Quaint towns (Boston, Salem, Amherst: apartment, rental, affordable house)

[Danni923]

I am looking for a quaint town to live with sidewalks, parks, nightlife, coffeehouses, a train to take to contacting cities and activities for teens and younger children. I am also looking for an affordable house to rent ($1000???) I was wondering if South Hampton, MA might be a good fit? Really I am looking anywhere North of Baltimore, MD to Maine.

Thanks a bunch,
Danni

[cwaggy]

No S. Hampton MA. You must mean Northampton, MA. Its a great town. Look it up on any search engine. Also nice: Newburyport (rather quaint) and also Salem, MA which has direct train service to Boston.

[wmass]

There is a Southampton, but Northampton is what you are describing. It's a hip and lively award-winning town with all the big city culture and few of the problems. Walkable, lots of bike paths, Look Park, Childs Park, CT river, nearby mountains, colleges, galleries, restaurants of every type, great for kids.

There is no train (train stops in nearby Amherst now), but a new high speed rail service from Northampton to NYC is in the works. Northampton has a Peter Pan bus station. You might get a small house on the outskirts for $1000/mo, or an in-town apartment starting around that. I would budget at least $1200-$1500 for a whole house. However, prices drop quickly outside of town (like Easthampton (10mins away) or Greenfield (20mins)), since Northampton is so desirable. Come Visit!

Also check out Burlington, VT and Portland, ME.

[ogre]

I would add Portsmouth, NH, to WMass's last two suggestions. There is no train right in town, but Amtrak serves Durham, which is about 15 miles from Portsmouth. Other than train service right in town, Portsmouth fits most of your other criteria very nicely. I'm not sure what the housing costs are in Portsmouth. It's possible they may be higher than in some other towns in that area, because Portsmouth is a desirable town, but you're still likely to find lower rents there than you would very close to Boston, as the general rule around here is that housing costs drop once you get some distance from Boston.

[lrfox]

Put Burlington Vermont, Keen NH and Portland Maine on the list. I know, I know, those places are technically cities (Portland being the largest) but they have the look/feel of quaint New England towns. Each of them have a train (Keene's is nearby in Brattleboro VT), nice, quaint town centers, decent schools, nightlife options and that "charm" that you're looking for.

I'd also back the recommendations of Portsmouth NH and Northampton MA too.

All of those communities will have what you're looking for.

[CaseyB]

I'd be surprised if there was a decent house to rent in Portsmouth for that price. I'm not too sure about Keene, either. The schools are pretty good in Keene, and it's very quaint in the center, but it's a college town and I don't know what kind of nightlife is there for adults.

[holden125]

I don't know about the rental prices, but perhaps also Brattleboro, Vt. and New Paltz, N.Y. I also like West Chester, Pa. if you're talking about anything from Baltimore to Maine.