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Newburyport - my favorite, it has the two nicest parks on the North Shore (Maudslay State Park and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge), a great little downtown with nice shops and cafes plus a wonderful harborfront where the Merrimack River meets the sea, the beach is closeby, plenty of doctors and dentists for routine medical care, and lots of quaint historic homes. It's pretty far out, but just off of I-95, and offers commuter rail and bus options as well. The commuting time from here to Boston will be anywhere from 50-90 minutes, depending on the time of day.
Newbury - nice for country living, but not much there except the houses. It does have numerous country roads, and you can go next door to Newburyport if you want some civilization.
West Newbury - similar to Newbury. Newbury is closer to the ocean and West Newbury better if you have horses.
Ipswich - in a little closer, but not as close to I-95 as Nbpt, so no great advantage for driving. It does have a nice downtown, plus it's two stops closer to Boston on the same train line and has a nice park as well (Crane's Beach). Also a good choice, but if I liked Ipswich I'd still pick Newburyport (as I did! ;-))
Last edited by OutdoorLover; 12-06-2016 at 06:24 PM..
Apologies for the lack of replies, I didn't realize the post had been moved to the MA forum - the post wasn't showing up in my profile. Great to see so many recommendations! I will be going through all these locations this afternoon.
However there has been a plot twist... My wife works as a cabin crew chief and it appears her company could be opening a new base in Providence next year. Quite the coincidence given our preexisting plans to move to New England! They are also considering a base in Portsmouth, NH though this seems less likely than PVD.
This would require her commuting to and from CF Green Airport maybe two or three times a week. This frequency does not require us being too close to PVD, however...
We have been researching RI and Providence and it appears to be a very charming small city. It has historic homes and lots to do. This has led us to reassess how 'rural' we want to be, and have concluded we would probably prefer to live in somewhere similar to the Blackstone / Hope neighborhoods in East Providence (still need to look into specific neighborhoods).
They have the tree-lined streets and charming historic homes we adore, and $650k could get us a nice property within walking distance to downtown and some lovely riverside parks.
The two things that put us off Providence and Rhode Island are the property taxes and the schools. At our budget, we could be looking at $15-20k annually. That's hard to justify when in MA we're looking at less than half that rate for better schools. Plus we wouldn't want to rule out Boston for future job opportunities, and commuting from Providence to Boston seems a stretch. I'm not sure the charm of Providence justifies the increased taxes.
So that leaves us in 'no-mans land'. I fear if we find a nice property commutable to both Boston and Providence, we may miss the benefits of both cities - too far to take advantage of Providence, too far to visit Boston with much frequency.
We either bite the bullet and take the hit on RI property taxes in a close-in neighborhood. Though we have paid down most of our mortgage and were looking forward to lower monthly costs, not higher; or stick with the original plan and find a property in towns closer to Boston similar to those mentioned thus far; or consider a new option...
Apologies for the lack of replies, I didn't realize the post had been moved to the MA forum - the post wasn't showing up in my profile. Great to see so many recommendations! I will be going through all these locations this afternoon.
However there has been a plot twist... My wife works as a cabin crew chief and it appears her company could be opening a new base in Providence next year. Quite the coincidence given our preexisting plans to move to New England! They are also considering a base in Portsmouth, NH though this seems less likely than PVD.
This would require her commuting to and from CF Green Airport maybe two or three times a week. This frequency does not require us being too close to PVD, however...
We have been researching RI and Providence and it appears to be a very charming small city. It has historic homes and lots to do. This has led us to reassess how 'rural' we want to be, and have concluded we would probably prefer to live in somewhere similar to the Blackstone / Hope neighborhoods in East Providence (still need to look into specific neighborhoods).
They have the tree-lined streets and charming historic homes we adore, and $650k could get us a nice property within walking distance to downtown and some lovely riverside parks.
The two things that put us off Providence and Rhode Island are the property taxes and the schools. At our budget, we could be looking at $15-20k annually. That's hard to justify when in MA we're looking at less than half that rate for better schools. Plus we wouldn't want to rule out Boston for future job opportunities, and commuting from Providence to Boston seems a stretch. I'm not sure the charm of Providence justifies the increased taxes.
So that leaves us in 'no-mans land'. I fear if we find a nice property commutable to both Boston and Providence, we may miss the benefits of both cities - too far to take advantage of Providence, too far to visit Boston with much frequency.
We either bite the bullet and take the hit on RI property taxes in a close-in neighborhood. Though we have paid down most of our mortgage and were looking forward to lower monthly costs, not higher; or stick with the original plan and find a property in towns closer to Boston similar to those mentioned thus far; or consider a new option...
Thanks again all for the advice!
Decisions, decisions.....
When you say the Hope/Blackstone neighborhood, I assume you mean the East Side located within the city of Providence. East Providence is a totally separate city. But you might want to consider there as well, the Rumford area has some of what you are looking for. Property taxes might be more reasonable than Providence, schools are better (but still not great). I personally suggest looking in Walpole. While it's in between the two cities, you aren't in no man's land at all. There is plenty within the community, and you are on the commuter rail for easy access to Boston.
I wonder if your wife is with Norweigan Air? I heard they are considering Maine as well as Portsmouth and Providence.
When you say the Hope/Blackstone neighborhood, I assume you mean the East Side located within the city of Providence. East Providence is a totally separate city. But you might want to consider there as well, the Rumford area has some of what you are looking for. Property taxes might be more reasonable than Providence, schools are better (but still not great). I personally suggest looking in Walpole. While it's in between the two cities, you aren't in no man's land at all. There is plenty within the community, and you are on the commuter rail for easy access to Boston.
Yes, I mean the East Side within the City. I wonder if there a way of purchasing a property with a lower assessed value. Do older properties get any kind of relief, maybe renovating a historic property could help somehow... It would be nice to live there but 15k a year in property taxes without good schools.. heart vs head decision suggests not. I will look into East Providence, thanks for the suggestion.
Sorry by no-mans land I wasn't referring to the towns, I meant having to drive or commute to both Providence and Boston. I worry that if we live mid-way, it might reduce our outings to both cities. Since Boston is not in our near term plans in terms of a need to commute perhaps quality of life would be better within walking/biking distance to Providence. However if we can get that feel with a town in-between, that would be great. I will look into Walpole. Since we only need to commute to PVD occasionally maybe we should widen the net.
Quote:
I wonder if your wife is with Norweigan Air? I heard they are considering Maine as well as Portsmouth and Providence.
Yes, she is. According to a routesonline article (we have no inside info), Providence is likely over Portsmouth as a new base, with another base confirmed in Stewart NY. Hartford CT is also in the running though I have not heard any mention of Maine. We are assuming PVD will be an actual crew base as opposed to just a route start/end point. According to an article out of Portsmouth local news, the Pease / CF Green option will include 18 flights on various routes including England. It's all TBD it seems, we're trying to figure it out from the articles.
That said, we don't necessarily want to locate based solely on Norwegian's possible plans. Being nearer PVD gives us good options near-term - my wife could relocate to the PVD base which enables us to fly out of both PVD and Logan; but we are giving consideration to distance from Boston for possible career opportunities in the future.
It's more a question of whether we can stomach the taxes in RI on the one hand (with possible lifestyle benefits), as opposed to being in-between Providence and Boston with lower taxes but a possible commute to both cities. I guess the best option would be per your suggestion - find an MA town that provides that community and New England feel, while being commutable to both Boston and Providence!
Apologies for the lack of replies, I didn't realize the post had been moved to the MA forum - the post wasn't showing up in my profile. Great to see so many recommendations! I will be going through all these locations this afternoon.
However there has been a plot twist... My wife works as a cabin crew chief and it appears her company could be opening a new base in Providence next year. Quite the coincidence given our preexisting plans to move to New England! They are also considering a base in Portsmouth, NH though this seems less likely than PVD.
This would require her commuting to and from CF Green Airport maybe two or three times a week. This frequency does not require us being too close to PVD, however...
We have been researching RI and Providence and it appears to be a very charming small city. It has historic homes and lots to do. This has led us to reassess how 'rural' we want to be, and have concluded we would probably prefer to live in somewhere similar to the Blackstone / Hope neighborhoods in East Providence (still need to look into specific neighborhoods).
They have the tree-lined streets and charming historic homes we adore, and $650k could get us a nice property within walking distance to downtown and some lovely riverside parks.
The two things that put us off Providence and Rhode Island are the property taxes and the schools. At our budget, we could be looking at $15-20k annually. That's hard to justify when in MA we're looking at less than half that rate for better schools. Plus we wouldn't want to rule out Boston for future job opportunities, and commuting from Providence to Boston seems a stretch. I'm not sure the charm of Providence justifies the increased taxes.
So that leaves us in 'no-mans land'. I fear if we find a nice property commutable to both Boston and Providence, we may miss the benefits of both cities - too far to take advantage of Providence, too far to visit Boston with much frequency.
We either bite the bullet and take the hit on RI property taxes in a close-in neighborhood. Though we have paid down most of our mortgage and were looking forward to lower monthly costs, not higher; or stick with the original plan and find a property in towns closer to Boston similar to those mentioned thus far; or consider a new option...
Thanks again all for the advice!
Decisions, decisions.....
Milton. You can buy a house with a yard on a tree lined street. You can drop her at the train station in Westwood. Or drive down 95 to Providence. The suggestion of Newburyport would be to the extreme if you had work in Providence.
21 properties are listed in Zillow under $650k. $650k would definitely buy as to which your seeking in Milton. It might not actually reach the respondents view of your dream house in Norwell(1M). I think that you would be happy with half an acre of grass. Some of the people are thinking that you want 2 acres of grass within an exclusive neighborhood.
Plus, people are recommending places on the commuter rail and over an 1 drive from Boston. Milton borders the cityline. You can be downtown by car in half hour. You can make it to medical areas within a half hour once the viaduct on 203 construction is finished. Plus, you have access to the 128 and close proximity to 95, 24, and 3.
There are some nice areas halfway between Boston and Providence. The route 24 area is decent suburbia.
The Rte. 95 corridor is where you want to be, 24 does not go towards Providence. It all boils doa
wn to how often you expect to travel to TF Green vs. Boston, as to whether you want to nearer to Boston or Providence (or within or close by).
Don't write off NH completely. Yes as a % the taxes are high. However, home values could be significantly lower than what you would pay in Boston and Providence. Therefore look at the tax bill not just the %. Also figure out how much you would save in income taxes as the savings could more than compensate for NH property taxes.
Have you been to Portsmouth? Portsmouth and surrounding area in NH is one of the finest places in the U.S.
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