Most underrated cities/ Towns in Massachusetts (Boston, Worcester: high crime, home, purchase)

[btownboss4]

Every town has it's stereotypes, but some are old and outdated.
Some cities/Towns are really underrated and have an unfair Reputation
In my opinion Lowell and Billerica are underrated. Also Fall River is called a ghetto when it's largely working class and has much less crime than similarly sized cities (Lawrence, Lynn, New Bedford, Brockton)
Then some smaller mill towns, Clinton, Ware, Pittsfield, are kind of unfairly looked down upon.

[pennyone]

I think Quincy is hugely underrated. It's usually compared to smaller and more affluent and homogenous towns (like Milton, Norwell etc) when it is a huge city of nearly 100,000 people with different economic and racial groups . For a city, Quincy does pretty well.

[gf2020]

I would say Georgetown. I lived in neighboring Newbury for many years and know several people who live in Georgetown. They have a highly rated high school, reasonably priced housing for northern Essex County and good access to I95.

[sheena12]

Worcester. A little gritty but full of some wonderful ethnic restaurants that are half the price of a the same thing in Boston. Top rated colleges and universities - Clark, WPI, and Holy Cross are but three.

And I admit it, I have a soft spot in my heart for triple deckers, having lived in one for two years while attending Clark.

I have heard that Maynard is up and coming and has a good school district and reasonable housing.

[Brave Stranger]

Littleton. Beautiful town that the middle class, or what's lleft of the middle class, can still afford to purchase a decent home in.

[johngolf]

North Reading, Middleton.

[sfosyd]

Gotta say Gloucester

[massnative71]

West Bridgewater, Leominster; to name a few. In fact, many towns in Worcester County and the "Deep South Shore". They lack on the "hipness" factor, which keeps them relatively affordable and more relaxed. Hopefully that doesn't change, but it probably will sooner or later.

Also many towns near FR/NB like Swansea (even Somerset), Fairhaven, Dartmouth get overlooked because they get lumped in with those two impoverished/high crime cities. Much of that area is still very nice though (again hopefully they won't be "discovered" for a while).

[luvmyhoss]

Wakefield and Springfield

[traffic_lover]

Originally Posted by Brave Stranger

Littleton. Beautiful town that the middle class, or what's lleft of the middle class, can still afford to purchase a decent home in.

have you looked at home prices there in the past year?