Potentially Moving from Texas to Massachusetts. (Boston, Natick: condo, townhome, neighborhoods)

[Lpazi]

My husband and I are looking to move from Texas to possibly Massachusetts. He has family who live in the south shore, and they really like it. I wanted to get other peoples input on whether the North Shore or the south shore would be better. I’m looking for definitely better schools than what my kids have now and I know Massachusetts usually ranks pretty high up there for public schools, I know people joke about Cape Cod and the fentanyl/opioid crisis but I really don’t know much of that is subjective and sarcastic. I guess really which area tends to have a better school system and friendly community. Thank you for your input.

[CaseyB]

It really depends on the community. What is your budget?

[Amontillado]

Are you willing to live with snow, and a state income tax?

[yesmaybe]

Where is the job?

[BruinsGirl]

Budget/potential work.
Massachusetts has many good towns.
If you potentially need to commute I’d avoid North Shore and mostly South Shore.
Westborough, Southborough, Ashland, Franklin, Natick, Acton… Of course there are more affluent neighborhoods…closer to Boston - Wellseley, Weston, Lexington, Dover.

[bostongymjunkie]

Southwest friendly is not the same as Northeast friendly. Takes time to get to know people here, and it's an investment you need to be willing to make. In the end, you may develop closer and deeper friendships, or you may wish you were back in the Southwest. Your question is so vague and general it's difficult to offer suggestions. Just remember, the closer you get to Boston the more costly it will be and the more materialistic/phony personality people you'll find. Maybe you like that sort of thing.

[newenglandgal123]

Let's all just be honest and cut to the chase for anyone looking to purchase here, you need a min of close to a $1M budget to get anything remotely move in ready in any desirable or semi desirable town. You might find something in the $6-700K range that's move in ready if you opt for a condo/townhome instead.

[Saguarogirl507]

If you have family on the south shore then that is a good place to begin I would say. The south shore is a terrible commute however since the road in and out gets really backed up most of the time. Especially in summer when people start going down to the cape.

Nothing here in MA comes cheap these days. We recently moved back from Arizona and had to settle for western MA due to the high prices east of here. But we are retired so that is probably different than your situation.

Good luck!

[Southshorebound]

OP, I grew up in Austin and now live on the south shore. Send me a message if you like.

[ben young]

You may check Southern New Hampshire ,homes are about 200k cheaper than just across the bord.