Want to move: Minnesota to Massachusetts (Boston, Lowell: ski resorts, sales, rentals)

[MnGopher80]

Hello all, we are thinking of moving to Massachusetts to live closer to my family and settle down there. We are in our late 20s early 30s and have no children yet. My family lives in the Lexington, Tewksbury and Salem areas. I would like to live within a 45 minute drive to them on a Saturday morning

We currently live in a condo high-rise in downtown Minneapolis, and we really really love it here. Amazingly affordable and near trains, airport, parks, rivers. If I could move my family here, I would. We love hiking, canoeing, camping, and especially snowboarding. But we also love the city.


Here are my constraints:

* 45 minutes to 1 hour drive to family in Tewksbury, Salem, and Lexington.

* 1 hour to 1.5 hour drive to a ski resort. Really wanna be close to a ski resort as season pass holders. Any hill above a 350ft vertical would be nice. Minnesota doesn't have big mountains.

* I work in IT so finding a job is no problem but a lot of the jobs seem to be near the Westford, Waltham, or Boston area. I would like the time to commute to those cities to be less than 30 minutes by car in traffic or if possible, I can take a commuter train into Boston within 1 to 1.5 hours.

* We will rent at first and my rent budget is max $1600 per month for a 1 bedroom. But if we were to buy a home, I can go as high as $700k for a decent house/condo.

Lowell, MA doesn't seem too bad. We looked at NH but there are not many jobs in Nashua or Manchester, otherwise, we'd move there. They are also farther away from Boston. These seem like pretty tough constraints (someone should write some software to solve this) so any help is kindly appreciated!


I should also note that living near someplace fun is cool too. If not, the closer to Boston the better.

[CaseyB]

What's wrong with the Westford area?

[MnGopher80]

CaseyB, not ruling Westford out. Just looking for some options. I should prioritize my constraints. I think living near some decent ski resorts would be great. Although Wachusett Mountain doesn't seem so bad. the commute to Boston is also only 40 minutes. But a train ride is over 2 hours according to google. I was thinking all the good ski resorts were in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

Lowell seems to have a lot of crime according to some forum posts. How is it in Westford? It would be nice to take a stroll at night and not be worried about safety.

[magicshark]

Personally i do not find Lowell to be as crime ridden as CD posters make it out to be. It is for the most part a working class city. Take that as you will. Westford i find incredibly bland. Lots of strip malls with generic stores and restaurants. It just boils down, i guess, to if you prefer urban or suburban. With no kids and renting i would pick a nicer section of Lowell. When i was single i lived downtown and it was wonderful.

[magicshark]

Oh also about sking, have you considered going in on a share in a ski house for ski season? I did this for a couple seasons up at Sugarbush before i had kids. There is usually a group looking for new members every year. Ask around during off season.

[MnGopher80]

Cool, I will take another look at Lowell and the the ski sharing thing. That sounds like a cool idea.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by MnGopher80

* I work in IT so finding a job is no problem...

Maybe, maybe not.

I suggest you actually secure employment first and then look for a place to live that meets your commuting and access to family and recreation criteria.

P.S. I moved from Minnesota to Massachusetts some 35 years ago.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by MnGopher80

These seem like pretty tough constraints (someone should write some software to solve this) so any help is kindly appreciated!

That occurred to me as well, though keeping your database updated would be challenging, esp. since for some questions it's not just which town but which school district, part of town, etc.

Depending on where specifically you're going in town, getting to Salem even on a Saturday can be slow going. It's just not well designed and can be very congested for auto access. Likewise, I'd agree that VT/NH/ME have better ski areas, but the best ones are going to be outside that range (farther north). Still compared to MN skiing, Pat's Peak is idyllic.

Ultimately it would help to have a better sense of where you will eventually be working. If it were me, I'd generally choose Andover over Lowell (if you're a college hockey fan you have a local team to watch in either place) in a vacuum, but I'd primarily opt to be close to work and could be happy enough in either.

In part that would be so I wouldn't have to rely on I-495 or Rt 3 to go anywhere, but Andover is also nicer for walking, and has a good array of restaurants, etc.

[dtopaz]

Lots of IT-related firms in the 495 area especially between Marlboro and Andover, the Route 3 area from Nashua to Burlington, and 95/128 especially between Newton and Reading. There's also reasonable competition for jobs but, as you surely know, if you have skills in the needed areas, then finding a job is definitely doable.

The Route 3 area -- Chelmsford, Westford, Tyngsboro, Nashua -- might be a very good choice. Billerica should also be considered -- good location to get either north (to ski areas) and south toward Boston, and housing can be a good value for the area. Plenty of rentals in Nashua, but also some reasonable choices in Chelmsford and Westford. For skiing, Nashoba Valley in Westford is a local place that's open evenings, but one that you'll get tired of very quickly unless you're a kid. Lots and lots of very decent ski resorts within 60-80 minutes of Nashua; the bigger places (Waterville, Loon) are best-known, but some of the smaller places (for example, Ragged Mtn, Mt Sunapee, Pat's Peak as mentioned earlier) can be really pleasant.

Anywhere along Rt 3 is within 30 minutes of Tewksbury and Lexington; Salem (MA) is a little further away. Prices generally decrease as you move further north along Rt 3.

Finally, a consideration about taxes and jobs: Massachusetts has a state income tax, and New Hampshire does not. If you get a job in NH and live in MA, you'll pay MA income tax (5.5%, I believe), and you'll also pay the high property taxes that are found in NH. (Property taxes are high there 'coz they have neither sales nor income tax.)

[MnGopher80]

Thanks for the detailed replies, these are really helpful. Especially about the taxes in NH. I will definitely put more effort into looking at the towns along route 3.

Also, to anyone, I didn't mean to give off a big ego vibe about my statement: "I work in IT.." . Let me correct myself by saying I happen to be working in a field that is seeing tremendous opportunities right now for people with my skills. And although competition is high in Massachusetts and securing a job is never a guarantee, I'm confident that I will find something nearby one of the cities mentioned in past posts.

The larger list of cities that meet my criteria gives me a better understanding of where to focus my job hunt. I will also be curious about places that have commuter rail lines to Boston, but I can find that easily on the MBTA website.