and other events throughout town like the ENKA fair and Town day for the kids to enjoy. Also Santa goes around on a fire-truck every december and has a meet and great after for the tree lighting.
School System is the best in the state. _ Muraco Elem. Had the highest MCAS scores a couple yrs back. Just about everyone graduates Winchester High and goes to college and graduates from college with a Bachelors at least.
We are home to Alicia Sacramone the olympic gymnast who went to Beijing in 2008....

Check out Winchester Even thoughw we're not on the beach, we're closer to Boston - and also you can get to the beach areas within 30-40 minutes. to Cape Ann --and about 40-60 min to Hampton Beach NH--and Salisbury Beach depending on traffic, etc.

I would highly recommend checking out Salisbury Beach, and Hampton Beach NH :-) Go the back way to avoid the tolls to Hampton from route 1 to 1A
follow along with googlemaps for more info

Hope this helps

I think Winchester would be awesome for you but Ipswich would be the coastal town that most resembles our community.
if it were on the ocean

Newburyport would be another option
they also have commuter rail to Boston and right near the beach areas. Has a nice harbor and many town activities also a state park right on the merrimack river. Great for boating and other ocean-activities. You are close to the parker river wildlife sanctuary, Ipswich River WIldlife Sanctuary and Plum Island as well as Appleton Farms Grass Rides for Cross Country Ski in the winter and hiking in the summr

Newburyport has a charming town center with lots of shops eateries, etc.
a great toy store
the Dragons Nest
and GRAMMS Ice cream

Also Winchester has a toy store in town Catch a Falling Star and
a indie bookstore with lots of childrens books :-)
the library has a lot of childrens books, dvds, etc. and a childrens library overlooking the mill pond

we have a great ice cream store as well
Cups and Cones

Enjoy !!!
Hope this helps in your decision

[Lexilula]

They aren't right near the beach, but what about Amesbury or Merrimac? No clue on these towns... I like Ispwich, thanks for the idea on that. If we did choose to stay close by, we'd definitely look to Winchester as our next move!

[Concepts]

Check out SchoolDigger.com which will give you their rankings on school systems.

I think you're going to be hardpressed to find any North shore town that comes close to what you're getting in Acton/Boxboro as far as schools. Acton (I'm assuming thats the school system you're in now) is ranked #15 and although that may be subjective it has a reputation of being one of the tops in the state.

Ipswich seems to be the closest - ranking in the 70's. Not really that bad - but may seem so to you coming from the Acton system.

Guess you have to weigh the pros/cons - beach vs schools.

[DreamworksSKG]

You might also look into Reading, Wakefield, Salem and Beverly as well

[brianbeach85]

Revere

[CityGirl52]

I think you should think about Wakefield. The beauty of it is, it's near Boston and at least you can hop on the MBTA at Oak Grove, which would be ideal OR you could take the commuter rail or an MBTA bus from Wakefield, whatever you preferred.

Your commute from Wakefield to Andover wouldn't be bad AT all. It's only about 14 1/2 miles away, if that. Not bad huh!

Wakefield's got a really nice downtown atmosphere. I know about it because I cut thru there a lot when I'm driving from the Reading area to visit family members. Wakefield Center's got a real New Englandy look to it and then as an added bonus? They have a beautiful lake there! So absolutely check it out, I'm even considering it for down the road, I want to be closer to Boston myself and that town's on the A-list. I have been to dinner several times at the Ristorante Molise located at 464 Main Street in Wakefield. GO there if you and your significant other get the chance because it's WONDERFUL there. You might be able to talk to some local yocals here that way that will give you some good tips about Wakefield.

Like I said, there's a beautiful lake in Wakefield, it's called Lake Quannapowitt. It's great for walking, running & people watching from what I'm being told by my relatives that live near it. It gets crowded at certain times of the day and some times there's no parking spots for your car; that's the only thing people don't like about it along with the stubid ole Canadian geese, but hang in there, people usually just do a lap around the lake and leave 9 times out of 10. It's a 3 mile walk/run around that lake, so it's a pretty good little jaunt! There's also a Yacht Club there as well. It's the Quannapowitt Yacht Club (QYC for short). Here's the website to check it out:

About QYC | Quannapowitt Yacht Club

Well that's about it from this end, good luck with exploring Wakefield. I'm sure you'll get more assistance when others read this thread, but I also think if you go to the Ristorante Molise right in Wakefield on Main Street some night, go right to the restaurant & ask plenty of questions right there. You'll get some great tips from the waitstaff there as well as patrons sitting right near you I bet.

Good luck!