Affordable cities in Massachusetts?

[elnene2k]

At $250k, if you're up for it, you can actually also afford smaller fixer uppers here in Fairhaven & Dartmouth. My wife and I LOVE this area and can't believe we did not find this sooner...

We now live in Fairhaven, which is right across the river here from New Bedford. It's not a city as you inquired about but we're happy to be so close to New Bedford. We intended to move to New Bedford but the many fixer uppers we bid on there did not work out! We lucked out on a tiny house in Fairhaven instead...We love New Bedford and spend lots of time there attending the many festivals/events they host and the wonderful restaurants. Most recently were the very first Regatta, the Working Waterfront Festival, and I just attended the Connecting for Change Conference yesterday which is still going on this weekend. I'd recommend that to anyone that wants to get inspired!

Fairhaven is a town with different faces. In the town center where we live, it a Historic 1800's little town by the water with nice big trees, big sidewalks, and beautiful 1800's buildings/architecture. The town hall, library, elementary school/high school, & church buildings are all 1800's gems built by generous Henry Huttleson Rogers who was an oil tycoon that worked with the famous Rockerfeller. Mr Rogers was one of the wealthier men of his time and actually had these buildings built for the town as a gift as the town was struggling back then and he wanted good things to happen with his money. They weren't just regular buildings though. These buildings are built with quality as material used included items shipped from Italy and France. Who would have thought that wealthy men such as Mr. Rogers would be so generous in desperate times back then. Wealthy men of today can learn a thing or two from philanthropists like Mr. Rogers. Maybe people would not be as pissed about the 1% elite right now if they were more like Mr. Rogers.

The Scotinuck Neck area of Fairhaven is totally different as it features beautiful neighborhoods close to the water on both sides but rather newer architecture. There still exists older houses there but it has a different feel I still think it's beautiful there but it has more of a rural feel compared to the town center where we're at. Then there's West Island. Which is actually pretty difficult to find an affordable house...It's a beautiful piece of land with a very natural backdrop. Most of it is a nature preserve.

The rest of Fairhaven is East of here towards route 6 and is more suburban feeling than the rest. The high school is more of the center of what Fairhaven is. It is a beautiful castle looking building that would make anybody feel special if they attended it. North of the high school you have more beautiful Historic houses close to the water including a smaller neighborhood of Fairhaven called Poverty Point. Poverty Point features extremely narrow streets with old houses near the water where you feel you took a step back in time. North of the high school is also where the beautiful Riverside Cementary is and is where Mr. Rogers was buried. There is a lot more History here in both New Bedford and Fairhaven and the whole Southcoast. Come and see for yourself!

[brent s]

You are going to find that teaching jobs are very hard to come by, depending on what you teach. If you are say a High School science or math teacher you will probably be able to find something. If you are an elementary teacher, you are going to be going up against hundreds of applicants for each job that is open, and there won't be many. Most districts have been cutting back positions over the past few years rather than opening them.

Also keep in mind that before you can teach in MA, you need to have a masters degree (probably the same as in CA), and you need to pass the MA teacher certification exams.