Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Westport is definitely on our radar. Great point about sharks in the Cape. It’s funny, many people have mentioned surfing in San Diego being warmer but the water is pretty cold there and as you mentioned, wet suits take that concern away regardless. Thanks for the great tips. Really appreciated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FarmCoastLocal
The towns you should be looking at are Westport (MA) and Little Compton (RI). Both are gorgeous. Very much coastal influenced climates with much milder summers and easy winter (don't have to bring out heavy winter coat except hand full of times, all other times fall sweatshirt is plenty).
With your house price range you could get an amazing property. Small surfing communities exist in both towns. Surf can be great, but much more likely for big swell during winter time (get 6-7mm wetsuit with hood and boots) (also doesn't have the sharks of the Cape).
The area you are looking for is called The Southcoast (or the Farmcoast for the immediate coastal towns). It's a hidden gem. Amazing nature, food, and accessibility. Go explore the area and learn about it. Everyone's got an opinion, but I'll say it with my chest, it's the best coastal area of New England by far.
We are a family of 5 with teenagers considering moving from northwest Pennsylvania and wanting more (diversity, education, opportunities, activities, open minded people) from our next hometown. Looking at suburbs of NYC near the beach, San Diego, CT, RI, Coastal Mass (Cape Cod to Buzzards Bay areas). Income is not an issue. $2-$4M on a house is a likely range. So any advice from residents would be greatly appreciated since visiting and living in an area are often quite different.
1. Is there anywhere with surfing potential?
2. We are a mixed family with one LGBTQIA+ child. Is this region a place you see as open, accepting and diverse? We don’t expect LA or NYC. Love both places to visit but not live given population size. Fiscally a bit more conservative but socially liberal. Is Coastal Mass a good fit?
3. How is the weather? Obviously summer will be great but what about winter & spring? We get rough winters here with 200” of snow but the municipalities manage very well and snow days are not a discussion. Is that the case in Mass? Plenty to do during winter or hibernation mode?
If given the opportunity, would you choose Mass over the other places listed?
Thank you for the insight
Woah!! What is 'coastal Mass'? And in the same query as San Diego? You're out of your tree!!
OK Cape Cod, is very sleepy, and insular. New England winters are absolute hell.
Your answer is clearly San Diego, which is a VERY large city, on par with, and nearly as expensive as NYC, San Fran, Los Angeles and 'Coastal Mass'.
All things aside- moving teenagers is the worst possible thing one can do to a teenager. Just 'telling it all and telling it true'. Moving along:
1) San Diego: there's not really any surfing in the Northeast
2) San Diego, the North Shore of Boston, some parts of Conn & NY
3) Summer is NOT 'great' in New England- it's horrifying: sticky, bugs everywhere, it's really terrible. Then there's the winter, which is 3x as terrible as Wherever Pennsylvania. San Diego is the obvious choice for weather.
No I would never choose Mass or anywhere in the Northeast, and if you have the money and inclination, I still wouldn't recommend it for you. San D FTW. The only thing I'd point out is CA public schools in general are NOT nearly as good as Mass, but it varies considerably from district to district. Some neighborhoods have the best schools. Some the worst.
Look in Del Mar, La Jolla and Carlsbad. You might find what you seek.
Not that I grew up directly on a beach but I only knew one guy that went surfing in mass.
I don't think the summer is technically that bad in new england. I don't see bugs in cities...anywhere. I've been to china, france, Italy, canada etc I don't remember being bitten by anything in a city.
Winters are getting worse. It seems like after 2005 getting feet of snow seems to be more likely. I didn't know anyone that has a snow blower in the 80's. Now everyone has one in the suburbs.
The other issue isn't so much the weather but it is how the weather changes significantly. Obviously it cools off when the sun sets but I think autumn is coming a tad earlier this year. How long do you keep a shovel in your car for? I don't know at this point.
Coastal Massachusetts was intended to be all encompassing from Buzzard Bay to North Shore since the site wouldn’t let me post here and the Boston board. As for the rest, my teens are the reason we are moving and they are pushing for it so this isn’t the uprooting type of scenario. If you’ve never been a black LGBTQIA+ teen in western PA in 2020 you might not get the sentiment of desire for likeminded connections. That said, Mass winters don’t worry me. We are typically top 3 in the country for snowfall here and below 0 temps aren’t uncommon. Neighbors can borrow all the equipment we have to help with any snowfall. Having lives in Tampa, FL until 2008 we are also not too worried about sticky hot summers. Nothing compares to the Gulf Coast in summer misery. You might be surprised how many people surf in the Northeast. Parts of CT, RI and Long Island have decent conditions. Not San Diego level obviously but enough to satisfy the occasional beach run without worrying about wildfires & smoke inhalation. Appreciate the insight. Just doesn’t exactly move the needle one way or the other for me. Where are you at that makes Massachusetts feel so undesirable though?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 5pyg1a55
Woah!! What is 'coastal Mass'? And in the same query as San Diego? You're out of your tree!!
OK Cape Cod, is very sleepy, and insular. New England winters are absolute hell.
Your answer is clearly San Diego, which is a VERY large city, on par with, and nearly as expensive as NYC, San Fran, Los Angeles and 'Coastal Mass'.
All things aside- moving teenagers is the worst possible thing one can do to a teenager. Just 'telling it all and telling it true'. Moving along:
1) San Diego: there's not really any surfing in the Northeast
2) San Diego, the North Shore of Boston, some parts of Conn & NY
3) Summer is NOT 'great' in New England- it's horrifying: sticky, bugs everywhere, it's really terrible. Then there's the winter, which is 3x as terrible as Wherever Pennsylvania. San Diego is the obvious choice for weather.
No I would never choose Mass or anywhere in the Northeast, and if you have the money and inclination, I still wouldn't recommend it for you. San D FTW. The only thing I'd point out is CA public schools in general are NOT nearly as good as Mass, but it varies considerably from district to district. Some neighborhoods have the best schools. Some the worst.
Look in Del Mar, La Jolla and Carlsbad. You might find what you seek.
Winter in coastal New England and Boston is most definitely *NOT* worse than NW PA. Saying otherwise betrays a lack of familiarity with being downwind and up in elevation from the Great Lakes. And it's way sunnier here on the other side of the Appalachians, which act as a giant cloud mitt for the colder half of the year.
And there is surfing and a surfing culture in southern New England; it's not the same as CA, true. Water is way colder in the colder half of the SST year, but then again coastal CA waters are not exactly as warm as people from the Northeast often assume.
Summer in New England is not more buggy or humid than NW PA.
Coastal Massachusetts was intended to be all encompassing from Buzzard Bay to North Shore since the site wouldn’t let me post here and the Boston board. As for the rest, my teens are the reason we are moving and they are pushing for it so this isn’t the uprooting type of scenario. If you’ve never been a black LGBTQIA+ teen in western PA in 2020 you might not get the sentiment of desire for likeminded connections. That said, Mass winters don’t worry me. We are typically top 3 in the country for snowfall here and below 0 temps aren’t uncommon. Neighbors can borrow all the equipment we have to help with any snowfall. Having lives in Tampa, FL until 2008 we are also not too worried about sticky hot summers. Nothing compares to the Gulf Coast in summer misery. You might be surprised how many people surf in the Northeast. Parts of CT, RI and Long Island have decent conditions. Not San Diego level obviously but enough to satisfy the occasional beach run without worrying about wildfires & smoke inhalation. Appreciate the insight. Just doesn’t exactly move the needle one way or the other for me. Where are you at that makes Massachusetts feel so undesirable though?
I will speak for my own area (high on the north shore) as I know it best. It is typically very humid, as it's right on the coast! On the other hand, the temperatures are moderated by the cold ocean and a typical summer day is around 80 degrees. We get about 2 weeks (14 days) of weather in the 90s in a typical year I'd guess. So nothing like the Gulf or Southeastern states, nothing even like southern MD, where I lived for 2 years. Relative to 50 miles inland at this lattitude, our typical pattern is to have spring arrive late, and for summer to linger - in both cases due to the hystersis of the ocean - it is slower to change temperature, so it doesn't warm up as fast in spring, and it doesn't cool off as fast in fall. Typical winter high is about 35 and the coldest night of the year is normally about -5 degrees, in Newburyport.
P.S. And I didn't say that the ocean water in San Diego is warm, I only said that it's a little warm-er in summer than in Newburyport.
We are typically top 3 in the country for snowfall here and below 0 temps aren’t uncommon. Neighbors can borrow all the equipment we have to help with any snowfall.
The snow isn't what makes New England winters miserable. It's sleet, ice pellets and freezing rain and often the snow is very wet making it very hard to move.
This combined with the high population density makes it so that even when you get snow it turn into brownish slush very fast and if you move around Boston parking becomes a weird things with chairs on the streets..
Temperature wise if you live around Pittsburgh or south of it you have a similar weather to coastal MA, if you live north of it you have colder weather according to the USDA.
Coastal Massachusetts was intended to be all encompassing from Buzzard Bay to North Shore since the site wouldn’t let me post here and the Boston board. As for the rest, my teens are the reason we are moving and they are pushing for it so this isn’t the uprooting type of scenario. If you’ve never been a black LGBTQIA+ teen in western PA in 2020 you might not get the sentiment of desire for likeminded connections. That said, Mass winters don’t worry me. We are typically top 3 in the country for snowfall here and below 0 temps aren’t uncommon. Neighbors can borrow all the equipment we have to help with any snowfall. Having lives in Tampa, FL until 2008 we are also not too worried about sticky hot summers. Nothing compares to the Gulf Coast in summer misery. You might be surprised how many people surf in the Northeast. Parts of CT, RI and Long Island have decent conditions. Not San Diego level obviously but enough to satisfy the occasional beach run without worrying about wildfires & smoke inhalation. Appreciate the insight. Just doesn’t exactly move the needle one way or the other for me. Where are you at that makes Massachusetts feel so undesirable though?
If money and jobs were not an option, I'd guess 75-95% of people would choose CA over MA, so I think you'll find a lot of people here will be a bit confused why you are even considering MA. I've lived in both and prefer MA, but I can say I'm in a minority. My good friend from college is a San Diego native and actively refused to live away from the California, even to the point of going to a lower-ranked grad school and turning down good jobs.
My coworker and her husband are regular New England surfers. They go to the same beach I go to for hiking/birding in Rhode Island (I think they go to more than just that, though). According to her, you'll want a wetsuit here. As others have said, you should probably consider RI, too.
Is there a reason you are considering other parts of CA? San Diego is nice, but so are Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz and basically up and down the mid-coast.
The area you are looking for is called The Southcoast (or the Farmcoast for the immediate coastal towns). It's a hidden gem. Amazing nature, food, and accessibility. Go explore the area and learn about it. Everyone's got an opinion, but I'll say it with my chest, it's the best coastal area of New England by far.
Not that it will be of consideration to the OP at that price point, but how are the public schools in the Farmcoast area? Our family is exploring a move and this is an area we had not considered. We love Westport and being close to RI is very appealing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
