good north shore communities (Boston, Lynn: home, purchase, public schools)

[sedwards515]

my family is in the planning stages of relocating to boston. we are interested in some of the north shore communities (swampscott, marblehead, manchester, etc.) but are looking for input on these and any others that may fit our needs.

we are looking to purchase a home and our budget is no more than $750k. we have 3 small children (3 years old, and 1 year old twins) so good public schools are important to us. my husband travels a lot with work so accessibility to logan is also needed. we would like to be in close proximity to the ocean.

any thoughts and recommendations on north shore communities that are safe and have the above needs are welcome!

thanks in advance!

[gf2020]

Good schools, easy access to Logan, proximity to the ocean?

Marblehead or Lynnfield

[brightdoglover]

With that budget, you should be able to get exactly what you want, the only factor being what is a good commute to Logan (or train). Best wishes- the towns are lovely that you might choose from.

[wharf]

I don't know how far you want to go, but Newburyport is nice, too. All those towns you mentioned are charming.

[wivenhoe]

Manchester - Essex, Marblehead, and Swampscott have good school systems. Of these, Manchester- Essex has the best.

Personally, I'd move to Marblehead tomorrow if I could. It's so pretty. I love the place and knew many people who lived and worked there, some for the high school. I know many people who had children loved it because it was a very safe, dead-end destination small town.

You might also consider Hamilton, Wenham, Topsfield, and Ipswich. Of these, only Topsfield is not on the commuter rail but a short drive to stations nearby. Hamilton-Wenham HS is another highly regarded school system on the North Shore. Ipswich is a lovely town with Crane Beach.

[vogue]

Manchester bar none. You get an amazing place, community, schools, some of the best beaches, and safety. Also, train to Boston in the downtown area. None of the other places mentioned here offer the whole package. Marbelhead is nice, but remote, and schools and ease of commute are not as good as Manchester's IMO. Also Marblehead is direct accross Salem's electrical plant, and 7 years ago there were some issues with it. It was big deal for a while, and plant was put on the track to become become a cleaner burning facility, but did it happen? I do not know.

[kmann-sherborn]

Most of the clients we've worked with that work on the north shore choose Lynnfield (a quiet suburb that's quite lovely) & Mancheser by the Sea - both have very well ranked school systems. Manchester has good public transit. A little inland, Hamilton & Wenham are beautiful quiet communities that share a school system that also has received high marks.

Best of luck. It's a beautiful area. :-)