Hubbardston vs Templeton MA (Boston, Worcester: houses, job market, neighborhood)

[AS11]

Good Morning! Newbie here. Looking for thoughts from anyone living in or around Hubbardston or Templeton area. I have been on a house search for quite a while now and have yet to find anything in my real target areas- Sterling, Lancaster or Westminster so I am wondering if I go out a little further to Hubbardston or Templeton as it will get me more for my money, but am I making too much of a sacrifice? Are these town a bad investment? I am from Leominster so I have a good idea of the general area and I know the Ash/West school system and of course Wachusett is better than the Hubbardston or Templeton school systems.
Is there any hope that either of these towns are "getting better?" Would you pick one over the other?

I do not have children yet but it is something I am thinking about as I do not want to jump towns a bunch of times. I should note that my husband and I both work in Worcester so Templeton is the absolute furthest I am willing to go. Thank you for your help!

[massnative71]

I know a few people in Hubbardston who love it there. Comet Pond is a great spot.



Templeton has the advantage of Rte. 2 access and isn't really a bad town, but gets a small amount of spillover from Gardner, Winchendon, etc. Hubbardston is surrounded by all nice towns.

[AS11]

Thank you!

[Shrewsburried]

As a resident of Sterling, I'd think long and hard about current and future commutes from Hubbardston. I'm at the very southeast end of Sterling which borders Lancaster, Clinton, W Boylston and the extra 15+ minute drive from 495 is a bit of drag, but not terribly limiting. West side of town is 25+ minutes and once you're out in the Hubbardston, Westminster, or even Princeton you more or less limit your job market to Worcester/Leominster as the commute east is brutal (regardless of whether you take back roads or rt. 2).

All beautiful towns, but do take care in not limiting future employment potential.

[AS11]

That is a very good point regarding employment. I guess I was remaining hopeful that Worcester will someday become a more marketable city employment wise with all of the new developments in the commons downtown You are right though, commuting into Boston from any of those towns would be terrible. Definitely something to think about!

[Humphrey]

Hubbardston is the nicer town (not that Templeton is bad) - but houses there are quite a bit more expensive. As for the direction the towns are heading in, there's a lot more development in this direction (Mcmansion building, North Quabbin Commons etc) because people are getting priced out of towns further east (I live in Gardner and there's quite a few people that have moved to our neighborhood recently from Fitchburg / Leominster).

Of the two i'm more interested in Templeton for the next move - it has a quaint center (although Country mischief has closed). It has a few trailer parks and Baldwinville which I guess drags it down a bit but the positive side is you get more for your money than Hubbentucky.