These are going up near me - walking distance to Main Street and the library. Interesting concept.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15-Castle-St-8-East-Greenwich-RI-02818/2082226601_zpid/
The pocket community concept is very interesting - seems like there are a few in MA, RI, and NH. Worth looking into.
The towns along the North Shore are nice, and get less expensive as you get farther from Boston - Swampscott, Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester. If you want to live right on the water, it’s expensive. If you want to live on the backside of the town, less expensive.
Have lived in towns in the Boston area, both in MA and NH. Spent 3 years in Rye (right next to Portsmouth) and fondly remember it as one of the coolest places I ever lived. Just stunningly beautiful. Right on the ocean. Beautiful homes and rustic ocast up to Maine. Portsmouth itself is a fantastic town. From south of Boston and didn’t spend time up there as a kid but moved there for work in my mid 20s. Similar to NewburyPort and Marblehead if you know anything about the north shore. Fantastic restaurants and pubs EVERYWHERE. Only about an hour drive to Boston straight up 95 / route 1. My wife and I used to go to Boston every month for a great meal in the north end and a show in town. Very easy to get in and out.
From what I understand (but haven’t spent any time there), Providence has made a real resurgence and is a very attractive smaller city (also about an hour from Boston and definitely available by train. Lots of festivals throughout the yr. Less severe weather than north of Boston for sure.
@Gourmetmom sure would have been nice if they included interior pictures!
What about Beverly MA? It’s got a cute little downtown, and a great theater that does musicals. Easy access, and more modest costs that many towns around it.
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I was also going to suggest the coastal towns of Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester, Rockport.
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For someone who lives in the West, this has been a fun thread to follow. Checked out online so many beautiful places mentioned here! I envy you public transportation and proximity to water.
Beverly is expensive.
I suspect the traffic has gotten worse since rickle1 lived in the area. Not sure you could so easily get into Boston from Rye now.
Off topic, but Isle of Shoals is a great outing from Rye.
Lexington, Arlington, Malden, Medford and Quincy come to mind. But, it you don’t mind Amtrak, then look at Portsouth, NH and towns like Wells in Maine. Both on the Amtack Downeaster line. And both vibrant areas to live. Scituate has a nice downtown, but is expensive.
Providence, RI just came to mind. Great downtown, and much more affordable than MA. And Weymouth, MA, at the old Navy Airbase. Not sure what it is called, but there is a commuter rail stop there. Not a big downtown area, but lots of stuff within driving distance.
We lived in Salem, MA for four years. It is a charming city, with restaurants, commuter rail, walkable downtown, and a world-class, but somewhat underrated museum, the Peabody-Essex.
It has some rough edges, though, so you’d need to live in one of the historic districts, which can be pricey. Our first house, which we bought in 1993 for $225K, just sold for $597K!
And then there’s Halloween. For the entire month of October, the city is overrun with costumed tourists, some of whom are not very well-behaved, psychics, modern day witches, and people trying to make a buck off of gullible folks. It wasn’t pleasant to be a local during the last two weeks of October.
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Lexington was the last town we lived in inMassachusetts prior to coming up to Maine. It is one of my favorite towns anywhere, but it is crazy expensive. It has a very walkable downtown, lots of nice parks, proximity to 3 separate Whole Foods, 3 Trader Joe’s, a Market Basket, and the commuter bike trail. The public library is both lovely and outstanding.
But its proximity to Boston means you will pay a lot for your house, and the town management has done a wonderful job attracting…banks, lots and lots of banks, to the downtown area. Like, every other business is a bank. But in between the banks, there are some good restaurants.
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Lexington and Arlington are expensive.
Arlington is adjacent to Cambridge, so more urban.
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No one has mentioned Plymouth, which has become popular. It’s on the train line and there are lots of condos available. Nice downtown and it’s history makes for a nice setting.
This place looks nice: https://rollingmillplymouth.com/
Cape Ann in MA includes Gloucester and Rockport. Finally someone mentioned Rockport. Rockport IS a retirement town, a resort in the summer, and even lovelier in the winter. The Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance center has performances all year, as well as opera and film on screen. The Art Association has shows. There are lots of shops and galleries on Bearkskin Neck. The train to Boston is 70 minutes. Beaches and waterfront and lots of nice walking in town and along the coast.
Rockport has a Carnegie Library, very nice.
Gloucester is a small city, with a declning fishing industry and more obvious poverty than Rockport. There are different sections, including downtown, East Gloucester and Rocky Neck (maritine and art), Annisquam (yacht club, old houses), West Gloucester (marshes and beach), and Bay View (along the river). The Bouievard is a great walk along the water, and there are rocky beaches.
Essex and Manchester are the other towns on Cape Ann.
Another great area is Newburyport, which is close to NH. Also an hour or so on the train from Boston, and you an zip down Rte. 95 to the city too. Newburyport is also a city, with a downtown full of shops and art, and a boulevard along the water.
Ipswich is between Cape Ann and Newburyport and has a large percentage of 12th and 18th century houses downtown.
With your budget all of these areas should be possible.
I also like the Duxbury/Plymouth area, Bristol RI and Rye NH.
I don’t know why anyone would consider retiring to Metrowest Boston. The places I described above have all the stores you would need but very little traffic (except on a beach day).
"I don’t know why anyone would consider retiring to Metrowest Boston. "
The feel of Concord is very different from that of Rockport.
It all depends on what you find appealing.
Yeah Concord and West Concord are great. In fact, I would love to move to Concord. Sorry, left that out.
I agree that metrowest would not be on my list as it’s (1) too suburb-like and (2) a lower bang for the buck.
A good plan might be to use the mbta map as a guide to zero in on location.
https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/maps/2019-04-08-rapid-transit-key-bus-routes-map-v33.pdf
Too bad your daughter gets motion sickness, both Hingham and Salem have ferries from Boston.
My brother has a home in Portsmouth, NH and I love it. He has virtually no yard and can walk downtown. I would look there. It has such a nice vibe. The entire community seems to be up early every weekend, walking their dogs or walking for exercise.
You could find some decent townhomes/condos in Braintree, MA. There are two squares that “may” fit your definition of downtown but it checks every other box for you.
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