Nice place to live outside of Boston for newlyweds (Framingham: condo, crime rate)

[sfchick]

My fiance and I are thinking about moving to the Boston area as a job opportunity has come up. We are moving from just outside San Francisco, and are looking to get away from the ridiculously high cost of living. We really don't want to live in the hustle and bustle of Boston, but would like a place with some New England character and a few amenities (a coffee shop, cocktail/wine bar, a few good places to eat....) not more than 1/2 hour outside of Boston.

Does anyone have any suggestions for relatively hip places for a 29 & 30 year old without kids to start out? We don't want a town thats too sleepy and totally boring....We've thought of Salem, Gloucester, Beverly, Ipswich, Framingham....if anyone has some insight on these towns, please let us know! I'm from Portsmouth NH, but have never spent much time in Mass. Newburyport is lovely, but a bit too far from Boston. Ideally, we would like a place where we could find a comfortable townhome/condo for $250,000 with the home prices going up from there, and the crime rate is low.

[scarletfire]

Gloucester is a fun place for a young couple -- great beaches, hiking trails, bars, shops, great little artist community, etc. There's almost always some event going on there. However, driving to/from Boston would be a pain. You could take the train (about an hour to/from Boston and much less stressful than driving). It's a real mixed community - lots of working class and professionals, lower end houses and luxury homes & everything in between.

Salem - lots of things to do, bars, lots of young people from Salem State, reasonable home prices relatively, a little overrun with tourists/students at times.

Framingham - a large, sprawling suburban community. There are lots of restaurants, stores, etc along Rt 9 but the downtown is depressed/undesirable. No New England character in the town center or anything much desirable to get to there.

Anyhow, I hope that's a helpful start! Please feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

[sfchick]

thank you! Are there any parts of Salem that we should avoid?