Moving to Cape Cod year-round? (Boston, Newton: theater, private schools, colleges)

[JennandSha]

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum. My partner and I came to Cape Cod for vacation this past July for a concert at the melody tent and because I have never been. My partner Sha has been several times before. She absolutely loves Hyannis.. Well the moment we arrived... I fell in love too!! We were there for a week and honestly .. it was a quite 22 hour drive back home to Florida... I am Surgical Tech and have been waiting for positions at any of the hospitals on the cape to come open... still waiting... We have never felt more at home and at peace in a place in our lives. I have lived in Florida my whole life... its just not the life for us. We are in our mid- to late 20's and a quite town with not a huge night life is perfect for us! I have a question though. We stayed in Hyannis, that is where she has always stayed. How much of Hyannis closes during the off season... would Hyannis be a good place to live off season.. Cape Cod hospital is so close. But what other towns would you recommend if Hyannis wouldnt be suitable?

Thank you! Cant wait to live there!!!!!

[soxfankk]

emarsi - My advice is to purchase a second home in your preferred area on the Cape - if you have the cash. Right now is a perfect time to pick up a 2-3BR home on Cape Cod with the housing prices so low. That way, you can experience the Cape on and off-season. During the high season, rent out the house weekly and that will pay for your mortgage. Owning a second home here is a great way to become familiar with the Cape and not cut ties to Boston.

Karen

[CoastalMaine]

Wow. I am blown away by the answers that show a true lack of inagination on this thread. I bought my home in Brewster in 1979 at 22 years of age after growing up in Westboro. I worked in the computer field in Framingham for Data General back in its heyday. After coming here, I went to RE school and worked that field back in the day of 13-17% interest rates before finally going back to school for cosmetology and buying a hair salon in Orleans which I owned for 9 years. It was the perfect (at a VERY seasonal time on the Cape) business to own while raising my family.

Moving to the Cape back then was a BIG change... it had only 125k year round residents... Brewster only had 1700 at that point... now it's got 10k.

I was never bored living here. For Pete's sake, you're in God's country. What's wrong with all of you who can only find fault with such a gorgeous place? There's always something to do that's nature related and either free or a very nominal charge... kayak trips/lessons, canoe trips, kettle pond walks, shore walks, learn to parasail, go to Chatham airport and take ground school as I did and get some air time, take an adult ed class very reasonably at 4 C's, go to the symphony, go to all the local theatres, or join your local theater!, run for public office as I did and donate your time to your community, take an art class, take an adult-ed class in one of the public courses offered in towns throughout the Cape, ride the bike trails along the canal, or from Dennis to Wellfleet, or the one that winds through the Nat'l Seashore in P'town, tour the Marconi beach site, go to the many museums on the Cape, enjoy the artists museums, join the Natural History Museum in Brewster and get involved in their activities, take the ferry to Nantucket or MV, join a reading group, get a group of friends together and breakfast in Sandwich, drive along 6A and stop at fun shops with a stop for lunch in Orleans, then drive down and enjoy dinner in P'town and then enjoy a leisurely ride home, take the Masters Gardening program through the Barnstable Cty. extension program, or photography classes, woodcarving classes, stained glass classes, poetry classes, writing classes... etc., etc., etc.

The median age for Cape Codders is now 47. MANY of us moved here in our 20's and 30's because we wanted a good, solid, balanced childhood for our kids... we didn't want them subjected to riff-raff and cheap morals. We didn't want them tainted with thinking Madonna was 'it'. lol

Life is what you make it and I've always bloomed where I was planted. Sure, there are lower class, undereducated folks here who get wrapped up in drugs and alcohol... it's everywhere in society. You might notice it here more because it's such a confined area.

I've never felt I suffered from lack of culture here on the Cape. You're 80 miles from Boston or Providence, but we've got world class musicians and actors/actresses here in our symphonies, theatres, and bands/trios/duos/ throughout the Cape. We've got exceptionally well revered authors retired here and freely donating their experience.

It's a wonderful, wonderful place to raise a family.

I am now after 30 years looking to move to the downeast area of Maine because while I still love CC and have it in my blood, I'm looking to spend my last years in a place where the population is much like it was 30 years ago when I moved here.

The Cape is what you make it. Just like any other place. If clubbing is your goal, then it's likely the Cape will not be your spot... but for those of you with higher plains, it's just right. You'll love it here!! Welcome!

[Sandpointian]

Hi,
We have family living year round on the lower cape. I would disagree with emarsi. You should RENT...not buy. Long term rentals are far more affordable. Buying without living somewhere is sort of like marrying after only dating on vacations!!

Live there for one full year or at least from Oct to June. You'll get to know the real estate, know the lay out of the land and the little nooks and crannies, and get to experience what 95% of people don't ever experience on the Cape: peace and quiet!

The housing market will not shoot up from here, so there is no rush. Interest rates will troll around where they are now as we are entering a recession.

In fact now is the perfect time to rent. Buying now would mean a chunk of your time on the Cape will be focused on the house rather than on experiencing the Cape life.

We love the Cape as do my in-laws who retired there 10 years ago. But it is not for everyone...

[clevedark]

It seems like living year round on the cape would be wonderful for a well-off family that enjoys outdoor recreation and who can afford to live in the best town with the best schools, or to send their kids to private school. It gets a little murkier for those who are not as flush with cash. It's a well known fact that the Cape year-rounders have an incredibly high depression rate, linked to no money and no job prospects and a general feeling of uselessness.

I lived year round in a seasonal beach community once in another state was surrounded by out of work carpenters, waitresses and ne'er do wells. What did they do? Drink and take drugs. I couldn't wait to get out of there. (And I was no shrinking violet when it came to drinks and drugs, but these people were out there.)

[CoastalMaine]

That 'well known fact' you're throwing out there is quite outdated... now that the population has doubled with families instead of the quiet place it was when I moved here, there's much less of that. Carpenters here are getting anywhere from $25 for newbies to $125 an hour for experienced. Nothing to be depressed about there. You shouldn't compare whatever state it was you were living in to the one you're not, don't, or haven't. Most people on the Cape are middle class working folk with good families and active lives. Hyannis and Falmouth of course are going to have a higher number of less well off folks... it's citified.

[clevedark]

The big study about depression on the Cape was published this spring or summer. I was paraphrasing what I learned in the article in my first paragraph. Scientists to tend to take some time in extrapolating information, so, no, it's not up to the minute. I should have attributed it.

[kaioak36]

face it, the cape is hick town in the winter!

[lrfox]

Cape Cod is not a hick town in the winter. In fact, it's not a town; it covers a massive area containing many towns. Many of the year-round residents of these communities are retirees, and working class families; not hicks.

[JBMass04]

Originally Posted by cbrew26

Unless you're ready to retire, don't live on the Cape year round. It's not even good for retired people - isolated, lots of alcohol abuse and drugs with the year round population. LIve in Duxbury - has a Cape feel but an affluent suburb close to Boston.

I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd put in my two cents.
I have to wholeheartedly disagree with Cbrew26. My husband and I moved to Sandwich before starting a family about six years ago. It is a lovely town and a wonderful place to raise a family. The public schools are better than most, and there are also quite a few private schools from which to choose. The town has a generally safe feel to it without being completely in the middle of nowhere. As for the drug and alcohol use, I had to laugh about that. There is certainly no more substance abuse here than anywhere else.
Boy, was that a challenge to type with a vodka bottle in my hand!
As for it being a "hick town" in the winter, that comment clearly came from someone who has never spent the winter here. Tourists seem to think that Cape towns (that's right, the Cape is a collection of towns - a little research goes a long way!) simply close down after Labor Day. That is completely untrue, as there are plenty of happy year - rounders here.