Thoughts on Everett (Boston, Quincy, Malden: crime rate, layoffs, neighborhoods)

[azu612]

I've been looking around and I haven't seen too many recent posts on Everett. With all the property prices going up these days it's hard to find something reasonable. Does anyone have any information on living in Everett with kids?

[tysmith95]

Casino!!!

Anyway I see it as a blue collar and working class town with a large growing Hispanic population. Similar to Revere in that aspect. I know it has had some funding issues with the schools.

The crime rate isin't too bad, it does act as a city neighborhood though. It's a bargain for it's location, so I could see some gentrification happening.

[bjimmy24]

It's not all that great, tbh.

[rethcir]

It’s going to change a lot with the casino, however it is a pretty progressive local government. They have developed a popular brewery district (Noght Shift et al) that brings in a LOT of business to the city, and piloted bus-only lanes to cheaply improve the public transit access to the city.

I wouldn’t move there with the expectation of it being a wonderful family place. There is a community but it might be tough to crack in as a “non townie.”

They always have a really good high school football team.

I’d probably look in Medford first.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by rethcir

I’d probably look in Medford first.

Medford is much more expensive compared to Everett.

There's Malden, which is a little bit closer in price to Everett.

Not sure where the OP is commuting to or their budget, but if they're willing to stretch the commute Woburn, Stoneham, Wakefield, and Saugus would be a better value. Wakefield being the nicest of the towns that I mentioned.

Originally Posted by rethcir

I wouldn’t move there with the expectation of it being a wonderful family place. There is a community but it might be tough to crack in as a “non townie.”

Everett is over a third foreign born, so i'm not sure that is necessarily the case. Though there may be two distinct communities, the townies and the new immigrants.

[charolastra00]

Everett is not somewhere I'd feel comfortable sending kids to public school, and in general I'm pretty forgiving of less-than-perfect school rankings. They just laid off more than 50 teachers and 150 school staff total a few weeks ago in the middle of the semester. That just doesn't bode well: Everett To Lay Off 58 School Teachers Next Week « CBS Boston

It tends to be rougher looking than it actually is, but it's still a working class town. The Fermentation District near Santilli Circle is a cute little burst of energy with two breweries (one of which almost always has a food truck parked outside, the other had pop up tamales last weekend and have a huge range of pop up food on the weekends), a distillery, and a newish restaurant that looks like it's run by the mob. The breweries are surprisingly kid friendly - there are ALWAYS kids there - but that's probably not what you're looking for.

[Urban Peasant]

No Everett is not the best of choices for families with kids and honestly neither are Malden, Revere, and Chelsea either. The schools in Everett are in great need of funding, the neighborhoods are very cramped, Route 109 (Broadway) experiences really bad traffic jams, and a casino is about to be opened at the southern end of the city.

I lived in Malden just up the way in the late '80s and early '90s and attended elementary school there. We had it tough in Malden but the stories we heard from kids from Everett gave the feeling that they had it tough too. I don't think it is all that much better now either.

[bostonguy1960]

I recall hearing, maybe over ten years ago, that due to all the foreigners living there, Everett can no longer field a little league baseball team. Maybe some are baseball friendly but others are from countries where baseball is unheard of.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

I lived in Malden just up the way in the late '80s and early '90s and attended elementary school there. We had it tough in Malden but the stories we heard from kids from Everett gave the feeling that they had it tough too. I don't think it is all that much better now either.

Malden does have more nice neighborhoods then Everett judging by my drives through the area. Plus you've got the orange line.

Malden is known for it's large asian immigrant population. As Chinatown has become out of reach for asian immigrants that aren't wealthy many of those immigrants have migrated to either Malden or Quincy.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

I recall hearing, maybe over ten years ago, that due to all the foreigners living there, Everett can no longer field a little league baseball team. Maybe some are baseball friendly but others are from countries where baseball is unheard of.

That's a bit of a stretch IMHO. Everett Little League is alive and well. Baseball and softball programs are affected by the popularity of lacrosse. It's a fast growing sport and is pulling boys and girls away from baseball and softball. Kids get bored standing in the field waiting for a 9 YO swinging wildly at a poorly thrown ball whereas in lacrosse, they are constantly chasing a poorly passed ball.