you really can’t put Salem and Lawrence within “Greater Boston”. Totally different areas and both are a decent drive to Boston.

I live south of the city and find it quite nice in terms of balance, between the 93/95 and 495 loops. If I had to live closer to the city where there are more theaters, museums and coffee shops, I'd need to work more hours to earn the extra $1,200 a month in housing so I wouldn't be able to enjoy those things anyway.

Most of the towns you listed are complete dumps

I think your salary is pretty much going to dictate what regions you will be able to afford. MA in general is not a very low cost of living area, but it DEFINITELY will be higher once you are closer to Boston.

But then that will be oppositely correlated by the amount of nightlife you are looking for. Do you mean bars and breweries or do you mean clubs and proper nightlife? Boston can be surprisingly quiet and things will shut down around 10-12 some times (too old to know about current club scenes). Public transportation shuts down between midnight and 1ish, or even earlier depending on the area.

These are categories given by my program.

How is this helpful or kind at all.

ok well Lawrence is way different than Salem… just do a quick search in the google. Also I’m a south shore guy… I recommend checking out places like Kingston or Halifax for non congested decent quality of life but again neither are close to the city.

Your current ranking is accurate. Greater Boston > South Coast > Western MA

Greater Boston will give you nightlife, walkability, access to transit, most cultural spots, ect. Where you're going to take a hit is cost of living, but you should be able to find some spots that are still relatively affordable.

If you choose South Coast, your "city" is going to be Fall River/New Bedford and Providence more so then Boston.

As for "doesn't shut down by 9pm", I got some bad news for you, buckoo. The entire state of Massachusetts shuts down by 9pm unless you're just looking for a bar. You can be in downtown Boston at 10pm on a Thursday and hope you like McDonalds because every other kitchen is done for the night. This is a big part of what pushed me out of Massachusetts 😓

Western MA, but Amherst, Northampton or Easthampton.

South of the city is the nicer area. The South Shore is the nicest but the further you go down into it the more expensive it gets. The Quincy/Braintree area might be what you're looking for. Both are only about a 15 minute drive into the city, then you go the other way and you have some really nice coastal areas with nice dining and shopping, The Plymouth waterfront area is fun. they both have access to the train. Quincy has some good nightlife.

I don't know what your definition is, but by most people's standards, "Low to medium cost of living" is not something you will find anywhere even sort of close to Boston.

I grew up in the suburbs of Boston, and I spent part of my 20s living in the city. It was great. Now I'm in my 40s and I live in Western MA, where I own a home that would cost 4 times as much if it was in the town I grew up in. My wife's commute to work is 6 minutes.

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Thank you

Why would you want to live in a dump?

I wouldn't sleep on Worcester. In my opinion, it is a way better option than Holyoke/Springfield. Great Boston and South Shore may be tough to swing if you are looking for low cost and want any semblance of a nice place to live.

Salem/Beverly hit on a lot of what you’re looking for. Rent for a 1-2BR will be $2k-2.5k+ though.

You should try out Northampton, has a lot of what you like. Like other people said already though, it depends on what you find for residence and how much you are willing to spend.

If Northampton is too expensive you could try South Hadley or Holyoke, but you are gonna lose some of the things you want.

I agree. But do be aware that rents in Boston are among the top three highest prices in the nation.

Oh, for sure. I was checking out downtown rents before deciding moving to Los Angeles would be the more affordable option 😅. But Greater Boston means OP can choose something affordable like Chelsea, Lynn, Beverly, Stoughton, ect that wouldn't be as rough on the wallet

This is true. And those areas are certainly more desirable than they once were. I just feel that for newcomers you can never over-stress how much it costs to love here.

When I told my family how much I paid for my South End condo I’m 2003 they asked “Are the walls made out of gold?” Haha. I had fun telling them when the value doubled eventually. Boston real estate. Good lord.

Ya, I mentioned this in a comment once before in this sub, but I feel like so many people outside of New England are always super shocked when they realize exactly how expensive Boston really is. It is on the same tier as cities like NYC and LA

Second most expensive in the country I guess

I’m gonna say for your affordability and nature you should opt for western ma. It’s cheaper COL on that side of the state. Amherst and Northampton are cool spots too. I live in worcester, I’d recommend it but doesn’t seem to be on your list

You'll feel most at home in WMA, assuming you grew up in the rust belt.

Salem area will probably be most lively, still relatively affordable, can take commuter rail into city if you don’t want to drive etc. and has plenty of night life. Also arguably one of the safer options on your list though each town or city has safer and less safe neighborhoods. Also, everything in MA is close enough to nature so don’t worry about that part.

Agree on Worcester tho. If you can live in a city nearby the towns on your list where work will place you then look at Worcester. Friend lives there and every time I visit I’m always impressed with the local and unique businesses and DCU center is a great venue that does great concerts with big names, comedy shows etc. quality of living is pretty good out there and it’s blossoming.

Stoughton, Canton, Randolph, Dedham, parts of Milton, Plymouth are all good options. City of Boston has the worst public schools, most smaller towns have pretty good ones.

I hear good things about Waltham. Which zone is that in?

NOTE: These are subregions that I do not choose. They are set by the program. I have to be in or near these areas.

Is Worchester in/near South Coast? Or is it near Western Mass?

Yeah PA is like this too lol

I have to move there before I start work :/ Like a few months before. But I can get transitional cost help through the program.

Why are you so mean and sad?

Honestly I have no idea. I'm from Pennsylvania, lol.

I’d suggest easthampton in western ma, it’s got everything you’re looking for

Most landlords (especially in Boston where competition for apartments is tight) will not accept a tenant without a job or at the minimum an offer letter with salary, unless a roommate can prove they earn 3x the annual rent. Get the best co-signer you can and make sure you have a hefty savings to help.

Neither. Worcester is the 2nd largest city in MA and the definition of Central MA.

Do you not own a map?

If you want these things, you should move to Salem. I lived there for two years and it was great. It was NOT particularly affordable, but if you can make do with a smaller apartment, you can find a space there and get all those things on your list. And it's more affordable than Boston.

Well. if you want/can do WEST western MA (like, north adams, williamstown, pittsfield) there is a art & culture and museum scene out here. Depending on area i would say there are some cute downtowns and locally run cafes/shops too. Cost of living is also low. (compared to the rest of the state at least) Boston is 3/2.5 hours away, Albany, Troy, NY around a hour. However in terms of nightlife, its. pretty dismal and certain ares are pretty sad looking. I guess it depends on what trade offs you’re looking for most. Berkshires is also ofc a beautiful and great area in terms of stuff to do outdoors, but most of MA has good access to parks etc.

I'll have an offer letter, I just won't have started yet

What's your problem? Like, why are you being so mean? There's no reason to be so nasty.

What about metro west ??? Like Framingham, Natick, Southborough, Marlborough etc…

They're not included in the Greater Boston Subregion delineation by my program. The program is for teaching in low-income schools.

Just my silly my opinion, but I’m thinking the program is to limited for your needs… I think you’ll find many non low income schools have low income students, and the schools have special programs for them

How would you describe that area? I've been to Northampton before when looking at colleges, and it felt like a largeish town. That being said, I was there for like, a day. Is there a lot of stuff to do? Or do people tend to go out of town if they want to do things?

You should probably look at your budget and at the price of apartments available for rent right now in the areas you are looking at. Some may be too stressful, unless they are adjusting salary and funds for COL.

It depends on what you want to do. There's tons of outdoors stuff in Western Mass, and you're not far from Vermont day trips. Northampton is a cool town, lots of shops, LGBTQ+ friendly, and has lots of good restaurants/cafes. Amherst is sprawling and more of a college town than anything else, but has the Emily Dickinson museum.

If you're looking for more of a city vibe, then try to get closer to Boston, but our public transit is not great and the cost of living is HIGH. Like, prepare yourself.

Look at Lowell. You can probably live there, walk to work, party there at night and live without a car. Good transit and even commuter rail for occasional trips to Boston. If you have a car, there is nice nature to the North and the ocean is a 50 minute drive. There's quite a bit of 'urban nature' right in the city with extensive walking trails along canals and rivers. Most of the city is quite safe most of the time.

“large college town” best sums of up. There’s a lot to do, and you are close to Springfield too

Central mass but close-ish to the Western MA region you noted as one of the options

Greater Springfield has everything you want except public transportation to speak of except the bus.( But no one outside metro Boston has much for public transit.) No one outside metro Boston has much public transit. It will be much cheaper than greater Boston. Housing costs are much less. Quadrangle museums. The 5 colleges are 30 min. up I91. Hartford is 30 min south. Worcester 30 min east. There's a ton of hiking and biking trails 10 min outside Springfield. There's a casino in dt Springfield if you're into that.

Central MA is pretty decent. You can get to either Boston, or Western MA with a two hour drive. Or find something to do in Worcester. I live just north of Worcester. And am from the South Shore, but closer to Boston than New Bedford. From where I live I can make it into Boston for the day, dinner, or a flight in about two hours. Or I can head to Lenox MA for Tanglewood. Or to go shopping. Or NH for shopping or such. However it is a more red/conservative leaning area. At least Northern Worcester county is

Scrub your wish list on a teachers salary. It starts and ends with affordable.

Both are about an hour away from Boston. Technically Salem is only like 20 miles to downtown but there's a ton of traffic on Rte 1 all the time and just getting on Rte 1 from downtown can take a half hour.

Will you have enough money to pay first, last and security deposit at the time of lease signing?

If you think that's mean, you might not want to move to MA.

Western Ma meets most of your needs. Cost of living in the Boston, South Shore is high. Springfield, Chicopee, Northampton are all options in Western MA.

Waltham is Greater Boston, it’s about 30 minutes to downtown without too much traffic. It has a nice downtown and relatively easy access to the city. Schools are up and coming but it’s also not cheap.

Let’s just say, if your looking for low cost of living, fun nightlife and vibrant arts scene ..Massachusetts may not be for you

I was going to say Worcester too. I do think it has a good mix of things to do without a completely outrageous COL (compared to places more east). But yeah.. not on the list so I'm guessing it's not an option.