Westford, Acton, Littleton? (Boston, Worcester, Cambridge: real estate, house, YMCA)
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My husband and I would love to have any information regarding the towns of Westford, Acton and Littleton? According to Greatschools.com it looks like they all have great schools systems. My husband may be working in Natick (we are in VA right now), and "home" for us is Maine, so a happy medium between both would be great. I am a nurse, and would be looking at hospitals to work as well. Any info would be great! We had also been looking at Grafton area as well, and a friend mentioned Bolton/Stow area and Lancaster. Out of curiosity, is Boston Rd in Westford a super busy road?
Yes, Boston Road is pretty busy. Not a highway, but a main through street. You wouldn't want to live right on it, I don't think/
Littleton is more of a rural small town feel (which it used to be). There is a great community feeling, due to history and size. Prosperous and unpretentious, lots of great conservation land. (Disclaimer- I've lived in Littleton since 1992, no kids).
Westford, as far as I can see, is more of power suburb. An RN I knew lived there and he felt his kid was in competition with a lot of materialism- kids getting an SUV for 16th birthday, etc. He was only able to live there by having ridden the real estate wave up and over to Westford. (When his kid graduated, he divorced and moved to a cheap place in Florida for a much more informal life).
Acton is a fine town/suburb. It's sort of made up of several "village" areas. The schools are, I gather, among the best in the state.
Bolton/Stow are still pretty rural, rather, the housing that is there sticks up from the former orchard or farm. Some neat antique housing. Not much downtown, if any.
Grafton is pretty much further out. I don't know anything about schools or such, but I consider it far away from the areas you suggested (plus it's not off Rt.2 like so many others). Did you perhaps mean Groton?
Don't know much about Lancaster except there's some nice ponds and lakes. It's also kinda far down Rt.2.
What kind of RN work do you do? There's UMass Medical Çenter in Worcester (nearish to Grafton). Otherwise, it's kind of thin in central Mass. From Littleton, I drive 20 miles east to work a night shift at a psych hospital in Belmont, on the edge of Cambridge.
Of course, there are the many hospitals in and around Boston/Cambridge. Depends on what your skills are. Hiring has been pretty tight all over, at least for new grads, as I hear.
Best wishes on your investigations.
Thanks so much for the information! We really would prefer not to be in a "pretentious" town, so that was good to know about Westford. We are hoping for a more rural feel, with amenities close by (we have 11, 8 and 2 year olds), such as a YMCA, parks, grocery... We actually were considering the Grafton area as well (not Groton), but were looking more north as it would be closer to Maine where most of our family is. As for nursing, currently I am only working labor pool for an IV team as I have a little one at home. Most of my nursing has been maternity/L&D, and prior to that Oncology/hematology. I may like to try home health...not sure what I want to do when I grow up
:-) LOL, will get back into it more when my little one's a bit older! A nurse who was my roommate in college years ago works in Worcester; she may be able to give me some insight. I do appreciate the information you gave!
You're most welcome. I don't know if Westford is pretentious overall- just a data point from a co-worker. I can heartily recommend Littleton as a great place to raise a child, just from observation and talking to neighbors. I imagine Acton would be, too.
In my observation, labor and delivery is one area of nursing that is never in a shortage, and wasn't years ago, either. People just plain want to work in it
I have only been to Grafton to go to the Tufts Univ. Vet School hospital, which is superb. That area looked pretty rural (although it would have to be, large animals, and all) and didn't appear pretentious. That's a mild way of saying the area I saw looked a bit weary, but it was only one area. Good access to Worcester, don't know about the schools.
LIttleton is one mile from I-495, go north and on to Maine. I think it's 90 miles straight shot to Portland, and you miss a lot of the 128 north traffic closer in.
I guess I really like Littleton, although I think Acton might have more of the amenities yo mention.
Again, best wishes on your investigations.
Again, best wishes on your investigations.
Add: I just reread your post and saw that your husband is working in Natick. I think anything close to I-495 would work OK for his commute (and that doesn't include or Lancaster). If he works usual business hours, the commute on Rt.9 west (for Natick) is BAD. Off-hours, less so.
There is also something of a jam going south on I-495 until you get past the Mass. Pike (Rt. 90). Again, normal business hours are much more of a problem.
I work third shift, drive east on Rt. 2 at 11p, west at 7:15a. No problem. One advantage of shift work, eh?
LOL! Yes, I worked the graveyard shift for a long time and travel is one advantage, aside from shift differential! Thank you again for all the helpful information; hopefully things will work out in our favor. I'm curious about nursing salaries up there as well (considering the cost of living is out of this world!!). My husband would make a decent salary, but by looking at the cost of 4 br homes, it looks as though my backside will have to be in the workforce a fair amount :-)
Salaries absolutely depend on where you work. Overall, higher as you get more into Boston (or Cambridge Health Alliance. CHA has had cutbacks, but those who are left standing make the highest around).
Overall, as you get more into the suburbs, the money sinks accordingly. Overall.
Some places are union, some are not. There are few, if any, for-profit chain-type places to work. Has just not taken hold in Mass.
Is there any reason for choosing the Littleton/Acton area other than good schools? That is putting you out around 45 minutes (non rush hour) to Natick. Grafton is closer....as is Westboro, Shrewsbury, Northboro - all very strong school systems. Even some of the towns to the southwest of Natick (Millis for instance) would make more sense than Littleton/Acton area.
What is your price range ? - costs can differ greatly from one town to the next.
Concepts, no real reason, other than the appeal of being closer to the NH border (both of our families are in Maine, where we are from). Other than that, no. We actually are also considering the Grafton, Westborough areas. My husband is flying up next week to check out his potential workplace, and I'm sure he will drive around and check out some areas as well. As for house costs, we would prefer not to be higher than $400's...my husband makes a decent salary and I will be working part time in nursing, but in MA (Boston area, especially), that still seems like it will be going mostly to a house and taxes!!
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