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Hello New England, I hope all is well and the winter weather has not been to severe.
Background:
I am a young single professional.
In the next three to six months I will be relocating from Tennessee to New England, due to a double promotion (area and title) within my company. While I love the SE, I am excited about the change.
I have spent most of my life within TN, but travel significantly both personal and for business throughout the country (and international).
In addition to travel, I have lived in Chicago (6 months) and DC (6 months). Loved both cities, DC (Georgetown and abundant running paths) and Chicago (big city with hometown feel). Most of my time spent in the NE, has been very brief and for personal travel.
While I like both urban, suburban, and rural areas. I try to merge the best of each. The food, cultural opportunities (college lectures), and buzz of a urban area, with the developed green spaces (running paths) of suburban areas. Plus having mountains, lakes, and the like not far away.
I would like to find an area with a decent amount of young professionals like myself. College towns are good, but I am not a fan of clubbing and wild groups of students. I enjoy historical areas. In addition I need access to major highways and major airport.
Places I have enjoyed:
Santa Barbara, CA
Chapel Hill/Raleigh, NC
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
I know this is a great deal of information, but I am going in rather blind into this area. But will be visiting over the coming months.
Q:Where is the job located? What broad local area would you want to live in?
A:I will be traveling throughout the NE, therefore I can live anywhere in New England. So the possibilities are limitless, I just want to find a place to be comfortable.
Q:What's your approx. housing budget? Would you be buying or renting?
A:I will probable rent for 6 months-year. I would like to stay in the 1,000-1,250 range (with a bit of flexibility). I would be interested in a bungalow/cottage or brownstone/loft (exposed brick and wood floors).
Q:Would you prefer to be near public transit, or does this matter?
A:This is a non issue. However, I do drive an SUV and parking is important.
Check out Portland, ME area. Not sure if it's central enough to rest of N.E. but it meets every other qualification of yours. I think a town like Scarborough would work out very well for you.
Other ideas might be Portsmouth, NH or Bristol/Warren/Barrington/Riverside, RI just southeast of Providence.
any thoughts on the below mentioned cities? not overly familiar with any of these, but some general impressions:
nh
merrimack quiet, clean bedroom community. Nothing more or less
salem overgrown suburb, ghetto influence creeping up from lawrence/lowell, ma
nashua see salem
hanover classic small new england college town. A good distance to any city. Peace and quiet, natural beauty.
ma
newton very liberal, somewhat elitist
easton leafy affluent suburb, good for a settled down family. Don't think it's what you want really.
milton despite the fact that it's home to governor deval patrick, it's a nice town with lots of green space and at the same time right at boston's back door. Also contains part of blue hills reservation, a true urban oasis. Might be a bit pricy for you. On a good note: Deval's home is on the market
Brookline see newton
waltham a good mix of everything, known for its variety of restaurants downtown.
I looked at those cities ranked multiple times in the top 100 best places to live (cnn money). City size varies year to year. Newton, MA seems to be a popular place.
I have just begun researching and will be visiting cities in the coming months. Portland, Maine, is a bit further north/east than ideal. However, I am going probable check it out in person.
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