Plymouth vs. Fairhaven - South Shore vs. South Coast (Boston: house, neighborhood)

[macalan]

My husband and I are looking at areas for possible retirement. We're looking all over - SC, staying in MA, etc.

We would like to stay near the ocean, as we live now in Newburyport, and love it, just hate the Winter and the outrageous housing costs.

We're used to a vibrant community, with a walkable downtown with unique shops, restaurants, library, etc.

Lrfox on this forum has provided us great info on Fairhaven on the South Coast. We can't wait to visit.

We're wondering how Fairhaven/South Coast - compares to Plymouth/South Shore in terms of year round activity, crime, RE pricing, weather.

As to style, we love, as I said our city of Newburyport, and love Chatham on the Cape and Nantucket. We are limited by our budget of 300K.

No kids. I may want/need to work PT at something low-key, my husband will be retired.

Can anyone provide us some comparisons between these 2 towns?

[Where'sTheBeach?]

I have lived in both areas. They are pretty similar, except one is very touristy, and one is not at all.

I love Fairhaven. It's not perfect, and it has it's ugly areas. I lived in downtown happily for many years. There are 4-5 unique shops and one of two restaurants worth visiting, but that was enough for me. The bike trail is awesome. The beach is cute with a nice walking area (but definitely not a swimmable beach, although some do... ew!) The library is really cool. All of your basic needs are provided- parks, grocery, dept. stores. It has a very small-town Funny Farm feel to me that I never experienced anywhere else on I have lived.

I grew up in Plymouth in a safe suburbia. Downtown is kind of pathetic, in my opinion. Tacky tourist shops and an old rock that's often strewn with candy wrappers. We've seen pretty areas of Plymouth on the water during Sunday pleasure drives, but they often seem to be in wealthy areas. Don't get me wrong, I loved my childhood in Plymouth- climbing trees, playing manhunt with neighborhood kids- it's the downtown I think needs some work.

I would consider north of Boston for cute and affordable coastal towns.

Good luck!

[macalan]

Thx for the info.

Alas, none of the "cute" North Shore towns - Marblehead, Rockport, Gloucester, Manchester, Newburyport (where we now live) are what I would consider "affordable" - a 3BR/2BA house, 1,800 sf, small yard, garage, that doesn't need major updates - for under 300K.

Can't touch a basic house now in Newburyport for under 500K-600K. It's gotten ridiculous....