Seeking right leaning conservative towns on South Shore (Boston, Cambridge: how much, high school)

[Dadschum]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Plymouth County almost went for Bush in 2004

I wouldn't say it's right but more nimby.

The lack of entertainment and things to do gets old fast. No night clubs, no night scene... Mostly tourists in Plymouth.

Covid exposed most of this. The malls are largely dead and shopping is all online now. The area isn't really rural either as they don't have foresters or aborists. It's have to justify spending six figures most for a house to be closer to Starbucks and Panera Bread.

As far as lacking a night time entertainment scene, that is fine. I live just outside of Boston and go into town maybe once a year, if that. I dine out within my hometown or suburbia. My days of a night scene are long over.

I do most of my shopping on line except for groceries. Will occasionally go into a Walmart or Target for household items etc.

I've been to downtown Plymouth and there are plenty of restaurants there for dining out. I am sure in the summer there is more traffic but that is only a few months of the year. Not terribly interested in walkability - I drive everywhere now and I prefer that.

I've seen several townhomes and condos in the area that are ~$500K. No interest in overpaying to be near a Starbucks - I hate their coffee.

[mdovell]

I think it still goes back to what you want. I mean if you want land and to be alone probably Halifax.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by mdovell

I think it still goes back to what you want. I mean if you want land and to be alone probably Halifax.

"2br townhouse with a small patch of grass that I don't have to maintain" doesn't scream "I want land and to be alone!"

To answer the OP's question, I think the harder part of choosing will be finding the townhouse you're looking for since the region is so predominantly single family homes. Start there. The politics of the region is generally moderate. Some towns lean a little more to the right, some lean a little more to the left. There's no such thing as a real right/left stronghold down there. You most likely won't notice a difference in your day to day, and national party affiliations don't matter as much in municipal elections so it shouldn't shape town policy all that much.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by Dadschum

As far as lacking a night time entertainment scene, that is fine. I live just outside of Boston and go into town maybe once a year, if that. I dine out within my hometown or suburbia. My days of a night scene are long over.

I do most of my shopping on line except for groceries. Will occasionally go into a Walmart or Target for household items etc.

I've been to downtown Plymouth and there are plenty of restaurants there for dining out. I am sure in the summer there is more traffic but that is only a few months of the year. Not terribly interested in walkability - I drive everywhere now and I prefer that.

I've seen several townhomes and condos in the area that are ~$500K. No interest in overpaying to be near a Starbucks - I hate their coffee.

I'm sure you would be fine in Plymouth. It's historic, touristy, not radical in any way.

[brk330]

Here's a results map from the 2016 election

[NewfieMama]

If you're looking to rent, there are townhomes at the Avalon in the shipyard in Hingham. They almost always have townhome vacancies.

If you're looking to buy, I know there is a townhome community in Norwell called Washington Woods. These are new builds and I think there are still several units for sale because they pop up on my redfin feed all the time.

I think there's another new build community in Hanover called Sconset Landing. They have both condos and townhomes.

[Dadschum]

Originally Posted by brk330

Here's a results map from the 2016 election

Thanks. I've seen that map and have been looking at it more closely. I live in the area around Boston, just north. And all of the Greater Boston area is dark blue, heavily populated by left, (mostly far left) wing Dems and the socialist Our Revolution party is gaining a stronghold in the area.

By contrast, it seems that a great deal of the south shore and south coast are some version of red or light blue. I won't be moving any time too soon so I am looking forward to seeing what kind of data the 2020 census unearths, along with the 2020 elections. Places can change in 10 years (including my own community which is tending pretty far left these days). So I will be analyzing whatever data comes from the 2020 census and the next set of elections.

[Dadschum]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

If you're looking to rent, there are townhomes at the Avalon in the shipyard in Hingham. They almost always have townhome vacancies.

If you're looking to buy, I know there is a townhome community in Norwell called Washington Woods. These are new builds and I think there are still several units for sale because they pop up on my redfin feed all the time.

I think there's another new build community in Hanover called Sconset Landing. They have both condos and townhomes.

Thanks Newfie. Looking to buy probably though may rent for a year. I have family down there and am somewhat familiar with the area but only for short visits for family gatherings. So while I would prefer to only move once I am thinking I may need to actually move down to the area and rent for a year to get a better pulse of the ins and outs of the various communities. Hard to tell from FB and data unless you really spend time there more than just a Thanksgiving day visit with the family.

[bjimmy24]

I don't think liberal vs conservative always correlates to election results. I grew up in an inner ring suburb where everyone pretty much everyone votes Democratic. It was also +70% white, almost every adult married with kids, high Catholic school attendance, etc etc. So in these cases, it might annoy you to see "liberal" bumper stickers maybe, but the way of life is more or less still "conservative."

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by Dadschum

Thanks Newfie. Looking to buy probably though may rent for a year. I have family down there and am somewhat familiar with the area but only for short visits for family gatherings. So while I would prefer to only move once I am thinking I may need to actually move down to the area and rent for a year to get a better pulse of the ins and outs of the various communities. Hard to tell from FB and data unless you really spend time there more than just a Thanksgiving day visit with the family.

Makes sense, my husband and I rented in many towns (Quincy, Weymouth, Hingham, Scituate, Duxbury) before deciding where to buy. Where we ended up buying was not in any of the towns where we rented, haha. If you're renting for a year, sounds like you might have a little more flexibility in what type of property you rent (could be a SFH, condo, townhouse, or even a winter rental in a coastal town). Our rental in Scituate was a winter rental and I loved it--rent was very reasonable since it was in the off season, the house was furnished so we could just put our furniture in storage, and we loved Scituate (almost bought there). Just a thought if you are considering Plymouth, Marshfield, Scituate, etc. since I know those coastal towns are likely to have winter rentals staring in September.