vaca03

I'm relocating to the Boston area and I am looking at suburbs north of boston. I don't want my commute to be more than 40 minutes to downtown. Looking for a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a nice, safe neighborhood. Any recommendations?

What about Salem?

hleesa

What is your price range? Do you want to be near the shore? Do you intend to drive into Boston or take the commuter rail? These questions can help us give you better feedback. I lived in Wakefield for a little while and loved the town. It was small-townish, with a commuter rail station, a great Thai restaurant and a nice lake. I also like Beverly - a town with character (alot of old houses) and a great coastline.

vaca03

Thank you for your response.

We don't want to spend more than $2000 a month on rent alone. I will be commuting by rail. I would like a town that has nice shops,restaurants,etc. A place by the coast would be great but not necessarily a top priority.

Upper_Caper

Without reading your entire message I was thinking Salem. How about that! It has shops, coast and commuter rail. The only challenge may be: the time to get from your place to the train station plus the ride to town may exceed 40 minutes. If you are open to a longer train ride then Newburyport is nice too.

jtp

I was in Salem a few months ago and was surprised at how run down the town had become in the past 2-3 years.
Rockport is lovely, there seems to be much growth in Glouster as well. And Newburryport is also an option!

Gene

Take a look at Winchester. very upscale town with a town green and commuter rail is a 15 minute trip to downtown Boston.

f64club

$2000 a month within 40 minutes of Boston? GOOD LUCK!

doc_

Forget about winchester. No way is it in your price range and I would debate if it is on the "north shore". As someone else posted,Rockport,Gloucester,or newburyport. Salem is fine but a pain to get in and out of. Unless you plan on commuter rail to work,the other towns are just as easy to get to and safer,IMO.

I would look at Hamilton as well,that may fit all of your criteria.

gail

As with many cities, the price of housing close to the city is very high - Boston area consistently comes out in top 3 of both rental and purchased housing.

In my opinion, the person suggesting Wakefield area has you on the right track. While many of the other towns mentioned are lovely, cost or distance will likely be greater than you are expecting. You did not mention if you are looking alone or with a family, so I will assume alone. I might look at Melrose or Wakefield. Cheaper and less desirable are Medford and Malden, which have some cruddy areas, but also some very nice ones.

All 4 towns have commuter rail and/or MBTA subway service (Oak Grove on Malden/Melrose line is end of Orange line, for example). Once you get closer to the coast, price goes up, distance from Boston increases, and commuting options are somewhat fewer.

These 4 towns are rather family-oriented, which can be a plus or a minus, depending on your situation and preferences.

Good luck - if you narrow it down, let us know and we will all offer opinions!

bennie

Newburyport is an awesome place but its outside of your 40 minutes to downtown criteria. The train ride is 65 minutes to North Station and then you've got another 10 minutes to walk or ride to Financial District if that's where you are headed. But there are tons of stores, restaurants, bars and art galleries. Its on the Merrimac River and has nice public parks. Its minutes away from the ocean (actually parts of it are on the ocean). Housing can be steep but what isn't in Boston.

Marblehead is also very nice, you might want to look into Swampscott also.

Peabody and Danvers are the shopping mall meccas of the North Shore. Nice communities also but can get a bit gridlocked on Rt 114 on a Saturday.

Melrose is a nice town also, with good transportation, decent schools, a nice little downtown for errands and a couple of decent restaurants. There is also a hospital in town. You can get to downtown in 30 minutes. There is also a public golf course in town. Apartments will be in either older complexes or in multifamily houses. There are some beautiful victorian houses. I like Melrose alot.

Avoid Revere, Saugus is okay but not great, Lynnfield is nice also but tends to be pricey.

Good luck and welcome to Boston.

fiasco

i live in medford, on the malden line, and the above poster was correct. while there are some "cruddy" areas, there are also some gorgeous ones. particularly, the area by the malden center T stop has some beautiful victorian houses that are condos. they would definitely be in your price range. it's easily 15 minutes to boston on the orange line, which goes through north station, haymarket, state street...

i think the true north shore communities (beverly, swampscott, etc) have a longer commute time than 40 minutes. it's really a hike. plus, if you dont work near n. station, you have to get on the T or walk to your final destination.

in between medford and salem are melrose and wakefield... melrose is really lovely, the commuter train ride is short, and the downtown area is great. i dont know as much about wakefield. you could also try lexington, concord, etc... they're more west but are really gorgeous towns as well.

you might be able to find a 2BR in winchester too- that's absolutely the best location north of boston with ease into the city- it's one or two commuter train stops into N. station depending on where you board, and the town is lovely. you'd get more for your money in other towns, but the commute cant be beat.

good luck!

fiasco

worldexplorer

If you would consider south of Boston instead of north, I think Norwood would definately work for you, do some research on it. It is a very nice town, not overly developed, middleclass suberb, more reasonable than some and right on the commuter rail, an easy 40 minute commute to downtown figuring your ride to the rail station. The other towns suggested, icluding Salem and Beverly will take a lot longer. You will probably do a lot better for your money in Norwood versus Winchester. You may want to take a look at the stops on the commuter rail, you can do this at www.mbta.com and do some research on the various towns within range.

saramarie

What everyone has been saying is pretty much right on the money. The commute from the Beverly/Salem area will without a doubt be over 40 min (takes an hour and a half to get from there to Gov't Center). And Salem is rather run down and unsafe after dark. Definitely check out Norwood too, that's a good idea.

Jackie

I have lived in Wakefield or Reading for the last 10 years and commuted to Boston by either train or car. The commute train to North Station is 30 minutes. Both towns have some restaurants and minimal shopping, however, they are accessible to other towns with more options. Both towns have nice community "feels"; Wakefield has a wonderful lake that draws many walkers and runners.

I have done a fair amount of apartment and house hunting over the years (with criteria similar to yours) and looked into every north shore city/town mentioned above and always opted for the easiest commute and most affordable option. If affordability was not an issue, I would choose Winchester; if commuting time was not an issue, it would be Ipswich/Essex/Hamilton; and if I wanted to live on the beach and wasn't concerned about a town's reputation it would be Revere.

You might check out the real estate section of boston.com for pricing apartments in these areas. Good luck.