So many choices (Boston, Worcester, Quincy: condo, crime, hotels)

[flamass]

Thank you for reading this. Ok, here it goes. My partner and I are in our late thirties and we currently live in Fort Lauderdale Florida. We have a nice condo in downtown and work in the hotel industry. My partner is from Belgium and I was born in upstate New York. Fort Lauderdale has become a very different city. the crime is way up and there are now a lot more homeless people in our neighborhood and it's just getting out of hand. Not to mention the hurricane season is upon us and that seems to be getting worse too. My family in upstate New york has been havng medical issues and I would like to move back up north to be closer to my family. I have looked at New York cities but the taxes are way too high. I won't have a car, so I need to be near train lines. We have been to Boston and loved it but we can't afford it. My partner want's to buy some land and build a container house on it (ever heard of that?) yeah me too, anyway. We are looking for a small town like atmosphere but with a smallish downtown with a starbucks and the like but still be near a train line to commute into Boston for work. We could also buy a house if we find a good one. We are looking into the south shore area. I have read a lot of opinions on the south shore towns and some have been good and some have been bad. Most people say stay away from some of these places because of crime. Is there really a lot of crime in these small little all american towns. How bad is it compared to Florida? I always thought this was a nice little safe area because it is sort of far from Boston and now I am totally confused with where we should look. We are just getting started now, so we haven't been to these places yet but would like any help you can give us. Sorry about the long post but I had a lot to say.

[professorsenator]

My guess is that in most places crime will not be worse than Ft. Lauderdale. But there are certainly some tougher towns/cities that have real crime problems, especially in bad areas in those towns. As a newcomer to the area I would think that you could easily avoid such bad areas.

[goyguy]

Land is a far cry from cheap because "they're not making any more." You'd have to either be a multimillionaire or be willing to settle well over an hour outside Boston in order to purchase a dream parcel in the woods. If the latter seems realistic, then you might be able to find something in western Worcester County, northwest Middlesex County, the northern "hill towns" west of the Connecticut River, or in parts of the Berkshires or southwestern New Hampshire. Maybe.
Lack of specifics makes it less than easy to offer specific advice in turn. "Hospitality industry" can mean anything from valet parker to waiter to desk clerk to resort manager. What is an affordable price range for open land or existing housing? What are the job prospects in your particular line of work? Is a city, suburban, or small-town lifestyle most preferable? Do you perceive yourselves as readily adaptable in social situations, or is living in a gayborhood essential?
Forgive the interrogation, lol, but broad and general inquiries only go so far in terms of what advice can be proffered.

[flamass]

That's ok, at least you are all giving me a start. we could afford up to $200,000 for land and up to $400,000 for a single home. We are willing to live further outside if there is a train nearby or even if our new area has a downtown. I am a front desk manager at a high end luxury condo and have also worked in luxury hotels and my partner has his own internet business. We can adapt pretty well to any area except in the middle of the country with no direct city access. We think the south shore is best for us. At first glance Quincy, Weymouth, and Stoughton seem like decent areas. Then again, we haven't been there yet. We have found out that Weymouth has a naval air station and that can get a little lound so maybe that's out of the running. We would love to live in the city but think that Boston is way out of our league and there's not much land there anyway. I read about Dorchester, West Roxbury and others around there but not sure if those are safe areas. My favorite place is the North End but yeah, right that won't happen. Thanks again for helping out.

[skytrekker]

Consider parts of eastern Connecticut-

a nice home on over an acre- will cost under 350K-including land- you will need a car-but be close to Hartford, Providence and less then 2 hours from Boston. And the crime is very low.

[flamass]

Well that is a very nice area too but a little too far from the city and no train I'm guessing. I also think the taxes are super high right? I also think my job prospects are better in Boston. But that was a nice suggestion.