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We brought our son up in N. Reading, and though it was the 90s, we found it to be exceptionally friendly. We moved our son when he was in middle school and he was very well received, the phone never stopped ringing, and he's got those same friends today. N. Reading was clean living, no pretentious baloney, good schools, shopping nearby and safe streets. I've nothing but good memories of living there.
Yes, we live in chelmsford currently. We want to move to bigger house (4 bedroom) single family with good schooling (better than chelmsford). We considered the towns Andover, Reading, Westford and Acton, but all of them are very expensive. Our range is $600K- $650K but it's hard to find any good place with that range in these towns. Then the NR came in mind, considering it has good schooling though not as good as Andover or above towns but it's better than chelmsford.
thanks
~Sarika
We are moving to Reading at the end of May and found a Victorian, in town, for $549K with 3000 sq feet, so you should be able to find something in your price range! Best of luck!
Wow, I sense some bitterness here. But doesn't really matter to me, as I now live far away (and nicer area).
Quote:
Originally Posted by bitflung
wow, that was amusing. i read your post in my email, where the emoticons come through as text (ie and it was like reading an old batman comic! great stuff!
Boof! Wham! Zowie!. Never read them. Was to busy designing/building technical stuff then.
as far as your post goes, i personally see your response as just further evidence of my main point: some people want to pay extra to associate themselves with what they perceive to be the 'better' or 'more desirable' places/people.
hey, i didn't know about taking free classes at Philips though, so you did actually share something directly useful to the original poster. that's worth something, regardless of what the schools are like themselves.
if you can freely take courses at neighboring schools then that opens up who avenues of curriculum that could otherwise be vacant.
I don't know if they still do it. It was just my experience (and my brother's)
the rest of your post was just silly.
some key points i picked up on:
you think the towns can't even be compared since they aren't even in the same 'league'.
Correct.
you 'passed out' of a whole year of college? great, i just lost a whole heap of respect for you. no degree program worth following would have courses you could 'pass out' of. where did you go, Amherst maybe? Liberal Arts I'm sure. I'm guessing it was one of those 'make it up as you go along' degrees, with a moderate focus on art history. am i close? my degree is in computer engineering and i can state without hesitation or doubt that no one would ever 'pass out' of a whole year from that program. every minute in class was precious and most students still struggled to finish a 4 year degree in less than 5 years. I remember a student in my 'quantum information theory' course senior year who had been there for 7 years - straight A's the whole time, just hadn't matriculated yet since he kept taking more advanced electives but struggled with the basics still.
Well, not to go into details, but I do have 4 degrees, one of the school's names stated with an 'M', and is located in Cambridge MA, and the other name started with an 'S', and was in Palo Alto, CA, (well technically right next to it). I was too stupid for Caltech.
At Phillips, we used all the same textbooks, the class sizes were tiny (only 6 in my physics class, and we used H&R, so there was no reason to repeat it in college).
So, you are in computer engineering. This will be fun. How do you exchange two values in the processor registers, and not use any temporary storage? That is trivial. I can get way harder. Then, we can get into the NP-complete algorithms.
Answer?
(we can go down the system architecture route too, if you like, all the way back to calculating the drive algorithms needed for the filament, plate and grid, which are way before my time, but was fun to do as a kid).
you think other towns have 'way more' clean/safe public space available than NR? great, show me. i'll happily use them. my new home abuts 227 acres of conservation land and i still enjoy the prospects of heading into town to visit any one of the 8 local parks in NR that are municipally funded and cared for. i know of 3 in andover, where are the other 'way more' parks exactly?
They are all over the place. Any local can show you. Many AVIS properties , and Harold Parker (which one of my houses abuts) is not exactly 'small', like 3,000 acres.
Remember, all the statement I make are just my opinion from having lived there 30 years.
drunk driving: i hadn't heard of that, no. and a solid 5 minutes of searching the web hasn't turned up any info on it. when did it happen? very sad to hear, but if you really think andover is immune to drunk drivers, you're just nuts. they are everywhere and by definition they are moving - even if you firmly believe that all drunk drivers come from outside of andover, there's no stopping them from driving through your old hometown.
All it takes is basic internet search skills. Work on them.
those sites show andover having an annual average of 50.5 traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents from 1975 to 2009. the stats are in the same form for north reading, but you can see the typical year having less than 10/100,000 with some at 0 and one spike at 22 in 2001 (was that the year of the drunk driver?). all told though, NR looks a good deal safer in this regard than Andover... hrmm, that's odd isn't it?!
martha's vineyard - good for you. i've got nothing against MV these days, but as i was born on nantucket i did have a competitive streak that biased me against MV growing up. these days i'm more than happy visit there and acknowledge that some parts are even just as nice as nantucket or chatham. i think of MV to Nantucket as I do Harwich to Chatham, not perceived to be as nice but really a great place overall.
I rarely go to MV, but the house was free. Haven't been there in ages.
Hooters: eh, no? i don't see any articles anywhere talking about a hooters coming to NR. i've seen some folks who don't have any fiscal connection to the old Piccadilly pub talk about what could go there and at one point brought up hooters as an option - but that's not exactly the same as actually having hooters coming to the town now is it?
class: it's really funny to read your references to 'class' and being 'classy'. i mean chuckle out loud accidentally sort of funny. thanks for that laugh, it was great!
Glad you could derive enjoyment out of it.
your girlfriend was easy: wow. too many informations! now in all seriousness, you follow up an argument that NR has no class with a statement that your girlfriend for years was easy. that's just... i don't have the words. just wow. i suppose that means all girls from NR are instantly tramps then?
Drawing that conclusion entirely violates the scientific method. A small sample size only proves existence.
i sure hope i have boys! of course, i'll raise them to have a bit more class and to most definitely not use some easy girl for years of fun and a much later feeble attempt at a meaningless argument online.
Actually, I had a lot of girls from NR.... remember, you fish where the fish are... if you have boys, they will love it. There are also a few good junkyards there, if they want to be gearheads, as a hobby. buying beer underage and paying off your emissions tests: yay for you! i can't argue against events that happened 30 odd years ago, so good on ya mate!
yup, similar crime indexes - north andover looks a little better, but a larger population which makes the individual crimes count for less in the final index value. take a look at some raw data though:
Thefts: NA@277, NR@84
Auto thefts: NA@13, NR@3
These are cherry picked to show NR as being safer than NA, but by and large both towns have a similar crime rate: extremely low. Reading is similarly low.
Horseshoe Bar: great place to see a fight, eh? i don't know what it was like 30 years ago, but these days you couldn't see a fight there even on TV - it's a classy place with a great atmosphere. My family came out to visit and we all went there for Easter Dinner - it was great. It isn't known as the Horseshoe Bar though, it's known as the Horseshoe Grille.
as you said: "Haven't been there in years, and have no plans on ever going back." right - haven't been there in years. so your 30 years of knowledge in this area is a little stale perhaps? you expected nothing to change in that time?
Only by 10 years, but when I did pass through there a year ago, the same old same.
I can't speak for what this town was like 30 years ago or even 30 months ago. I can say from first hand and recent experience that the town is nothing like you describe.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. The '30 years' I am talking about was not '30 years ago'. Reading comprehension. It was a duration.
Your memories sound like those of a teenager and I can only surmise that you are suffering the same fate as the rest of us: your memories are flawed; skewed representations of the emotions you couldn't deal with in your youth. it happens to us all, i mean no disrespect by pointing this out. look back at your post and honestly ask yourself why it comes across so passionately and full of subjective and rash conclusions.
I was 37 when I moved from the area (and I am only in my 40's). Not exactly a teenager. No passion or subjective/rash conclusions here. I am just a pile of algorithms and equations, and I love it. The SO is just a pile of medical assessments and procedures, and she loves it. To each, his/her own.
i'm no psychologist (as i said, i'm an engineer) but i am a betting man. i'd wager a good sum that your relationship with that girl from NR didn't end well; that you knew some folks in NR who made you suffer some social stress; and that recalling those memories is somewhat bothersome.
Well, to be honest, she just caught up with me on LinkedIn, literally less than a month ago. It has been a really long time. I plan on having dinner with her family. It was wonderful to hear from her. The relationship ended because I went to college very far away (and she wasn't the egghead type, so why bother?) Hoping for no slams here, but why date a woman that is not petite, brilliant, and rich (unless you want to aim low).
I'm definitely a betting man. Let's go play blackjack; over the course of a week it generated enough to cover a serious medical procedure. Be really good at math.
based on your last post, i fully expect some passionate rebuttal.
I am not passionate. I am an algorithm, that deals with facts.
i don't mind - have at it. i'll leave you to have the last word and end my participation in this conversation with one last post to the original poster that is more on-topic this this long winded dialog of mine.
Classic from Monty Python's "Holy Grail" and the bunny: Run away! Run away!
Well, it at least demonstrates a person's character.
best of luck out there SuperSparkle928.
I could not ask for a better life. (well, one or two things, but that would be greedy).
Not sure if you bought yet, I have lived here for about 15 years, have had family in the area much longer than I have been alive.
That being said, yes, 30 years ago it was kinda a dump from what I understood from family and such.
I was always told, kids from the surrounding communities grew up and moved here as they could not afford their towns or some such stories. During the depression, a lot of the vacation spots turned into full time housing as did workers cottages for the farms and orchards and such.
When I first moved in, in the late 90s, it was mostly 60s+ folks, and a lot of post-war ranch homes, that were built for young families with no money, done with the war and needed a 1000sqft+ affordable home. They settled here because before the war, this was mostly a town of farms and small country type business and available land for cheap that was considered FAR from Boston. Remember, North Reading was once part of Reading and was considered a vacation spot in the summer out in the country (lots of woods back then).
There really is no great town center as others have mentioned. And 28 is pretty much what we have for shopping.
Lack of sewer is probably the reason for lack of development.
Anyways, getting back to what I was originally getting at. With the 60+ population, and little retirement income, for years a lot of the infrastructure was neglected, schools, town structures, etc. Because of this, the town has a LOT of catching up to do. There are still lots of unpaved roads, no sidewalks, etc. At the same point the housing boom started digging into North Reading in the late 90s, and McMansions as well as the standard 2200sqft house.
Over the time I have been here, in the beginning, the older folks would come out and vote down the overrides for infrastructure improvements, school budgets, etc.
Now most of those folks have either died or moved on, my whole neighborhood was once older folks, is now young couples with babies and elementary school children.
We even just voted to spend 110+ million on brand new High and Middle school, from the same folks that designed Newton High. 10 Years ago this would not have passed. Effort is on the way to get sewer in main street. Slowly the "old school" business are leaving or drying up due to lack of modernizing.
I think it will take time, and I think in 10 years, North Reading will have grown up to be more on par with it's neighbors as far as how it is run and the quality of our infrastructure.
Some think we are becoming more snooty as the new money comes in to town with people that can afford the 600k-800k homes, and those same people are willing to improve the town and make it a better place for all. Buying a home in North Reading is not for bragging rights, but you for your 600k you can get a large lot and a new home.
Don't get me wrong, I respect my elders and the ethics they had to make this town a better place and give us a great school system and services, but we can only try so hard, make our best efforts go so far, it comes to a point were money has to be spent, and I am sure due to lack of funds from the elderly population, those expenditures have never been met.
I think the next hurdle the town is facing is modernizing Rt 28, and that will take another 5-10 years.
North Reading has the potential and the dreams to be better or keep up with the Jones', but only time will tell. The staging of the new mall in Lynnfield, will bring shopping a little closer, as well as the potential still for the rest of the old Barry property to be built out into a mall, or more office space.
Concord street, with sewerage has potential to become more commercial office space as well.
As for the trash, you do pay, it is around 200 bucks a year I think, 50 dollars a quarter.
I for one am just happy to be living in a clean safe town, with decent (Not the best but in the top 25% I believe) schools that will be new for my children and are enough for them to succeed, along with nice neighbors, along with the trees and the space to enjoy.
Sure I would love for a quaint downtown, and other visionary delights, but the reality is I am so busy, I would hardly enjoy it anyways, and I can drive for 5-10 minutes to Andover or Reading and enjoy theirs
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChelmsfordLady
Hi,
We are thinking of buying a house in North Reading but the town is fairly new to us. We have two school going kids (6th and 2nd grade). When I saw the sales in the town for 2011, there was only sale in the town which is unusual to me. Can anyone please help me here: 1) Are the residents kids friendly? 2) Is this town with lot of older community or there are lot of people with kids?
3) How's town recreation activities? 4) How far are the shopping malls/ grocery stores etc?
Any addition comments will be really helpful.
thanks
Susan
Last edited by Massmailinator; 05-14-2012 at 04:40 PM..
Not sure if you bought yet, I have lived here for about 15 years, have had family in the area much longer than I have been alive.
That being said, yes, 30 years ago it was kinda a dump from what I understood from family and such.
[...]
We even just voted to spend 110+ million on brand new High and Middle school, from the same folks that designed Newton High. 10 Years ago this would not have passed. Effort is on the way to get sewer in main street. Slowly the "old school" business are leaving or drying up due to lack of modernizing.
I think it will take time, and I think in 10 years, North Reading will have grown up to be more on par with it's neighbors as far as how it is run and the quality of our infrastructure.
[...]
I for one am just happy to be living in a clean safe town, with decent (Not the best but in the top 25% I believe) schools that will be new for my children and are enough for them to succeed, along with nice neighbors, along with the trees and the space to enjoy.
Sure I would love for a quaint downtown, and other visionary delights, but the reality is I am so busy, I would hardly enjoy it anyways, and I can drive for 5-10 minutes to Andover or Reading and enjoy theirs
very well said. thanks for making the the vast differences of opinion around here make some sense.
-bit
First, 2 disclaimers:
1. My wife and I JUST moved to North Reading; as of April 18th we're likely biased in favor of the town since we're now invested in it.
2. We don't have kids (yet), so we have zero experience with the local school systems.
[...]
-bit
just wanted to update this:
- 2 years into home ownership in North Reading and we couldn't be happier. having Harold Parker (it's part of North Readin as well as surrounding towns) just a half mile away is great, but we usually prefer Swan Pond and/or Middleton Pond (we live near them both).
- property taxes keep going up; makes sense with all the municipal spending taking place, but it hurts. if low taxes are your thing, make sure you look into the town's spending plans and current taxes rates.
- we've got a son now; we are much more open minded about municipal spending on schools, etc than perhaps some of the older folks in town who already paid for their kids' schools to be built, etc. still, watching the rating closely it's nice to see North Reading actually besting Andover in several places. education has been a major priority by the town since shortly before we bought. we are happy for that.
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and it was like reading an old batman comic! great stuff!
