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My family and I are moving to the Cape and need advice about towns. My husband will be working in Hyannis and I will stay at home. We love bird watching, walking with our dogs, etc. so we're looking forward to quiet winters. Your opinions about where to live on the Cape are greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
I work in Real Estate and like Beachcomber asked your housing budget will dictate where you go.
Hyannis is very central to most of the Cape but do keep in mind that it is like a small city and has some issues that go along with that.
If you want to have some space around you and your budget is in the $300,000 and up range Brewster, Orleans and Harwich are really nice towns. Brewster has nice schools.
If your budget is lower $200,000 + and you don't mind having neighbors close by than Yarmouth is a good town to look at.
The Cape is all about nature and wildlife is everywhere as are hiking and biking trails and then of course there are the beaches.
We are coming into a really nice time on Cape Cod, SPRING. We didn't get any snow from the last storm and it is near 50 today. Little plants are starting to pop up.
Good luck
We live in Yarmouth and have two school age children. We moved here two years ago from NH. We like the idea of living around Mid-Cape and found the real estate prices go up a lot as you move out further. For us, we could get a decent 2000+SF house in Yarmouth in our $400K budget, but not in Dennis, Harwich, Brewster and eastward.
We are very pleased with the public schools. The Dennis-Yarmouth district has made great strides in the past few years, especially in cooperation between the towns. My older son who is a freshman at the HS is thriving and LOVES the music/band program. My younger son is in 5th grade and his teacher is terrific.
Barnstable, which Hyannis is part of, is the largest town on Cape. It is really spread out with lots of great neighborhoods. The town facilities, schools, library, sports, parks and rec. are well supported.
We love the off-season here, but we're rural folk so we don't get bored. The traffic can gets nuts in the summer, but as a resident you know the first rule is to stay off Route 28 as much as you can!
Thanks for your replies! I should have mentioned our housing budget-we can't really go higher than 430K. My son is 3 and we'll be doing preschool at home (I'm a teacher), but in a few years we'll both be looking for a school! We are thinking public school, but are open to private schools if it is necessary. He will enter KG and I'll be looking for a job. I appreciate the information regarding schools and housing! We've been living overseas and can't wait to move back to the States and have an American lifestyle again! We won't land on the Cape until August, so we're gearing up for the chaos of the summer season, but it sounds like the fall is amazing. Thanks again!
Your budget will give you many options. You have heard about lower Cape and mid-Cape so now I will confuse you more and suggest the upper Cape. I live in East Sandwich and love it. My kids are outdoorsy and the town fits our lifestyle perfectly. We have easy access to the highway,- a + if you end up working off Cape, minutes from the lovely downtown area and retail needs in Hyannis. Amazing when you live on Cape how much food and TP you need for summer guests- BJ's is a regular stop.
The schools here
are very good. After turmoil for a number of years with our ex superintendent and school board (which unfortunately is ongoing in the courtroom), we have a visionary superintendent who is preparing to take our schools in an exciting direction. In 2014 a STEM Academy will be in place for our 7th and 8th grade. He has renewed Sandwich's commitment to the arts as well with hiring a music director who has started show choir and added to the music program. He is reaching out to artisans and scientists in our community to help facilitate his initiatives. This fall, our students helped a local glass blower, who constructs giant illuminated figures along route 6a for Christmas, construct a Blue Knight, our school mascot, for the front of the school. Check out SAndwich High School's website and the lip dub that was organized and directed by some very talented seniors. Your family will benefit greatly from the changes. I am not privy to much in the lower grades. My kids attended Wing School (which may close when the STEM Academy is opened) and they had a fantastic experience. The community is wonderful. Holiday events are Currier and Ives. History is important (too important sometimes in that the town sometimes saves things that they perhaps should not and does not allow business where it would not really affect the flavor of the town) and the people are terrific. If you are on FB, check out Sandwich Moms. It is a very active group and will give you a feel for the community.
The negatives, taxes- highest on Cape and they go up every year. When my kids are through school I may rethink living here but that is not for a bit and prices have risen in our neck of the woods so I am hopeful, when we are ready, it will be a good time to make that move. We also do not have trash pickup. That's not a big deal to us. You can pay for bags and drop them at the landfill or pay for pick up. It's pretty inexpensive. We previously lived in a community with curbside pick up that you paid extra for but they wouldn't take it if you didn't have recycling out. Six of one......
Finally, you could consider Barnstable. The high school is huge, a lot more diversity than Sandwich, and very spread out with each village having it's own unique flavor. We moved here when our kids were middle school age and never considered it. The schools were just too big. We found Nirvana, nestled in the woods, near the beach in E.S.
I grew up on Cape Cod and I've lived in Truro, Eastham, and North Eastham, all on the lower Cape. (Starting from the tip of the Cape, it goes Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, North Eastham/Eastham, Orleans (including East Orleans and South Orleans), Brewster/Chatham. After that, it's considered the mid Cape.) I loved growing up on the lower Cape. I went to the Nauset Regional schools (which serve Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster) which is a great school system. The lower Cape's community is very close knit (but not too close for comfort). Provincetown is amazing to visit but I wouldn't want to live there (too close for comfort, IMO) Truro is beautiful, but beyond quiet in the winter, I'd say it's more like desolate. Wellfleet is probably my favorite town on all of the Cape and where I would want to live if I returned, but I'm not sure I'd want to raise my daughter there. Same is true for my hometown of Eastham. Both are wonderful little towns, but I would want my daughter to have more access to friends and activities which Orleans and Brewster would offer her. Of Orleans and Brewster, I would recommend Orleans for it's activity level and elementary school and Brewster for it's beauty. It's just so pretty! The entire lower Cape is beautiful and a blast in the summer. In the winter, aside from Orleans, much of the lower Cape is quiet to the point of booorrriinnggg. It all depends on how much "quiet" you really want. I think it may be safe to say that until you've lived on the Cape in the winter you don't really know what "quiet" really is! LOL As far as Chatham, Dennis, etc etc are concerned, I know a bit about many of the mid Cape and upper Cape towns but not really enough to really be helpful for you. I will say that Chatham is considered the affluent and what many will say, (and I'm sure someone on this forum will get on me about this) "snobby" town on the lower/mid Cape. They're kind of in their own little world over there, IMO. I hope this is helpful to you and your family in terms of considering the lower Cape. I wish you the best of luck!
PS Forgot to mention that Hyannis is about a 20-25 minute drive from Eastham (more in the summer) which to us native Cape Codders feels like forever, but really, in retrospect, isn't that long! If you do choose the lower Cape I would suggest Brewster which would make his commute shorter, allow you access to Orleans, but give you the beauty of Brewster. The best of all worlds!
Last edited by joyfulgirl13; 03-13-2013 at 08:47 PM..
Reason: Forgot to mention commuting distance.
""I would suggest Brewster which would make his commute shorter, allow you access to Orleans, but give you the beauty of Brewster. The best of all worlds!"
I would second that Joyfulgirl13.
Brewster is a great town and very centrally located to the outer and mid Cape.
Alot has been said about the taxes and true Sandwich 2012 rate is the highest at $12.74. Brewster is $7.44 while Dennis is the lowest at $5.88.
Cape Cod Mom you will have plenty of choices in housing within your budget.
Dear Cape Cod Friends, Thank you all so much for the time you've taken to share your opinions about the best spots on the Cape. Even if I'm a little torn right now, I certainly know that people are extremely happy with their ways of life. Having lived overseas for the past 6 years in rather undesirable countries, I know we will be thrilled with our new home. I am also happy to hear that our budget will give us options. I assumed that most houses on the Cape were really expensive, but it seems like we can get a great place in our budget. You have also made me feel welcome and excited about making new friends on the Cape! Thanks so much-you've really given me a lot to think about and it sounds like if we find our perfect house in one of several towns, we can be satisfied. I will keep this information handy when we come to house hunt. Take care!
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