Moving to Salem, MA (Boston, Cambridge: apartments, crime, houses)

[cpkowala]

Hello, i want to move to Salem, MA from FL, can anyone tell me if there is good Transporation, good apartments, nice stores to shop ? How small is the town, is it a safe area, how close to the downtown area is the shopping. etc.

[wivenhoe]

I lived in Salem for 8 years and I loved it; we didn't have kids then. It is a walkable city. If you live near the city center like we did, you can walk to the train and bus station, small supermarket (Steve's), restaurants, library, Peabody Essex Museum, waterfront, and so on.

MBTA Express commuter trains run from Salem to Boston during the rush hours at peak times; it takes 20-25 minutes on an express train to Boston from Salem. Salem is a main MBTA commuter rail station with frequent service during non-peak times.

MBTA buses run to Danvers (shopping malls), Beverly, Lynn, and points further south.

Restaurants - Reds! It's the best local Greek-run, diner-type restaurant. Otherwise, there are tons of restaurants in the city for all price ranges.

Salem is a city of about 40,000 with all the issues found in an urban environment. Salem is a college town too, so you can get some of the student environment if you live close to Salem State College (soon to be a university). I'd say crime depends on which area you live in but overall it's a relatively safe city.

Salem is home to a lot of small neighborhoods which differ in character. The Common area is different to Salem Willows on the neck; Witchcraft heights is more suburban in nature than around the McIntire district - Federal/Essex/Chestnut Street area.

Salem has a lot to offer. The city has tried to gentrified a bit over the last 10-15 years. As a result, many young professionals and empty nesters are attracted to the city and its restaurants, shops, museums, and walkability factor.

[Martha Anne]

This is one place we were looking at in terms of moving as seniors.

I thought that the prices of houses were low.

[wivenhoe]

They've come down quite a bit since the heady days of the late 90's and early 2000s. I've been looking myself. Though the schools could certainly use some improvements and that's one of the main reasons why the housing has taken a hit more than towns west of Boston like Concord or Lexington. But if you're seniors, the school situation may not be a bone of contention for you.

Salem has a lot to offer for seniors. I can't remember the exact statistic but I think it's like 25% of seniors or something. If you go to Red's for breakfast or lunch, you'll see them. They're at the Senior Center, YMCA, or even work at Peabody Essex Museum part-time or elsewhere.

I know a lot seniors who live in Salem and love it, including my neighbors. A lot of the seniors bought their homes years and years ago and stayed put over the years. Others are FL snowbirds. They may have downsized to an apartment in Salem so they can spend half the year between MA and FL. Nice lifestyle if you can manage to do it.

[penny1969]

Originally Posted by Martha Anne

This is one place we were looking at in terms of moving as seniors.

I thought that the prices of houses were low.

They're only low compared to their equivalent (decent, safe, nice areas) in Boston.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by penny1969

They're only low compared to their equivalent (decent, safe, nice areas) in Boston.

They're low beyond just comparing them to Boston. I'm also looking in Salem. They're is no place that I can find with easy access to the city for work anywhere close by.

[bUU]

Originally Posted by cpkowala

Hello, i want to move to Salem, MA from FL, can anyone tell me if there is good Transporation, good apartments, nice stores to shop ? How small is the town, is it a safe area, how close to the downtown area is the shopping. etc.

Let me play devil's advocate please. We lived in Salem for over three years and moved specifically because of how poor the transportation was. Now, to be clear, we're talking roads and highways access. It takes far longer to get to most other parts of the Boston area from Salem than where we moved to (Burlington) because Salem is not served by any limited-access highways. We noticed the problem especially when it snowed. It took an unacceptable amount of time to inch our way down 107 or 114 to get to a highway to take to work (in Cambridge).

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by bUU

Let me play devil's advocate please. We lived in Salem for over three years and moved specifically because of how poor the transportation was. Now, to be clear, we're talking roads and highways access. It takes far longer to get to most other parts of the Boston area from Salem than where we moved to (Burlington) because Salem is not served by any limited-access highways. We noticed the problem especially when it snowed. It took an unacceptable amount of time to inch our way down 107 or 114 to get to a highway to take to work (in Cambridge).

I can understand this. If someone is going to work in Boston area and live in Salem, to me it only makes sense if they would be taking the commuter rail.

[bUU]

Agreed. There aren't many things that are as black-and-white as this: Train commuter to Boston - Salem, good; Car commuter to Boston - Salem, bad. By the same token, I have to say that we have pretty good access to Boston by train from this area, with Anderson RTC just 4 miles away. So it is the best of both worlds. I had a hard time defending staying in Salem before we moved, with other aspects that I would have claimed made it superior to Burlington. (It was slightly better for me, working out of town 200+ days a year, since getting to the airport is a bit more convenient from Salem as compared to from Burlington - but not enough to trump my spouse's commute to Cambridge.)