Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Nothing inside I-495 is rural. Rural is more than space, it's a culture, a vibe, it's access to true wilderness right our your door, mountains to hike, uncrowded lakes and ponds to canoe on. Having grown up in the Berkshire where living in the woods is very cheap, its hilarious to see how much people pay for wannabe rural towns like Harvard Weston or Lincoln.
The only community inside 495 that I would possibly debate on this point is Carlisle. Otherwise you need to go to the NH border west of Route 3 to find rural character and that will disappear with time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by semiurbanite
Rural is more than space, it's a culture, a vibe, it's access to true wilderness right our your door, mountains to hike, uncrowded lakes and ponds to canoe on. Having grown up in the Berkshire where living in the woods is very cheap, its hilarious to see how much people pay for wannabe rural towns like Harvard Weston or Lincoln.
I wholeheartedly agree with these points. During my time in Maine I had two near collisions with moose within a mile of my home. My current town is technically exurban but I live across the street from a working farm with cows and horses. They are the best neighbor I've ever had.
So people here prefer, Lawrence, Holyoke, and North Adams to Tewksbury, Billirica and Chelmsford? You people are so disconnected from the real world.
I believe I am the person who initially brought up Chelmsford, Billerica and Tewksbury as places to avoid. I never mentioned Lawrence, Holyoke or North Adams. In fact I know nothing about Holyoke or North Adams. My number one preference for a community is the rural or exurban lifestyle, however I would also live in certain cities under the right circumstances, not Lawrence but maybe Lowell or Haverhill.
I am strongly turned off by towns where the development patterns appear disorganized. To me this indicates that those towns scramble for additional revenue from new construction at any chance because they have spending problems.
What many municipal leaders do not understand is that it is better from a fiscal standpoint to have a small population. This holds true because schools are the biggest driver of municipal expenses. Less people generally equals less school related costs.
Nothing inside I-495 is rural. Rural is more than space, it's a culture, a vibe, it's access to true wilderness right our your door, mountains to hike, uncrowded lakes and ponds to canoe on. Having grown up in the Berkshire where living in the woods is very cheap, its hilarious to see how much people pay for wannabe rural towns like Harvard Weston or Lincoln.
Have to disagree with you on this.
Lincoln, Concord, Stow, Andover, North Andover, South Natick and many others all have working farms. They share common threads with Carlisle. Rural doesn't have to be wilderness.
Lincoln, Concord, Stow, Andover, North Andover, South Natick and many others all have working farms. They share common threads with Carlisle. Rural doesn't have to be wilderness.
I don't think there's really much of anything in Eastern Massachusetts (definitely not within I-495) that I would consider to be rural.
Real rural communities are typically defined by a semi-independent economy that typically revolves around one or two primary industries. They're not attached to metropolitan areas (as just about all of Eastern MA is). Agriculture is probably the biggest one. Many real rural communities have populations where nearly the entire workforce is involved in agriculture of some sort. Slightly larger rural communities may have agriculture as well as a freight transport component (you see this a lot in the prarie states... farm towns with big grain elevators along railroad tracks). In Maine, many rural communities are centered around a single paper or pulp mill. Other common rural economies center around a college, a military base, a rail depot, etc. They're mostly also developed at a low population density as well, but low population density alone does not equal rural.
There's very little in Eastern, MA that constitutes "rural." There are some communities that have pretty low population densities. There are some that even have working farms. However, most of the communities in Eastern MA are bedroom communities. Most of them are part of Metropolitan Boston (good map showing Metro Boston here) which by would make them bedroom communities (and not rural) by definition. As you can see, Metro Boston covers Eastern MA (and beyond) in its entirety. Most residents of Eastern MA commute to work in some other city or town. Many look like prototypical suburbs, some don't. On the fringe of the metro area, you have many exurban or "fringe" rural communities that are low density and may appear to look somewhat rural, but still function more as bedroom communities than independent rural communities.
I spent a good chunk of my life in Freetown, MA and many use the term "rural" to describe it even though the vast majority of residents commute to places like Providence, Fall River, New Bedford, Boston and beyond for work. It's an exurban community in the Providence metro area and literally right on the edge of metro Boston. On the other hand, I lived in Farmington Maine for college. It was a rural, agricultural community that was about 50 miles from the closest city. Most residents worked in agriculture, for the college, or for the small hospital in town. It was the epitomy of rural. Nothing in Eastern MA comes close.
Mass. has zoning laws enacted to "protect the historic character" of our communities. They typically require that lot sizes cannot be below a certain acreage and also require homes to be set back a certain distance from neighbors and roadways. This is to provide the appearance of rural or semi-rural communities. However, most of these towns are bedroom communities in every sense of the word. Especially towns like Lincoln, Concord, Stow, Andover, North Andover, South Natick and bunches of others.
I don't think there's really much of anything in Eastern Massachusetts (definitely not within I-495) that I would consider to be rural.
Real rural communities are typically defined by a semi-independent economy that typically revolves around one or two primary industries. They're not attached to metropolitan areas (as just about all of Eastern MA is). Agriculture is probably the biggest one. Many real rural communities have populations where nearly the entire workforce is involved in agriculture of some sort. Slightly larger rural communities may have agriculture as well as a freight transport component (you see this a lot in the prarie states... farm towns with big grain elevators along railroad tracks). In Maine, many rural communities are centered around a single paper or pulp mill. Other common rural economies center around a college, a military base, a rail depot, etc. They're mostly also developed at a low population density as well, but low population density alone does not equal rural.
Yea see.. these fake rural towns like Acton don't really appeal to me. Stow kinda does and so does Bolton but the housing costs are through the roof probably. I like the feel of that Maynard area though but I'd aim for a cheap cheap area down the road some in Maine or Vermont. I am sure you can get a similar feel to that there and even more country although at the same time, towns like that in VT have gone up too. Maine might be the best bet or Northern NH though to get that type of feel only more real.. not as many people moving in droves to get to so I can still have the area to myself and all. The idea for me would not be to commute to work either but to live off my SSI or savings after purchasing the house and that's very hard to do here in MA.. I know that. Maybe if I go to Springfield area or North Adams its possible though but anywhere in Eastern MA it cannot be done so no matter how nice a place may seem, investing in these more "rural" Eastern MA towns would be a wasted investment to me. I am just going to gun it until then and live single life in Malden or Somerville. Less aggravation.
Rural is so relative and in the eye of the beholder. MA folks inside 495 generally don't know what it even is. Can't tell you how many kids I met when I was at UMass Amherst who'd vocalize how much of a damn 'cowtown' that area is and how they couldn't wait to get back to "Real MA" by which they meant Billerica or Franklin or something, because they were "from Boston" after all. Then again like I said it's all based on ones perspective. Those few sporadic working farms and truly large conservation areas are an anomaly back inside 495, and to them seeing an area like Amherst with its surrounding real actual farms was just so foreign that it was hard to adjust I guess. Even though that area has just as many (if not more) amenities than your average outlying suburb, besides that ever-encompassing Metro commute lifestyle... It's still a damn "cowtown" and so many just loved to sneer how they couldn't wait to get back to spend their lives in Millis or Hingham or something (insert random metro Boston town here). Nothing against Billerica, Franklin, or Millis, or Hingham but that was the attitude - return to suburbia at all costs!! "Rural" sucks bro! Meanwhile, comparing Amherst to truly rural America would seem like a joke to someone from Maine, or the middle of Kentucky or the Dakotas or somewhere like that. MA is overall pretty deprived of access to truly rural America, especially within its own borders. The places that are actually rural here are still close enough to a big town or small city that people will never know the experience of aww crap it's an hour (or 3) to the nearest grocery store!
Rural is so relative and in the eye of the beholder. MA folks inside 495 generally don't know what it even is. Can't tell you how many kids I met when I was at UMass Amherst who'd vocalize how much of a damn 'cowtown' that area is and how they couldn't wait to get back to "Real MA" by which they meant Billerica or Franklin or something, because they were "from Boston" after all. Then again like I said it's all based on ones perspective. Those few sporadic working farms and truly large conservation areas are an anomaly back inside 495, and to them seeing an area like Amherst with its surrounding real actual farms was just so foreign that it was hard to adjust I guess. Even though that area has just as many (if not more) amenities than your average outlying suburb, besides that ever-encompassing Metro commute lifestyle... It's still a damn "cowtown" and so many just loved to sneer how they couldn't wait to get back to spend their lives in Millis or Hingham or something (insert random metro Boston town here). Nothing against Billerica, Franklin, or Millis, or Hingham but that was the attitude - return to suburbia at all costs!! "Rural" sucks bro! Meanwhile, comparing Amherst to truly rural America would seem like a joke to someone from Maine, or the middle of Kentucky or the Dakotas or somewhere like that. MA is overall pretty deprived of access to truly rural America, especially within its own borders. The places that are actually rural here are still close enough to a big town or small city that people will never know the experience of aww crap it's an hour (or 3) to the nearest grocery store!
Yea I'm the complete opposite of these people.. I'd
Love being in rural land personally and would much rather buy cheap in western ma way outside 495. To me it's a waste of time to move and rent even in these fake rural towns that are overpriced and they usually all have overpriced supermarkets as well like Donelans from what I gather.
You should add Fall River to your list, it goes along with most of your reasons.
1.a city with an affordable historic housing stock (Check. Homes are crazy cheap in the city.)
2.active and vibrant downtown area (Nope. Downton consists of a solid ten feet of main st.)
3.good walkability (Check. Most of the city has sidewalks making it easy to get from place to place.)
4. proximity to the ocean (not necessarily right on the ocean) (Check. Close to Horseneck beach and Bakers in Westport.)
5. good restaurants and food stores (Check. You can easily find good restaurants as long as your ok with Portuguese.)
6.decent bars (Check. I wouldn't say they're great but you can find bars that meet your criteria of decent.)
7.Good public transit is also a plus (Check. They're good bus service in the city and to neighboring areas, still missing a train though.)
8.While some crime is to be expected, I want a place with a number of relatively safe neighborhoods (Check. Unless your in a gang or a drug dealer you wont be involved with crime. Also, the Highlands, all along Eastern Ave, and the south end along the border are all good neighborhoods.)
9.Prximity to the regions major cities (Boston and maybe Providence) is important. (Check. Close to Providence, New Bedford, Newport and within a reasonable distance to Boston.)
One huge problem is that Fall River does not have train service. I would want that, 12 months of the year.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
