Thoughts on Lynn, Massachusetts are requested (Boston, Peabody: loft, violent crime, neighborhoods)

[dreamingofdenver]

My girlfriend recently got a job offer from Lynn, Massachusetts; however, we have never been there or really heard anything about it. I was wondering if I could get some info on this town and anyone's thoughts as to whether that is a good or bad area. Just to give some background information, we are from the Cleveland, Ohio area and have gotten a few job offers around there too (I have seen that there is a decent amount of crime in the Lynn area, but we are pretty used to the idea of a not-so-safe city already).

[Cliff Clavin]

Originally Posted by dreamingofdenver

My girlfriend recently got a job offer from Lynn, Massachusetts; however, we have never been there or really heard anything about it. I was wondering if I could get some info on this town and anyone's thoughts as to whether that is a good or bad area. Just to give some background information, we are from the Cleveland, Ohio area and have gotten a few job offers around there too (I have seen that there is a decent amount of crime in the Lynn area, but we are pretty used to the idea of a not-so-safe city already).

My thoughts:

There are some very nice neighborhoods in Lynn, as well some "not-so-safe" neighborhoods. I wouldn't call it a violent city by any means. It's mostly street level crimes. Lynn's main downfall is the poor school system, but if you don't have kids, you can find good deals. My buddy and his wife bought a very nice loft downtown last year for short $$. I would have considered Lynn myself, but the commute downtown is tough.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

There is no denying Lynn has a big stigma on the North Shore. Yes like any city it has it's nice parts, but to counterpoint the post above the crime in Lynn go's beyond petty street crime. Lynn has a fair amount of violent crime and gang activity. When the show COPS was filmed in Boston they chose Lynn as the place to film it. A lot of drug activity, and the city has been in decline for quite some time.

No denying Lynn Shore Drive is very nice, I enjoy walking along the beach there and parts of East Lynn are OK, particularly around Lynnfield St is probably the nicest part. But overall if you are considering a move to the area you are better off in Salem or Peabody which are not that much more expensive and much nicer places to live.

[gf2020]

I lived in Lynn for 8 of the past 20 years. My wife is from Lynn and her family still lives there.

There are plenty of areas in Lynn that I would live in now and there are plenty of areas of the city that I would not live in now. That said, you can commute to Lynn from many different towns in the north of Boston area. If it is a good job (I'm curious who it is with?) I would not let the fact that it is in Lynn cloud your girlfriend's decision making process.

I suspect that housing costs in the north of Boston area are substantially more than the Greater Cleveland area, so the job will need to pay at least 30-40% more than your girlfriend is making now to make it worth while.

What will you do for work if you are moving to the area too?

[movingtoNH2010]

all sorts of crime in the news happening in Lynn - lots of racial issues - big Hispanic region - I wouldn't recommend if any of that might be a problem for you.

[Gabe1972]

Believe it or not if I am in dire need of the ocean and just want to swing out some where for the evening Lynn is my go to. I love the waterfront there. Don't know much about the rest of the city.

[lrfox]

When you're thinking of Lynn, think of it as a smaller city in Greater Boston. Lynn is under 15 miles from Downtown Boston. If you look at Lynn as a city by itself, I doubt you'll be impressed. For a city of nearly 100,000 people, there aren't as many urban amenities in the city itself as most cities of 100,000 (mostly because it's a mere part of a much larger urban area, not a primary regional city), crime is higher than one would like (though as others have mentioned, not awful and there are bright spots), and there are some ugly neighborhoods.

That said, Lynn is good for what it is... an affordable city in metro Boston. While Lynn may not have all the wonderful amenities of a typical city of 100,000, it has all the urban amenities of a metro area of over 4 Million nearby. It's coastal (affordable and coastal at that). While crime is a problem in spots, many areas are very pretty and quite safe. Public Transit is pretty good. You have commuter rail service from Lynn into downtown Boston as well as bus service and Subway Service from neighboring Revere (there has been talk about extending the subway into Lynn for some time).

Lynn also has a number of great communities just outside of it. Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem, Danvers, Wakefield, etc. are all nice communities within commuting distance to work in Lynn.

Again, consider Lynn as part of the metro Boston area when making your decision. It really isn't an independent city and to think of it as such will give you the wrong idea.

[holden125]

I think someone has pointed out that the job is in Lynn, but that doesn't mean you have to live in Lynn itself if you don't want to. There are plenty of nice communities near Lynn, and nice areas within Lynn as well. If she'd just be driving to work in Lynn, I don't think there's anything special to worry about in terms of crime. The bigger question is if you want to relocate to north of Boston at all.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by holden125

I think someone has pointed out that the job is in Lynn, but that doesn't mean you have to live in Lynn itself if you don't want to. There are plenty of nice communities near Lynn, and nice areas within Lynn as well. If she'd just be driving to work in Lynn, I don't think there's anything special to worry about in terms of crime. The bigger question is if you want to relocate to north of Boston at all.

Why is that?

[cwaggy]

Lynn Lynn City of Sin, you won't come out the way you went in. It's a s-hole, people. Face it.