Read if you know both RI and MA (Providence, Cranston: best neighborhood, for sale)

[curlystraight]

Hi - my young family and I are living in Cranston currently but will be moving to Massachusetts soon, as my husband is working in Boston, by South Station.

We need to be within the triangle south of Boston, but still within an hour or so to Providence, Dudley and Gardner. We seem to keep on landing on Mansfield. I don't know the area that well. We do not have a huge budget, ideally would like to be around the $275000 range, I know we are going to have to downsize, but we are more concerned with location. Getting the worst house in the best neighborhood, as long as the house isn't too bad, is what we are hoping for.

I am really looking for the RIGHT neighborhood this time around...something special, like a Pawtuxet Village where we can walk to the library or to a coffee shop and still have grocery stores, etc. not too far away. We have two little kids and two big dogs so some land would be nice.

Any suggestions from those who know both RI and MA would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much in advance.

[wmassjb]

Have you looked into areas west of Boston.
Framingham has a nice feel to it, and it would also allow your husband the ability to take the commuter line right into South Station avoiding all the traffic nightmares of Boston.
Braintree on the southside of Boston is nice, and has access to the Red Line on the T
Quincy is closer to the city itself, and also would have red line access.

[curlystraight]

We need to take a ride through Framingham, although I think that is the T from the Worcester line and we hear bad things about it. I wonder how the school systems are there.

Wouldn't Braintree be out of our price range? I know in Quincy we can barely even afford a condo, so that's out.

So, Framingham will be our next stop.

Thanks for your input.

[WarwickGal74]

In Foxboro they have the main Street (Washington St.) it has that nice old time city feel too it with everything within walking distance even easy access to 95. I am not sure what the prices are like in that area but it is very nice and kind of mid point between Boston and Prov.

[ProvGuy]

I think Mansfield is a good choice, they have a nice little downtown area like Pawtuxet and the train you could walk to. North Attleborough also has a nice small downtown but no direct train service.

[curlystraight]

We do like both of those towns, I am just a little worried about it being too far of a drive for our parents to come visit and vice versa (from Gardner and Dudley). We are going to check out Framingham this weekend. I just want to narrow it down to the right town so we can find the right house!!

Thank you so much for responding.

Originally Posted by ProvGuy

I think Mansfield is a good choice, they have a nice little downtown area like Pawtuxet and the train you could walk to. North Attleborough also has a nice small downtown but no direct train service.

[tamiznluv]

Mansfield, Norton, North Attleboro, West Bridgewater, Holbrook, Weymouth, Braintree, even down towards Plymouth is accessible now to a "triangle". Your husband going to work for the PO, curly? My next door neighbor has been at South Station for 38 years.

[louie lu]

i notice in waltham a couple of houses for sale on Trapelo Rd. that didn't look too pricey. looks like a low to middle class neighborhood.

[cigarlover]

You might want to up your budget by about 200k.

[curlystraight]

Originally Posted by cigarlover

You might want to up your budget by about 200k.

Wanna help me out with the extra $200K?

I don't want to raise our mortgage too much and end up "house poor" so we are really taking our time and hoping to find a good deal.