Bob

but don't go as far as Woburn as that's another shit hole....and I93 is a painful commute.

Waltham is another possibility...close enough to Boston and has public transport....it's a bit hit or miss though, some parts are a crapper, others can be nice and takes a lot of faffing around to find the nice bits, but there's loads of decent pubs and Indian restaurants in the area.

I wouldn't go south of Boston though as the commute really would be horrid and it's not really cheap heading south.

nethead

Bob! According to you every other town is a shit hole What exactly is your criteria for a good town?

nun

Not Bob, but IMHO 99% of towns in MA are safe and good places to live. The bad places are only bad because they have to stand up to comparisons with places like Cambridge, Brookline, Wellesley, Lexington etc. which are pretty much ideal places to live. Lots of money, beautiful homes, good schools, nice shops and restaurants and public transportation. They are actually a little too good and don't have the fun nightlife of some places in and around Boston. The only really bad places are Lawrence and Fall River, although there are still some rough neighbourhoods in Cambridge and Boston. Old mill towns like Fitchburg and manufacturing towns like Brockton (once made shoes) have problems as they have lost their industries.

MA has a liberal and pretty open minded approach to things ie, same sex marriage, you must have health insurance....although some see that as totalitarian and the scale of the place is pretty European. Religion isn't worn on the sleeve and we don't carry guns so coming from the UK won't be as much of a shock as moving to Alabama or California would be.

nethead

Thanks Nun, we're not coming from the UK but coming from Pennsylvania. but MA is a lot more expensive than here.

Bob

There are loads of great towns.

Woburn is a shitter though...but the true definition which all shitters get judged by really is Lawrence

I wouldn't say most of these towns are unsafe either...just that they're either a bit shit, or minging and usually a combination v some lovely, nice, clean towns.

Worcester is one of those places that has superb architecture, some great museums, pubs and restaurants and a place you work in and you live there because you couldn't afford anywhere nicer and a place you go to for entertainment because you couldn't afford to go into Boston.

The mention of Northampton above, it really is a beautiful little town, if there were any jobs around the place, it would be perfect...good place if you're in education I guess though, with Amherst and the like nearby.

MA is definitely one of the most expensive states to live in, especially if you live in one of the nicest towns, but the schools in those towns can be some of the best in the country...then you get to Lawrence and you'd find the polar opposite.

Another thing to consider about these commuter towns on direct lines to Boston, baseball/football season and how much damage game days can cause to the commute, which in the evening can easily double the commute if you got stuck on I95/93.

HumphreyC

What? I thought Fitchburg was the crack capital of the state - at least I assume that's what the guys at the bottom of our road are dealing. Alright maybe we are just the meth capital.

Hmmm, London at the beginning of the last decade maybe - got mega-expensive after that - so much so that even Crack-ney got touted as up and coming.

Ah - now there is something I have been meaning to ask you - where are the rentals listed ? There seem to be bugger all online and there isn't a lot in those catalogs you find in the supermarket. You would think there would be more in this area given the state the property market is in.

Bob

You're the meth champs, Leo is the crack daddy

For rentals, a lot of condo's advertise everywhere and you can google the condo groups and see what they're offering.

Problem with privately owned condo's with the HOA's, they are really limiting the number of rentals allowed because they have to have a certain ratio to maintain their insurance as well as to keep their mortgage rates.

Quite a few apartment/multi homes, but not many actual houses for rent in Northborough...but the splashpad in town in open, so a popular place in town and there's a lot of fishing and trails down that river that goes along the main road.

As for finding rentals, the usual suspects of going through a realtor site, http://www.weichert.com/ seem very popular in the area, I see their sign up for a lot of rental/sales, but then www.massapartmenthunter.com is another one and just driving around, loads of rentals by owners now that the winter is over with and people have moved/kicked out. The link posted in one of the first posts is a good one, as an app, but I think really for the Boston and burbs, tends to be a bit shit when getting out this way.

tonrob

And lesbians. Don't forget the lesbians.