Small Family-Friendly Town - North Shore

[Ashleywoodfin]

I may be biased, as I was born and raised here in Marblehead, and work here (trifecta! ) but I think it's the best of all worlds. In all reality, you are in very close proximity to Boston and the commute isn't as bad as it is sometimes made out to be. M'head has a wonderful community feel, excellent downtown area and superb schools. My husband and I moved to Minnesota for his job for 5 years, and here we are back in town with our three little ones -- the schools are definitely a main reason that we moved back. I am very familiar with the real estate in the community - with your budget you definitely will be able to find a comfortable family home, albeit likely not right on the water. Right now there are a lot of seasonal rentals on the market, but come spring and summer, the prices will increase a bit due to the proximity of the water. We have an amazing new YMCA here with state of the art facilities, which would be great for your little ones. My kiddos are in preschool right now, but I will not hesitate to send them to public school when they reach that age, although there are a plethora of private schools if that's more your style

One thing I disliked about Minnesota was the immense amount of drive thru fast food type restaurants, and I'm sooo glad to be back here where it's not unusual to have several independent shops, restaurants and more.

I can't vouch for any of the other areas you're looking in - Newburyport is a very nice community from what I've seen, and very similar in culture to Marblehead. As mentioned, I'm a bit biased, and am a complete history buff as well, which comes in handy here in town.

Now that I've gone on forever, don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions about town! I'd love to give another mama answers - moving sucks and its so daunting to integrate into a new community!

Good luck!

P.S. congrats on the new addition to-be!

[rochcali]

I would definitely consider Salem but the school system rules it out.