norton (Boston, Worcester, Springfield: real estate, crime rates, brokers)

[slim]

I would like some information about Norton, I am moving there from Los Angeles.
What's it like living there, compared to LA? to Boston? small town? quiet, boring, fun?
How far is it from Boston?
What would be a nice place to live that is not too quiet or suburban?

Thanks!

[scottinmass]

I live in Mass, but not familiar with Norton. I live in Sturbridge, just off the Mass. Turnpike and the comute to Boston is about 1 hr. You can also drive the Pike to rt.146 millbury exit and take the commuter train. My wife does this and works on her laptop on her way to Boston. This saves on gas and she only has to drive 1/2 hr. Drops her right off in Government center, I believe. I think Norton is on the south Shore so it's going to be expensive. The further west of Boston you go the lower the real estate prices but the longer the commute. We have a Lake association in our neighborhood and It is excellent. Walker Pond is what it is called. alot of things for the kids to do. Ball field, beach, vollyball, playground, horse stable, tennis court and all this borders the Wells state park! There are four houses available in our neighborhood. all in the $300k-400k range. I can pm you with the details if you would like [moderator CUT]

[nighthawk2325]

Hey Slim, I live a couple town's away from Norton(est.5-6 miles away)There's really not much see or say about Norton quiet town has private college in it,schools are OK, I hear there not the greatest. I guess it really depends on your looking for(ie night life, quiet,fast pace,beach,mtns,city)...?????

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by slim

I would like some information about Norton, I am moving there from Los Angeles.
What's it like living there, compared to LA? to Boston? small town? quiet, boring, fun?
How far is it from Boston?
What would be a nice place to live that is not too quiet or suburban?

Thanks!

Norton, is near Bridgewater, which has a State College, Brockton, which I did not care for, crime etc. Also It is near Mansfield, which I do recall is a safe and quiet town. You are around one hour from Cape Cod, and maybe 45 minutes into Boston. Coming from L.A. you will maybe find it boring. Boston is neat, however big money. Yolu still are near many places, so do not fret over this. You may want to check out Bridgewater, and Mansfield.

judy

[smarty]

Is there comparison between LA and Boston (or Norton)? The size of economy in CA is about 10+X of MA. Only people living in MA thinks they can compare to other major cities. Major industries will not even come to Boston for conventions as there is not enough hotel rooms and convention display space to accommodate all the people attending.

Norton has population of 18K in 30 sq miles area.
Boston has population of 600K in 90 sq miles area.
MASS has population of 6,200K in 10,555 sq miles area.

LA City has population of 3,820K in 470 sq miles area
LA County has population of 9,760K in 4,000 sq miles area
CA has population of 36,132K in 155,969 sq miles area.



LA is a 24hr city. Boston is pretty much asleep by 1am. Most people drive to NYC to continue party after Boston's bar closes. I think Norton is pretty much asleep by 9pm. :-)

Nice place to live in MA is usually define as NO commercial area in town. For example, Weston (the town) regulate the size and color of store signs; speed bump on public roads. However, DO NOT fear!! Mass is so small, even if you live in Springfield (Western MA or West of Worcester), you are only ~2-3 hours away. In 5 hours, you can be in another Country (Montreal Canada). 3-4 hours, you'll be in NYC. It is much less time spent compare to a daily traffic jam in LA. :-)

[john1979]

the new and revived u.s census csma metro area ranks boston 5th largest in the united states,slightly larger than the S.F. Bay area. Only N.Y., l.A.,Chicago and Washington D.C./Baltimore/Northern Virgina/Maryland are larger. Greater Boston is much larger population wise than for example Atlanta or Houston. So it's not small. New England is geographically soo small and economically,socially and historically attached it should really be cosidered one state.It can fit with room to spare in Washington State but has a population of over 14 million compared to Washington states 6.5 million. CN, R.I. and MA rank in the top 5 most densly populated states (R.I. is #1.) The other top 5 are also nearby northeastern states, N.J. and Maryland. The vast bulk of New Englands 14+ million people live in southern New England (MA,CN and R.I., a very small geographical area) and eastern Massachusetts/Greater Boston is the center of both this area and the economic and social center of New England as a whole (along with N.Y.C to a degree, their metro area influences over-lap.)Boston has the last time I checked (2004) the 5th largest Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP/metro gdp)in the United States (defacto North America)much larger than say Atlanta or Seattle,even larger than S.F.so it's economy contrary to what smarty said is very large and dynamic,producing huge wealth;MA and CN are one of the top 5 wealthest states (all the wealthiest states are in the northeast.)most people do not drive to N.Y.C to continue partying LOL (although you could, and BTW i was born in the Bronx and raised in The City)Boston has a great night club,bar and music scene,one of best in North America,better than most comparable cities and even some larger ones. It does not shut down at 1am and closing time/hours are the same as L.A. 2am. Only N.Y.C is a true 24hr city and it isn't fair to compare any other American city with the possible exception of chicago to it.N.Y.C is almost in a class by itself but it's very close by, about 1/2 the distance between L.A and S.F. and even Montreal is closer to Boston than L.A. is to S.F. Boston has ALOT of young people,it in many ways is unlike any other major North American city (in many ways it is though,especially in the suburban sprawl.)It's also extremely diverse,if you have the idea it's mostly white anglo saxon protestants whose ancestors came over on the mayflower,quickly banish that from your mind. It's one of the most diverse cities I've ever been/lived in and I'm from N.Y. It's a very expensive city but so is L.A. The fact it's expensive along with L.A.,S.F.,N.Y.C. should tell everyone something. Supply,demand and location,location,location.)Southern New England (MA,CN and R.I.)is highly urbanized while northern New England (VT,N.H. and ME) is mostly rural with a very small population. Nearby New Hampshire has been attracting peple from MA and greater Boston for years but it's population is still only 1.4 million people and many if not most people with commute to MA and Boston rely on work in MA. CN is the wealthest state and it has fabulously wealthy towns and really nasty dangerous cities. Hartford,CN/Springfield,MA (they're practicually twin cities located 100 miles west of Boston,half way between N.Y. and Boston)are urban and very dangerous,some of the highest crime rates in America,worse than N.Y. or Boston. And Boston has some very dangerous area also,don't be fooled by the tourist areas and the nicer neighborhoods, it's a big city like any other big city. There's also a huge drug problem here,one of the worst I've ever seen. Rich college kids,stock brokers,working class kids, I know and met who're hard core druggies. Boston is a major center for heroin trafficking right up there with N.Y.,CHI and L.A. I know this from experience I'm a former user so be aware there's a high level of petty larceny like burglaries,shop lifting and car thefts committed by druggies trying to feed their habits. Oter than that,for a city it's size it's remarkably safe compared to Atlanta,D.C.,Detroit or Miami for example.

[john1979]

smarty: the city of boston is roughly 48 sq miles in LAND area, with about 600,000. It's entire area is around 87 sq miles but a good chunk of that is WATER. it's about exactly the same size as san francisco, and both cities GEOGRAPHICALLY are small compared to large american cities,especially in places where many small surrounding suburban towns were swallowed up and made part of "the city" like houston for example. their metro areas are huge. the "city" of houston is 600-700 sq miles in area (!) but it's really just a large collection of suburban (not urban) towns made on paper into a big city with a downtown with skyscrapers that where few people live. metro houston,a cities true real world size,is smaller than boston population wise; that's because boston didn't swallow up surrounding cities and towns. the town of brookline (6 sq miles,60,000) is almost completely surrounded by the city of boston and is only a couple of miles from downtown and just as urban as the city. cambridge (6 sq miles,,105,000) and somerville (4.5 sq miles,80,000) are within spitting distance of downtown boston and you'd think they were a part of the city of boston but they're "seperate" cities (kind of like beverly hills and l.a. city)chelsea (1.5 sq miles,35,000) is 1 mile north of downtown boston but it's a seperate city. you add these cities together (they're urban like boston)and you have a population of 1 million + in an area of less than 100 sq miles. compare that to booming atlanta, a city with a land area of around 130 sq miles and a population of 475,000. the city (not metro area) of seattle has roughly the same population as boston in 90 sq miles of land vs boston's 48 sq miles of land. portland oregon has roughly the same population as the city of bostons (but a much smaller metro area) in a geographical area 3x larger than boston. smarty doesn't understand how to interpet statistics. and the state of MA has 6.4-6.5 million,not 6.2. in a LAND area of under 8700 sq miles (about the same geographical size as metro houston!), the vast bulk of that population lies in eastern massachusetts,within routes 495 and 128 (greater boston.)generally speaking along the coast is very urban and dense,but the furthur inland the less population and more rural it gets. if you have an education you'll do fine in massachusetts/new england,but if you don't or don't have marketable skills you'll find it impossible to comfortably live here and someplace like florida would be a better bet. why would you be moving from l.a. to norton, ma? norton is really out of the way and off the beaten track as far as suburban towns go.

[CityGirl52]

I lived in Sharon, MA for about 6 years. Norton isn't that far from it at all. This whole area is considered the southwestern part of Massachusetts. It was boring of course, but I'm from Boston originally so of course I thought it was to me! If you're settling down and raising a family then that's a good town and a really good area to live in for that main reason. There are a ton of developments in the area. I know that one of my relatives moved to Norton, MA in the last year or so, they're in an over 55 development though and the only reason why they're living there is because they're near their kids in the area and all their grandchildren.

One thing that I didn't like about that whole area where Norton, MA is located, was the city of Brockton; as one of the previous posters mentioned, it was gross in my eyes! It's a city but a different type of city than the city of Boston, completely different. Let's put it this way, when I say it's gross, I'm serious about that! When I lived in that whole area I remember it well! May be it's NOT like that now, but it certainly was back then.

If you move to Norton, MA, good luck! If you want ideas on where to live? If you can afford California, then you can afford a town in the greater Boston area. Check out Newton, MA, it's close to Boston and the MBTA is right there. Another place that I would live in? In a heartbeat, is Melrose, MA. Beautiful New Englanders and a lovely town all around, it's very convenient and quite nice. The MBTA has a stop to get in to Boston, as well as their bus service.

Wherever you decide to live, you'll most certainly miss your weather! I know some one right in my family living in New England RIGHT THIS MINUTE and they absolutely miss California weather like there's no tomorrow, so really think about it good!

[CaseyB]

I live about 15 minutes from Norton and while I can see that it has improved somewhat, I still would want to look into some of the surrounding towns. As a previous poster mentioned - look at Mansfield. There is a commuter train stop there and it's more upscale.

[zoob]

Originally Posted by CityGirl52

.

One thing that I didn't like about that whole area where Norton, MA is located, was the city of Brockton; as one of the previous posters mentioned, it was gross in my eyes! It's a city but a different type of city than the city of Boston, completely different. Let's put it this way, when I say it's gross, I'm serious about that! When I lived in that whole area I remember it well! May be it's NOT like that now, but it certainly was back then.

Hi,

There's a chance I might be moving to Brockton - I would be most grateful if you could elaborate on why you didn't like the place. Do you think it's a bad place to bring up kids?