What about Lowell, Bedford, Burlington, Lexington, Saugus? (Boston, Cambridge: middle-class, lofts)

[mintchip]

I am a single woman, early 30s looking to buy my first condo. Would like to keep the price at 170k max. (pref. a little lower).

I love city living, but as I have gotten older I crave larger living quarters which are out of my price range in the city. I am also looking at nearby "urban" suburbs like Arlington, Watertown and Somerville. These places are close to the city (although still a bit of a hike to get in) and yet you don’t get a great deal for your money and you have some of the less appealing aspects of city life (gritty, dirty atmosphere, traffic, etc.).

I fell IN LOVE with the gorgeous, cheap, plentiful lofts listed online in Lowell. I could easily afford a huge place but I know nothing about Lowell.

Qs:
What is the town like
How long does it take to get into the city
Is there a commuter rail or any public transit options
What are the easiest towns to commute to (I currently work in Waltham)
etc.

I’m also wondering these same things about other towns I’ve heard of but am not familiar with: Bedford, Burlington, Lexington, Saugus, etc.

Basically, I’m looking for a town that EITHER has enough of the city thing going for it that it’s a nice place to live (e.g. Waltham has a decent business district with good restaurants and ethnic shops) OR, due to being situated along good road routes, makes it easy enough to drive in to the city a couple of times a week. I would also like to get a lot for my money--ideally, a huge loft. I don't expect to need to commute into the city on a daily basis, but I’d like to make it in a couple of times a week or at least have that option.

[mintchip]

P.S. There seem to be problems with the formatting of my post...can someone help me fix that?

[knitgirl]

I can't help you with information about the towns, but as a mortgage processor I can give you some things to think about when buying a condo: make sure the condo association is in good shape, that there are no special assessments, that the reserves are adequate, that there are no lawsuits pending either against the association or by the association against, for example, the developer. There is generally a reason why big, cheap lofts are plentiful. From what I've heard about Lowell, it could be the town. I live in what is probably a comparable town outside Chicago. It's scary to some people because it is very diverse. Our crime rates are fine, but some people just can't get past seeing signs on stores in Spanish. Spend some time there, especially at night to see if you're comfortable there. Buying anything in this market, make sure you're going to want to live there at least 5 yrs or you may not get all your money out if you need to sell.

[robma44541]

Originally Posted by mintchip

I am a single woman, early 30s looking to buy my first condo. Would like to keep the price at 170k max. (pref. a little lower).

I love city living, but as I have gotten older I crave larger living quarters which are out of my price range in the city. I am also looking at nearby "urban" suburbs like Arlington, Watertown and Somerville. These places are close to the city (although still a bit of a hike to get in) and yet you don’t get a great deal for your money and you have some of the less appealing aspects of city life (gritty, dirty atmosphere, traffic, etc.).

I fell IN LOVE with the gorgeous, cheap, plentiful lofts listed online in Lowell. I could easily afford a huge place but I know nothing about Lowell.

Qs:
What is the town like
How long does it take to get into the city
Is there a commuter rail or any public transit options
What are the easiest towns to commute to (I currently work in Waltham)
etc.

I’m also wondering these same things about other towns I’ve heard of but am not familiar with: Bedford, Burlington, Lexington, Saugus, etc.

Basically, I’m looking for a town that EITHER has enough of the city thing going for it that it’s a nice place to live (e.g. Waltham has a decent business district with good restaurants and ethnic shops) OR, due to being situated along good road routes, makes it easy enough to drive in to the city a couple of times a week. I would also like to get a lot for my money--ideally, a huge loft. I don't expect to need to commute into the city on a daily basis, but I’d like to make it in a couple of times a week or at least have that option.

Lowell is like the other grimey cities you mentioned in MA, somerville, arlington, etc. It takes about 45-60 to drive to Boston from there and there is a commuter rail service.
Burlington is a nice town, as are Bedford and Lexington but you won't find inexpensive places to live there also, they are all about 30-45 minutes outside Boston off I93 and 128.
Why don't you look in the Malden, Melrose, Wakefield areas? 10-15 minutes outside Boston and nice towns also Malden is on the T line and will take you right into downtown.

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by mintchip

Qs:
What is the town like
How long does it take to get into the city
Is there a commuter rail or any public transit options
What are the easiest towns to commute to (I currently work in Waltham)
etc.

I can breakdown Saugus for you fairly accurately. It's a quiet blue collar family town. Large Italian population. You can get into town in about 20 off peak hours. I'd say rush hour would be about 40 minutes. There is no train service in town, but there a few bus routes. One goes to Malden Station (T) and the other to Haymarket. Not exactly how long it would take to get to Waltham, but guessing it would be about 40.

In short, I don't think it's what your looking for.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by robma44541

Lowell is like the other grimey cities you mentioned in MA, somerville, arlington, etc.

Wait, Am I reading this correctly? Somerville and Arlington are grimy? Somerville has right near the lowest crime rate of any city its size in the nation and Arlington is wonderfully pleasant. They are pricey given their proximity to Boston but both are located near (or on) rapid transit lines. In fact, Davis Square in Somerville is only about 5 or 6 subway stops from Downtown Boston (5 to Charles/MGH, 6 to Park St). You can get from there to Downtown Boston in just about 15 minutes via the Red Line Subway. It's not much of a hike at all. Somerville is very urban (one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S. at over 18,000 people per square mile). Arlington is mixed. Part of it is truely urban and other parts are very suburban. It's a good "transition" town.

Lowell is rough around the edges for sure. The downtown area is nice and if the OP is comfortable with living in a diverse, urban environment, the commute via MBTA isn't bad at all. Keep in mind, you'll be commuting on the Commuter Rail which runs less frequently (last train is earlier too) than the Rapid Transit lines of the core metro area. This isn't necessarily bad, but it's something to keep in mind. I like the relative comfort of the commuter rail. It's great to just kick back and relax after a day's work.

In the end it depends on the OP's tastes. Some people prefer a walkable, affordable, urban area (which Downtown Lowell provides at a fraction of the cost of the immediate Boston area) to lower density, autocentric suburbs. Lowell's crime rate is actually quite reasonable. It's only slightly above the national average and those familiar with the city can attest that it's largely isolated to certain areas of the city. The downtown area is quite nice indeed.

My largest concern for someone looking at Lowell would be whether or not they plan on having children. Lowell's schools can be rough and not only is the educational quality subpar, but the kids can be tough. If you have a kid (or want to), look outside the city or invest in public schools.

As with any move, I'd advise coming up and scouting the area yourself. Lowell is regarded as one of the "up and coming" cities in Massachusetts and the downtown area in particular is quite nice. They're doing a wonderful job converting those old industrial buildings into nice loft space. It's a good choice if you want to commute to Boston but don't want to pay to live there. It's very urban at the core.

The rest of the communities you mention are relatively suburban. Saugus is often misunderstood as most of New England simply knows about Route 1 which does pass through. There's a lot more to Saugus than just Route 1.

[lz1982]

Wait, Am I reading this correctly? Somerville and Arlington are grimy? Somerville has right near the lowest crime rate of any city its size in the nation and Arlington is wonderfully pleasant.

Indeed, I was thinking that if the OP considers Arlington too grimy, Lowell is probably not a good idea. I do think there are parts of Arlington, mostly East Arlington, that look a little "meh," but wouldn't describe them as grimy or sketchy in the least.

[Beantown_mama]

Lowell can be a bit sketchy, especially if you are a single woman. If you can afford it, I would go with the Davis Square area of Medford/Somerville. It is a lot of fun, near Tufts University so there is a lot to do, and you can take the Redline into town. I'm not sure that there are apts in your price range though.

[dtkn]

Lowell is not a bad city. It's convenience for a lot of people for accessibility and commuting. Middlesex Community College, UMass Lowell, Great Hospitals are there, about 40 minutes drive to Boston, 1 hour drive to NH and Southern coastal, the commuter rail, city bus lines. And as with other cities in US, there's good parts and not so good parts. But the quality has been improved greatly in the last 2 years or so, especially, the downtown area as others mentioned. I think it would not be a bad place for people like you who likes city-like.

[ogre]

The towns you are asking about are a varied collection. Cliff has given you some good detail about Saugus. Burlington, Bedford, and Lexington are all very suburban in character, while Lowell is more urban.

Burlington has a decent-sized mall, and a little strip of chain restaurants and the like along a road near one end of the mall. Otherwise it's pretty much a basic middle-class suburb. Bedford is a bit more affluent, somewhat more of an upper-middle-class 'burb, a little bit on the low-density side, but not out in the exurbs. Lexington is another rather affluent town, with a fairly typical suburban population density and a decently substantial and active downtown for a 'burb. None of the three really suburban towns has commuter rail service. Lexington has transit bus service to the red line (subway) in Cambridge, which runs straight into downtown Boston, but there is that transfer from bus to subway to deal with. I'm not sure whether Bedford or Burlington has bus service.

The reason that people have been saying that the quality of Lowell depends on the neighborhood is that Lowell is more of a small city rather than a town. Like most cities, it has its variations in the quality of its neighborhoods. In general Lowell has kind of a solid blue-collar feel, but also has its areas that are pretty nice and others that are not so nice.

Lowell could work well as a place for you to live if you truly are comfortable in an urban setting, with the variety of neighborhoods and ethnicities this means. The possible issue with Lowell is the commute. This depends on you and your preferences. If you are planning to drive to work in Waltham, be aware that traffic will most likely be heavy during the prime commuting hours. Because of the traffic, it's not the best commute, but it is do-able. If you're interested in commuter rail mainly because you'd like to take the occasional trip into Boston for fun, Lowell is a good location for this. You most likely don't even want to consider commuting to Waltham by commuter rail. This would entail a 45-minute commute into the city, then another 20 or 25 minutes back out to Waltham on another rail line, plus transfer time and the time you would spend getting to and from the train stations in Lowell and Waltham.

I'll add my voice to those who say that "grimy" is not a word they would use to describe Arlington or Somerville. Like many of the older towns around Boston, these places have a lot of old housing that does not look brand new, and they may look a bit faded in some areas, but overall these towns are far from grimy. As for public transit, Somerville is on the red line, which connects directly to downtown Boston. Arlington has a bus connection to the red line.

I'm not sure what condos in these areas are going for, but if there are condos there in your price range a few other places you might consider would be Cambridge, the north side of Brookline--especially around Brookline Village, Coolidge Corner, and maybe Longwood if being on the edge of an area right in the city would work for you. Double-check on the parking situation in these towns, and the possible need for off-street parking. I know that Brookline does not allow parking on the street at night, and I'm unsure about the resident parking rules in Cambridge.

You might even consider living right in Waltham. This depends on how much city you want right around you. Downtown Waltham will offer some city kinds of eateries and small stores, but most of the rest of Waltham is either old-city residential or suburban in character.

As with other places I've mentioned, I'm unsure how the condo prices run, but if the price is right, and if a hint of the city in the form of local commercial districts with small stores and restaurants, surrounded by affluent older suburbia, would work for you, then you might consider some sections of Newton, such as Newton Centre, West Newton, or maybe Auburndale.