Living 1 hour from BOS

[Cardinal]

The Kittery, Maine area is quite pleasant, but I lived much farther north so can't offer many details.

 

[cessnaxdriver]

Disregard Diesel's post about Roxbury being a nice town. He's joking!! I hope!

There are a lot of people that will bash MA because of the politics but the fact is, it's a great place to raise a family. It's expensive for a reason.

Nashu, NH area is a great place to live too but the property tax is really high so you won't save that much money with no state income tax. It has a great school system too.

If the school system is important than do a lot of research if you are interested in NH. They don't rate the schools the same way MA does and their public schools aren't as good. I lived in NH so I can say that. LOL

Burlington, MA is a great town with good schools and it's only about 20 minutes outside of the city. The property tax is really low because they have big business and a large mall that reduces the taxes. You can find a nice home in your price range.

Good luck!!

Furloughed Twice is right, Burlington, MA is a great town. I used to live in Concord, next town over and I really liked it. Great schools and lots to do. You have the White Mountains 2 hours to the North or the costline 45 minutes away.

I live in Yarmouth, MA now. Great town but it's on the cape and that could take as much as 1.5 to Boston with rush hour. Great schools and lots of great fishing, but the tourist come in May and don't leave until September.


I lived in Portsmouth, NH about 6 years ago and the property taxes were very high. Great town and ok schools. Housing prices were high for the area. After living in both states, I would definitely choose Mass. My income taxes and property taxes combined still are less than the property taxes paid in NH.

Hope this helps..

 

[U2FDX]

Rye or North Hampton NH are excellent choices as the property tax is only around $9/ thousand and the schools are very good. (Portsmouth is around $20)

Most will say that the area is too expensive, but if you look hard enough there are deals to be found in this market.

I live in Rye and love it. We are 1 hour to skiing, 2 minutes to the beach, 1 hour to logan, and lots of tax free shopping all around.

Good luck,

 

[LandGreen]

this is AWESOME stuff...thanks a ton for all the info! some questions about recreational activities...fly fishing? or salt water fishing? skiing: too cold in Jan/Feb? do most locals ski Mar? can you swim in ocean in the summer? snow mobiling? i know hockey is huge up there...does it cost an arm and a leg to play hockey like it does in warm weather climates where it is not so popular?

from what i can tell from the posters....NH has some good and some bad school districts (relative to MA): MA typically will have a better school district, but the no income tax and the no sales tax makes up for it. MA has the better school districts, higher taxes but less property tax. could MA really make up for the high taxes with lower property taxes when comparing the two states?

thanks again everyone!

 

[Diesel]

I snowmobile a couple of thousand miles a year from maine to canada. Winter sports are huge up there.

 

[cessnaxdriver]

this is AWESOME stuff...thanks a ton for all the info! some questions about recreational activities...fly fishing? or salt water fishing? skiing: too cold in Jan/Feb? do most locals ski Mar? can you swim in ocean in the summer? snow mobiling? i know hockey is huge up there...does it cost an arm and a leg to play hockey like it does in warm weather climates where it is not so popular?

from what i can tell from the posters....NH has some good and some bad school districts (relative to MA): MA typically will have a better school district, but the no income tax and the no sales tax makes up for it. MA has the better school districts, higher taxes but less property tax. could MA really make up for the high taxes with lower property taxes when comparing the two states?

thanks again everyone![/quo

I flyfish alot during the spring, sumer and fall. Go to the Berkshires, about 2 hours west of Boston. The Deerfield river, the Miller river and the Swift rivers are great for Rainbow, Browns and Brookies. Here on Yarmouth, Strippers in the spring, summer and Blues in the Fall. Great fishing!!

Enjoy!

 

[IslandDriver]

North eastern Rhode Island is considered a commute to BOS. The car drive to Logan is about 45 minutes with modeate traffic and about 1:15 in the ruch hours. If your show time is like 5AM the drive would be real easy.

Property Taxes are less in RI. But there is a state income tax.

If you are flying and based out of BOS there are a lot of options....commuter rail 10 minutes away...connect to the subway and you are at Logan. The cheapest way but would take you about 2-3 hours.

Drive to a park and ride lot....

Cumberland RI is the most North Eastern Town....house prices range from the 275 mark and up...good schools with a lot of "affordable" private schools.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

I'm with the guys here that recommend north of the city to south of the city. Even though the traffic can suck regardless of where you live, the north area has far less and also has more appealing towns to live in as far as I'm concerned. I'm lived both north and south of the city and it's a no-brainer decision. Portsmouth although pricey as mentioned earlier is a great area. If you can be near there you are far enough away from Boston but still close enough to swing in for a Sox game, Bruins game, take the wife to the theatre if that's what she likes, all within an hour.

As for hockey costs, alot of towns have open ice time. Usually however it's on Friday or Saturday nights at 9pm. Usually $10 for an hour. You never know who will show up. Sometimes there will be 3-4 former D1 players on the ice and a bunch of beer leaguers.

As far as the home prices are concerned, if you want a nice town to live in MA, within a half hour of the city and want a 4 bedroom, I'd expect to pay more like 750k. If a 3 bedroom, 550k. There are some decent places about 40 minutes north, that might be in that price range. You may find some bargains too. The housing market is extremely shaky right now with homes sitting on the market for months before selling. If you do make an offer, lowball big time. It's an overpriced market.

Mr. I.

 

[Suke996]

I would look in NH rather then MA. We live in Raymond, NH. The school system is not the greatest on earth, but they are planning to improve them in the near furture. When our two rug rats are ready for school, we plan on sending them to the Chester area school system.
My wife works for Delta in BOS and has to do the drive down about twice a week. She has three routes to take and with out traffic it is 50-60 mins to the employee lot in Chelsea, MA. The rush hour kicks in hard around the 7am time frame so plan ahead.
We paid $350K (MAY of 05) for a 4bedroom 2 1/2 bath 3000 sq Ft home on 2.5 acres, the price has gone up to $390 now. Our taxes are in the $7k a year range!! We are 18 mins to MHT and 25 mins to Portsmouth. We both ski and snowmobile in the winter and have no problem hitting the slopes in 1 hour and off to the 52 degree water at the beach in 25 mins(thats the summer water temp).
I'm a transplant from VA and NH has really grown on me. The winters aren't that bad, and they know how to handle the weather and snowy roads better then the south. The only thing I miss is "Sweet Tea and good BBQ".

PM me if you want some house info around our area!

SUKE