Good small town in New England to raise a family (Boston: real estate, homes)

[CRioux13]

My husband and I will be moving back to New England soon and want to find a small town to settle in. We were raised in Maine but are willing to live in NH or MA also. We want a small town feel, good schools, a very New Englandy feel, a town center with coffe shops, cute little restaurants and a night life. I dont want it to feel like I am living in a city. Any suggestions? I would like to be within 1.5 hours of Boston.

[Thomas144]

Newburyport, MA

[Jimrob1]

I grew up in Southeastern Mass. Not sure if that area of New England appeals to you though. The town I grew up in No. Attleboro certainly meets most of your requirements. The only one I can think of that it doesn't would be nightlife. The towns location is between Boston and Providence. About 40 minutes south of Boston and 20 minutes north of Providence. So entertainment wise people generally went to the cities especially Providence. There is alot of shopping on the outskirts of town where there is a regional mall and a number of other stores, restaurants and movie theaters.

The town definitely has that old New England feel. Old colonial homes and neighborhoods with the town center you asked for. The town center is adjacent to walkable neighborhoods that lead into the center. The center has small shops, restaurants, banks, post office, town offices, churches and a middle school near by. Not far from downtown is the family YMCA and across the street is the WWII Memorial Park with the small zoo and park area. The town is heavily wooded with rolling to flat areas and has some newer areas of town with newer homes. The population is around 27,000 I think. I have relative there and I doubt they will ever leave that town. If you like to walk or jog or ride bikes there is a beautiful trail in adjacent Lincoln and Cumberland RI. Its the Blackstone River Trail. I think it goes all the way towards Worceser now. Its paved and borders the river a peaceful place to go and enjoy the nature and beauty of old New England.

One of the main benefits of this town is its location and hwy access is nearby I-95, 495 and 295. The location gives one a broader range of areas to look for employment, with Boston, Providence so close. Some even make the trek to Worcester to work.

Well No. Attleboro is just a thought. There are so many wonderful towns in New England to live. I can tell you New England is a very special and unique part of this country, and I have seen the USA.

Good Luck with your search.

[wmass]

Check out Northampton, MA- top rated schools, artsy/vibrant downtown, lots of culture, great parks and bike trails galore - and you will find more affordable real estate prices and property taxes compared to eastern mass.

"(Northampton) offers more restaurants and shops, certainly more galleries, theaters and performance venues than most urban centers dozens of times its size. Add two rivers, mountain views, landscaped parks and meadow walks, and you begin to see why people call it paradise."
- The Boston Globe

[missionhill]

Well, Newburyport, Marblehead, Concord, Hingham, Cohasset, and Portsmouth NH, are some of the obvious choices--very distinctive, very New Englandy. All pretty expensive. Northampton is great but farther from Boston than you want. Also in MA, consider Ipswich and Amesbury, and in N.H., Keene, Exeter, Dover, and Peterborough. In my mind, places like North Attleborough are in the next tier down--not hip, no coffee bar trendy restaurant scene, but a town center with some shops and a post office, maybe a common that's the focus of seasonal community events. There may be hundreds of towns like that-- Franklin, Wrentham, Natick, Norwood, Dedham, Needham, Grafton, Groton, Chelmsford, and Westborough are just a few.

[missionhill]

Oh, by the way, you can forget about nightlife in any of these places but Northampton, which has it in spades, and--maybe--Portsmouth.

[wmass]

Northampton to Fenway is about 1hr 50 mins. (w/o traffic). For Air travel, use Hartford (45 minutes, no hassle). Also Northampton-NYC is a very doable daytrip (about 3 hours).

You will find the pace of things - and traffic- very different between western and eastern mass.

[KazamaSmokers]

Bolton, MA

[wivenhoe]

There are a lot of towns that come to mind, which some others have mentioned. Agree with Mission Hill that there are many towns that qualify here.

Marblehead, Ipswich, Newburyport, Manchester, Essex, Hamilton, Wenham, and even the historic sections of Salem - on the North Shore, north of Boston. These towns are pricey though. Still, all are considered quaint, small New England towns with shops, restaurants, pubs, good school systems, located on or near public transportation, and within an hour of Boston.

Concord, Lexington, Winchester, Arlington, and Belmont - west of Boston. Same as above, though Concord is considerably more quaint than the others mentioned. My vote is for West Concord here.

North Attleboro, Wrentham, Mansfield, Foxboro - southeast MA. I'm another person who grew up in North Attleboro but have since lived west of Boston and on the North Shore (which I prefer).

Hingham, Scituate, Duxbury, Cohasset, Kingston - South Shore.

These are just some of the towns that come to my mind, but there are in fact many towns that would qualify.

[skydiveintohell]

Northampton is a good suggestion, although a very unique town and a little more expensive than surrounding towns, not a real New England feel....more college town. I enjoyed living there when I was in my early 20s and single.


Sturbridge comes to mind, nice New England feel, tons of history. You would be 45 minutes from downtown Springfield,35 minutes from Worcester, 50 minutes to downtown Hartford, 1.5 hours from Boston, 2 hours from the Cape {Bourne Bridge}. Sturbridge has quite a few good restaurants and tons of activities for families. It also has that coffee shop in the center of town you were looking for, Sturbridge Coffee House, their new building is HUGE. They have activities for the kids and alcoves for people to chat quietly, a beautiful porch and 2 fire places.
I lived in the next town over, Monson, for several years so feel free to DM me if you have and specific questions.
Good luck on your move