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Hello
I'm on a New England Hunt for our next place to live. But first, a little background on us...
I'm 25 years old and work as an Administrative Assistant for a retail District Manager. I have a 12 month old daughter. My husband, also 25, is in retail management and has been an Assistant Manager for about 8 years (we're trying to get him a store manager position with his current company, but no job openings yet). We were both born and raised right here in the Midwest- Illinois to be exact. We're not very active people, and very much enjoy staying home and watching movies or playing board games. We enjoy going out for walks or going out shopping on the weekends, but we're definitely not big on going out to bars, partying, that sort of thing.
Currently, we are getting our house ready to be put in the market so we can move into a small apartment and save money. Since I've had our baby, I've only been able to work part-time. Therefore, we can no longer afford having a house and have decided to downsize our life temporarily. Owning a house and having a lot of things/possesions just aren't important to us right now, and we feel having a savings account and providing a more stable life for our family is more important.
We've also decided that having an apartment would allow us to be more flexible in our future geographical decisions. To be perfectly honest, we both hate the midwest. 100 degrees in the summer, negative 30 in the winter, cornfields, farmers, the flat land, (not to mention the god awful midwest accent everyone else can hear but us, lol). The Midwest just doesn't feel right to us. And we both know we want to eventually get out of here. We've given ourselves a 2 - 3 year time frame in which to save money and plan a move. I know the New England area has some harsh weather conditions as well, but as long as I'm not in the Midwest I'll take those unforgiving winters!
Now I know anything can change in 2 - 3 years, and the economy can go either way, but I need a general idea of where to start my hunt. I know I LOVE the New England region. I love the history, the great ocean scenery, everything about New England life. I've done some digging around and found quite a few towns that sound like what we're looking for, but having an insiders point of view would help us that much more. I need to find a town based on job opportunities for retail management, apartment life (we have decided to NOT own another house until we're much much older), schools, that sort of thing. Oh, and I'm an avid Foodist so great restaurants wouldn't hurt either, lol. If anyone has been to Galena, IL, that is the sort of place I'm looking for but maybe on a larger scale.
I'll list some towns below that I've found, and if anyone could give me any sort of feedback it would be most appreciated. Thank you so much!
~Cape Cod, MA
~Essex, CT
~Old Saybrook, CT
~Stonington, CT
~Marblehead/Salem, MA
~Stockbridge, MA
~Portsmouth, NH
~Barrington, RI
Hello
I'm on a New England Hunt for our next place to live. But first, a little background on us...
I'm 25 years old and work as an Administrative Assistant for a retail District Manager. I have a 12 month old daughter. My husband, also 25, is in retail management and has been an Assistant Manager for about 8 years (we're trying to get him a store manager position with his current company, but no job openings yet). We were both born and raised right here in the Midwest- Illinois to be exact. We're not very active people, and very much enjoy staying home and watching movies or playing board games. We enjoy going out for walks or going out shopping on the weekends, but we're definitely not big on going out to bars, partying, that sort of thing.
Currently, we are getting our house ready to be put in the market so we can move into a small apartment and save money. Since I've had our baby, I've only been able to work part-time. Therefore, we can no longer afford having a house and have decided to downsize our life temporarily. Owning a house and having a lot of things/possesions just aren't important to us right now, and we feel having a savings account and providing a more stable life for our family is more important.
We've also decided that having an apartment would allow us to be more flexible in our future geographical decisions. To be perfectly honest, we both hate the midwest. 100 degrees in the summer, negative 30 in the winter, cornfields, farmers, the flat land, (not to mention the god awful midwest accent everyone else can hear but us, lol). The Midwest just doesn't feel right to us. And we both know we want to eventually get out of here. We've given ourselves a 2 - 3 year time frame in which to save money and plan a move. I know the New England area has some harsh weather conditions as well, but as long as I'm not in the Midwest I'll take those unforgiving winters!
Now I know anything can change in 2 - 3 years, and the economy can go either way, but I need a general idea of where to start my hunt. I know I LOVE the New England region. I love the history, the great ocean scenery, everything about New England life. I've done some digging around and found quite a few towns that sound like what we're looking for, but having an insiders point of view would help us that much more. I need to find a town based on job opportunities for retail management, apartment life (we have decided to NOT own another house until we're much much older), schools, that sort of thing. Oh, and I'm an avid Foodist so great restaurants wouldn't hurt either, lol. If anyone has been to Galena, IL, that is the sort of place I'm looking for but maybe on a larger scale.
I'll list some towns below that I've found, and if anyone could give me any sort of feedback it would be most appreciated. Thank you so much!
~Cape Cod, MA
~Essex, CT
~Old Saybrook, CT
~Stonington, CT
~Marblehead/Salem, MA
~Stockbridge, MA
~Portsmouth, NH
~Barrington, RI
I also love New England and I've been to all of the States you listed above; spent more time in CT since I have family there. I can tell you that they all have higher taxes there so I would definitely check all of those places out thoroughly as far as tax rates, rentals, etc. Have you been to the Forums for those particular States to ask questions? I've found you can get some really good info from folks on here. Good luck in your decision.
I have read that thread and it does give me a general idea of the New England area. I've also been to many other message boards, read many many different online articles and have cruised the chamber of commerce websites. So that's how I've come up with my small but comparable city list, and was rather looking for an insider point of view of each town. Not to sound ungrateful for your answer, just looking for a specific point of view Thanks though!
Well what was your take on these places from an insiders viewpoint when you visited those various State forums? IMO that's where the most info of people actually living there will come from.
~Cape Cod, MA
~Essex, CT
~Old Saybrook, CT
~Stonington, CT
~Marblehead/Salem, MA
~Stockbridge, MA
~Portsmouth, NH
~Barrington, RI
Perhaps this life-long New Englander can help. I can see by this list what demographics you are trying to target. You're avoiding the big cities, but want an area with a small town feel and family qualities.
Since you are starting a family, I'd eliminate Cape Cod. Outside of summer vacation, the population drops significantly, including many transients. In recent years, it has become a magnet for retirees, who are generally not supportive of spending taxes on education.
Essex and Old Saybrook are nice towns on Long Island Sound. Both are a bit upscale. Marblehead is the most exclusice of the group, and I don't think it offers much in the way of rental property. Salem is more of a city, although it is small enough to have a town atmosphere. Note that overall the cost of housing, and cost of living in general, north of Boston may shock you.
Barrington is considered one of the more desirable towns in RI. You might run into problems locating rental property. I'd suggest investigating areas south of Barrington - perhaps Warren. The entire region of RI is very nice and family friendly.
I do not know much about Stockbridge, since it is on the NY border. I do know that there is a scarity of good jobs in the area, as many of the major employers in the Pittsfield area shipped the jobs overseas.
I am not familair with Stonington, except that is in close proximity to the Foxwoods casinos.
Of the group you listed, Portsmouth is my favorite. It's arguably the nicest city in NH, but is still small enough so that it feels like a big town. The harbor area is quite nice, which you might find appealing having lived in the Midwest. The cost of living is fairly low in NH, with no income tax or sales tax. The property taxes are high, but if you rent initially, that shouldn't affect you.
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