Pick a New England place for us (Lowell, Northampton: rentals, low crime)

[Tsitsipas]

Looking for a place in New England with the following qualities:

- Part of town has an aesthetically appealing city feel / downtown area with shops, restaurants, etc.
- Historic atmosphere with old buildings and homes, the older the better
- Excellent grocery store(s) with pickup or delivery
- Safe and low crime
- Pedestrian friendly

Would like to be able to rent for under $3500 a month - just the 2 of us and our 25 lb dog. We are thinking MA or RI, possibly CT. Let me know what additional info I could provide to help narrow it down more. Really appreciate any help you can offer.

[gentlearts]

I like Jamestown, RI a lot. It’s charming and pretty.

[Tsitsipas]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

I like Jamestown, RI a lot. It’s charming and pretty.

Thank you for your recommendation. I found a rental I really like in the 'Village' section of Jamestown. I'm concerned that the grocery situation may not be ideal for me - looks like just the one small market and no pickup option. Is there much of a downtown district in Jamestown? Even if not, I suppose I could just go over the bridge to Newport when I want a little more of a city feel.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Tsitsipas

Thank you for your recommendation. I found a rental I really like in the 'Village' section of Jamestown. I'm concerned that the grocery situation may not be ideal for me - looks like just the one small market and no pickup option. Is there much of a downtown district in Jamestown? Even if not, I suppose I could just go over the bridge to Newport when I want a little more of a city feel.

Jamestown is nice, but I doubt you'd want to do your main shopping there (I wouldn't, it be more a place to pick a couple of things up in a pinch). The 'downtown" is a couple of blocks, with some nice enough restaurants, and there are other nice things about it, but its not a self contained island (it has your garden store, etc and a few other things). You'd be going off it for a bunch. Beautiful place though. Fantastic shoreline. Some excellent birding and good shore fishing opportunities.

[timberline742]

I actually feel like Montpelier fits this fairly well. Great food coop (Hunger Mountain) and other grocers. Lots of restaurants and shops. Stately old building feel including a really love state capital.

Rentals are trickier and in plenty of places the housing stock is old and run down a bit, but there are lots of nice spots. Great walkable downtown though with lots going on.

[OutdoorLover]

Two of the nicest coastal towns that seem to fit your description are Newburyport, MA - high on the North Shore, and Portsmouth, NH - a broadly similar town, about 20 miles further up the coast.

Portsmouth is slightly larger, and with more of a working harbor. It has adjacent towns of Kittery, Newcastle and Rye that are also interesting and attractive. It does have a little historic museum called Strawberry Banke that has a group of historic homes that one can tour. Portsmouth and Newcastle both have a number of neighborhoods of well preserved older homes.
https://www.nhstateparks.org/visit/s...int-state-park
https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_cons...agon-hill-farm
https://www.strawberybanke.org/
https://seacoastrep.org/
https://www.themusichall.org/
https://festivalnet.com/18567/Portsm...-Folk-Festival

Newburyport has nicer parks flanking it if you appreciate nature - Maudslay State Park and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. The adjacent towns of Amesbury, Newbury and West Newbury are again interesting and attractive, though the latter two have more of a rural colonial village feel to them that you may appreciate of you like history. The first wharf was laid down in Newburyport harbor in the 1640s and it has a past where it functioned as an important source of clipper ship building - the fast sailing vessels used for trade in the 19th century. There aren't that many homes from the earliest period, but there are some from the 1600s and 1700s and most prominently, there are some beautiful Federal style homes from the town's historic period of greatest prosperity.
https://www.maudslayassociation.org/
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/parker_river/
https://www.ciderhill.com/
https://www.newburyportchambermusic....tival-schedule
https://maudslayartscenter.org/
https://www.firehouse.org/

I happen to live in Newburyport and do prefer it, but I could also live in Portsmouth without any hard feelings, and I don't think you can go wrong with either town. While still retaining more of a town versus city feel, both towns are big enough to have multiple supermarkets and have interesting dining options, both punch above their weight for culture, and they both have primary care options and community hospitals, so your basic practical needs can be handled close to home in either as well.

[Tsitsipas]

Regarding one of the links above - I had never heard of Strawbery Banke, I love places like that. Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg are other examples I've really enjoyed. I like the ones with actors in character.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by Tsitsipas

Regarding one of the links above - I had never heard of Strawbery Banke, I love places like that. Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg are other examples I've really enjoyed. I like the ones with actors in character.

Here's some other historical places of interest open to the public in this neighborhood:

Lowell's Boat Shop is right on the Merrimack River in Amesbury and they still build traditional wooden dories - which is exceedingly rare, and run boatbuilding classes. Lowell's Boat Shop & Museum | Lowell's Boatshop

The beautiful Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm dating back to the 1600s is down the road in Newbury.
https://www.historicnewengland.org/p...e-little-farm/

Rocky Hill Meeting House from 1785 is also in Amesbury. https://www.historicnewengland.org/p...meeting-house/

Coffin House (that family name is prominent around here) dating to the late 1600s is also in Newbury. https://www.historicnewengland.org/p.../coffin-house/

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Tsitsipas

Regarding one of the links above - I had never heard of Strawbery Banke, I love places like that. Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg are other examples I've really enjoyed. I like the ones with actors in character.

When I first moved to Portsmouth in 2000, I lived a couple hundred yards from Strawbery Banke for a year.

Portsmouth would be at the top of my list.

[tovarisch]

If you don't need ocean, where I live (Northampton, MA) might fill the bill.