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Been in Ayer for a year and like it so far.
Good bars and restaurants, the rail trail, commuter rail, Devens redevelopment, Netflix filming, quick to 2 and 495...
Seems like things are pretty happening here, maybe one day we will even get a stoplight!
It's an acquired taste. I think it works in its own gritty sad way for those who like that sort of thing.
There is definitely something to the notion of Cambridge/Burlington/Waltham tech/biotech types settling north of the city, and finance types settling to the south. In Metrowest you might have some overlap.
Of course this is a generalization but I saw it play it out even in where folks I know chose to get their first apartments. Cambridge/Somerville attracts a different crowd than South Boston/South End for example. Once you make that choice, the odds of you fighting through traffic to the other side of the city and beyond to find and buy your first home would likely go down.
For myself growing up south/west of the the city in Walpole, anything north of Waltham on 128 seemed like foreign territory to me.
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Originally Posted by mwj119
Ehh, this is where I don’t think you can make that distinction. There are, by all accounts, more young professionals in tech in Southie and Seaport than probabaly any other neighborhood in the city. Tons in Cambridge and Somerville too, though the latter pairing have far more R&D, engineers, etc. than you’d find in Southie.
Every 26-32 year old male in tech sales lives in Southie and Seaport.
The innovative/creative Cambridge vs. the practical banker/lawyer divide has really shifted over the last ten years. Many architectural firms and advertising agencies once housed in BackBay, Cambridge and the burbs moved to Seaport District years ago. Biotechs and software development company presence in downtown Boston grows every year. How many exciting companies headquarter in Harvard Square these days? The new Cambridge is Kendall, Kendall, Kendall. With that we'll see a more even distribution of geniuses (and wanna be geniuses) along the red line and the North/South banks of the Charles.
In the 495 belt, Marlborough will soon follow its sibling Hudson. Clinton and Milford will eventually stop being grungy. Ayer will try but never quite shake the grunge. Worcester has been on its way up for a while but nothing else in Worcester County is improving very fast. Fitchburg and Gardner will be stuck in a pit until at least 2050.
Haverhill will follow Lowell in rising Merrimack mill towns.
Chelsea and Lynn won’t suck forever. Nor will Billerica. They’re all awaiting the gentrification bleaching endgame where their poor and traditionally middle class people will be forced out to the tundras of Lawrence and Fitchburg and beyond.
Out here in the westernish parts, where a contemporary metro Boston office park worker of below-average ambition could afford to buy half a town instead of a dated ranch or vinyl McManse in Burlington, Castle Rock has not yet helped lift my sad back yard in Orange and Athol. But multiple other ignored tundra towns that mostly end in “-field” are quietly becoming noticeably more enjoyable places to live if one can find a way to be meaningfully employed at all in them. In order these would be Greenfield (and its virtual appendage Turners Falls), Westfield, and even Springfield seems more “up” than usual with the casino momentum. Pittsfield and North Adams have risen a bit on a wave of high end tourism and the arts.
These all mean nothing to respectable people with children who need the AP kindergartens of Wellesley and Newton who don’t want to be near the taint of unrespectable failures in the contemporary Commonwealth game (i.e. any household making under six figures) but the latter have to land somewhere in the current COL diaspora. And the former might want to snatch up some currently slummy investment properties for fun and pennies to see what happens down the line.
Wow I didn't think people from Billerica went out to Fitchburg to live, even the poor ones. It started off as the slummerville movement though, then they went to Billerica, now they're going to Fitchburg.. interesting. Not New Hampshire anywhere probably because a lot of that got more expensive or low availability. Fitchburg has a lot of storefront vacancies downtown, I was there not long ago so will the Billerica element moving in fix it, or live in the rough parts and live just like how they always have month to month? Personally I would much prefer Fitchburg to Lawrence though. It has a nicer area around it at least.
I am from Billerica but I have contemplated Fitchburg area for damn sure but wanna know something, I thought Billerica also took forever to improve and still is. They will have that drinking crowd for awhile still.
BTW you know who George Simolaris is? How do you classify him? I say old money with a working class embodiment especially if he can live in Billerica center.
And about Milford, my moms friend is in Milford and ya that definitely stopped being grungy. So if that did, maybe Billerica is on the way too. Milford I see as a nice town now, when many once did not. It might hit Chelmsford levels soon anyhow.
I think it depends on your age bracket and what you're looking for in a town. I kind of wish I'd chosen Hudson, because Hopkinton is pretty deadsville. While there is a main street, there are not many businesses operating. Whereas Hudson has that great coffee shop, rail-trail pizza, the Irish pub etc.
Start Line Brewery is expanding into what is/was Fresh Water Farm in Hopkinton. I'll miss the grocery store with the cool hydroponic greenhouse in the back. Perhaps the expansion will make a few folks happy.
Wow I didn't think people from Billerica went out to Fitchburg to live, even the poor ones. It started off as the slummerville movement though, then they went to Billerica, now they're going to Fitchburg.. interesting. Not New Hampshire anywhere probably because a lot of that got more expensive or low availability. Fitchburg has a lot of storefront vacancies downtown, I was there not long ago so will the Billerica element moving in fix it, or live in the rough parts and live just like how they always have month to month? Personally I would much prefer Fitchburg to Lawrence though. It has a nicer area around it at least.
I am from Billerica but I have contemplated Fitchburg area for damn sure but wanna know something, I thought Billerica also took forever to improve and still is. They will have that drinking crowd for awhile still.
BTW you know who George Simolaris is? How do you classify him? I say old money with a working class embodiment especially if he can live in Billerica center.
And about Milford, my moms friend is in Milford and ya that definitely stopped being grungy. So if that did, maybe Billerica is on the way too. Milford I see as a nice town now, when many once did not. It might hit Chelmsford levels soon anyhow.
I'm not sure you have a good pulse on Billerica. It's a legitimate candidate for a lot of families and first time home buyers who work both along 95 and downtown Boston/Cambridge. With the new high school, the hope for the town is likely to try and retain those who would have left when kids are school age a decade ago.. I suspect that will happen now.
If anything, I think Chelmsford is the one that has really fallen behind. What was once considered a booming, desirable suburb with nice neighborhoods and good schools, it's seemed to be somewhat of an afterthought for the better part of the 90's and 2000's. It's only recently that I've really seen it get hot again.. The revamped downtown area has helped, but proximity to Burlington is the key.
That said, the eye test will tell you that Chelmsford is leaps and bounds ahead of Milford if we're talking aesthetics and schools. I don't see any real parallels.
I'm not sure you have a good pulse on Billerica. It's a legitimate candidate for a lot of families and first time home buyers who work both along 95 and downtown Boston/Cambridge. With the new high school, the hope for the town is likely to try and retain those who would have left when kids are school age a decade ago.. I suspect that will happen now.
If anything, I think Chelmsford is the one that has really fallen behind. What was once considered a booming, desirable suburb with nice neighborhoods and good schools, it's seemed to be somewhat of an afterthought for the better part of the 90's and 2000's. It's only recently that I've really seen it get hot again.. The revamped downtown area has helped, but proximity to Burlington is the key.
That said, the eye test will tell you that Chelmsford is leaps and bounds ahead of Milford if we're talking aesthetics and schools. I don't see any real parallels.
I do know a new HS in Billeica is being built and it could keep people there who would otherwise leave. I really didn't think I'd see the day where it would pass Chelmsford though, I won't lie.
Chelmsford has stayed the same pretty much in my findings, going back, leaving, visiting again at a later date. Its so predictable in fact, I don't even drive through to check on it to see whats changed. Not much has at all. Billerica tries to make more changes I've found and with that, they may be looking more on the rise and my dad will cash out there with a lot of money if he decides to leave. I was in Billerica last week, I saw a few changes, more than Chelmsford but at the same time, not a ton either. They still aren't adding a Hannaford supermarket anywhere or a Stop n Shop, unless that will change.
I been by Milford not long ago and I can say for sure that even if some looks old still, it is coming up some. They have some new shopping centers and a starbucks now too in a pretty nice area.
Could anyone in the know do a Maynard VS Billerica comparison? Which town is a better investment and why? Thanks! This thread is great.
Maynard has a cohesive downtown, Billerica doesn't. Maynard is surrounded by spread out towns with exclusionary zoning to maintain a "rural" feel, towns that are all wealthier then Maynard. Billerica is surrounded by a mix of towns similar to it (Tewksbury, Wilmington), a fairly wealthy town with a huge commercial center (Burlington), to the north is an up and coming mill city, and to the west is two wealthy burbs, with Bedford being traditionally suburban and Carlisle having a more rural feel.
The biggest pro to Billerica over Maynard is proximity to jobs. Billerica itself, being along route three, has a number of offices and industrial parks in the town itself. It also is right next to Burlington one of the biggest commercial and office centers outside of Somerville/Cambridge.
Maynard is miles from any highway. And this is a personal preference, many on here might disagree, but i'm not a big fan of all of the wealthy towns around Maynard. I just don't find the super spread out rural feeling places to be appealing. I'd much rather be next to Lowell and Burlington and all of the amenities and action it gives.
So I'd pick Billerica over Maynard, but it's comparing apples and oranges. Though the schools and price points are similar. Maynard does have a nicer downtown, but it's further from everything else. Billerica I like because of surrounding places, not because of anything great about the town specifically.
Maynard has a cohesive downtown, Billerica doesn't. Maynard is surrounded by spread out towns with exclusionary zoning to maintain a "rural" feel, towns that are all wealthier then Maynard. Billerica is surrounded by a mix of towns similar to it (Tewksbury, Wilmington), a fairly wealthy town with a huge commercial center (Burlington), to the north is an up and coming mill city, and to the west is two wealthy burbs, with Bedford being traditionally suburban and Carlisle having a more rural feel.
The biggest pro to Billerica over Maynard is proximity to jobs. Billerica itself, being along route three, has a number of offices and industrial parks in the town itself. It also is right next to Burlington one of the biggest commercial and office centers outside of Somerville/Cambridge.
Maynard is miles from any highway. And this is a personal preference, many on here might disagree, but i'm not a big fan of all of the wealthy towns around Maynard. I just don't find the super spread out rural feeling places to be appealing. I'd much rather be next to Lowell and Burlington and all of the amenities and action it gives.
So I'd pick Billerica over Maynard, but it's comparing apples and oranges. Though the schools and price points are similar. Maynard does have a nicer downtown, but it's further from everything else. Billerica I like because of surrounding places, not because of anything great about the town specifically.
Also Maynard is tiny, Billerica is much larger.
Yup.
My money was, is, and will continue to be on Billerica. Outside of the train and it’s access to 3, 95, and (sort of) access to 93, it’s a much larger town, more amenities, new high school, and an abundance of jobs in bordering towns. And the train gets you to North Station in 30ish minutes.
Through the ups and downs, Maynard has remained consistent. It’s more like Ayer, while Billerica is more like Woburn. The latter pairing is experiencing real growth and transformation, not just marginal growth in its core.
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