Natwerk Designs

Wanting to move to suburb of Boston, any recommendations?

My husband and I are looking to move to the Boston area, preferably a suburb with public transportation to the city. We have three young kids (7, 6 and 2), so it needs to be kid-friendly with decent schools. I am a kitchen & bathroom designer and my husband is an elementary teacher. Only other "must" is that it must be a seaside suburb...need to be in short distance from the ocean! Any recommendations from those in the area or who know a lot about the area would be very appreciated. We were originally looking into Salem, but would like other ideas as well.

Public Comments

1. Mmm I Would say either Salem, Swampscott, or Revere.. Swampscott is a seaside suburb, Very Good schools, Quiet area ,kids friendly.. Public Transportation is not really good.. Salem is a seaside suburb, Schools are good but schools in Swampscott are better, Its kids friendly with lot of parks, and LOTS to do, and it also has good transportation.. & Revere is a seaside suburb, public transportation is great & its close to Boston.. & very kids friendly but on the other hand, out of the 3 Suburbs, Revere got the worst schools, but they are still Decent enough.. Overall I think Swampscott or Salem would be the best options..
2. Salem, and the suburbs Zoe Pravic mentions, are on a coastal hugging commuter rail line (frequent service) that extends to Rockport with a branch to Newburyport. Just open a map and you will see all the many suburban cities and towns that fit your criteria.
3. So the beach is a must. How important is the water temperature? Water on the south side of Cape Cod is much nicer/warmer than water on the north side of Cape Cod. There is this phenomena called the gulf stream current, at the Cape it takes a hard right towards Ireland. With it goes the nice warmish water that gets pulled up from the Caribbean. Look at www.mbta.com for a map of the commuter rail system. This will show which coastal communities are on the commuter rail. http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/ If you go north of Boston, I'd suggest any of Newburyport, Rowley, Ipswich, Rockport. Riding your bike to the beach at some of those might be a challenge depending on where you live. Newburport/Rowley the beach is really Plum Island. People do ride their bikes out there, but it's a bit more than I would expect from a small child. Ipswich beach is Crane Beach, which is a great beach, but again it's a bit of haul from town. Rockport has some smaller beaches in the village proper, but these are much smaller than Plum Island or Crane Beach - easy to watch the kiddies though. Rockport is beautiful seaside community. My wife grew up there, her father was a school teacher there in the 60s. Alternatively if you can forgo the public transport to Boston in the actual town you live, you could go to a place like Hampton, NH. It's more affordable than say Rockport, big beaches, you can ride your bike to the beach. NH has no sales tax or state income tax either. Property tax....that's a different story. Ocean water temperature, a bit nippy.