Thinking of moving-need suggestions

[News Shooter]

I'm thinking of moving further out West on Rt 2. Probably no further than Gardner because I work in Boston. I have to go further out because it's just too expensive otherwise.

I want to make sure I'm in a gun-friendly community so can you warn me off any bad towns or recommend some good ones? I don't trust packing.org

Thanks much.

PS And no, I can't move out of this miserable state at the moment. I looked across the stateline in New Hampshire but they are getting Boston prices these days

 

[daveInME]

not sure how they are now, but Hubbardston was excellent.
it took me 7 days to get an LTC-ALP and I got my machine gun permit the same day.
when I acted surprise when the CLEO called me later in the day to come and get it, he said that he was required by law to wait 7 days to give me my LTC but there was no waiting period for the machine gun permit and it onky took 5 minutes to run a backround check.

when I asked if I could target shoot on the land behind my house he shrugged and told me "as long as you don't shoot anyone, I don't have a problem"

I also hear that Leominster is a gun friendly town.

there's a post here, that shows the towns and if they are naughty or nice

 

[matt]

NOT Winchendon. No ALP here. [cry]

If you're driving to Boston during "normal" hours, I'd think twice about coming out here. The commute through Concord sucks. very slow with stop and go.

Commuting really stinks. Believe me.

When you consider the costs associated it may be cheaper in town. For example, you'll be driving 55 miles each way. That's 110 miles/day or 550miles/week or 28,600 miles/year.

If you get 20mpg, that is ~$3600 in gas. Also, you are consuming about 1/4 of a car/year just going to/from work. That is worth about $5000+/year depending what you drive. Maintenance costs will go up also, so you'll spend about $10,000 a year on commuting. That is completely un-recoverable cost. Commuting sucks, did I mention that?

Now there is another cost: Google puts the commute from Gardner to Boston at 1.5 hours each way. From my experience I'd say that's not far off. So 3 hours per day x 5 days per week x 52 weeks per year = 780 hours per year. A full time job is 2000 hours/year. Did I say commuting sucks?

So if you haven't noticed, I have strong opinions about this. I've been commuting to Billerica for 4 years from Winchendon and it's getting old and expensive.

If cost of housing is the only factor, think twice. If you want a house with land, country lifestyle, etc. then it can be worth it.

Good luck!

Matt

 

[News Shooter]

Thanks very much

I guess I should have included that I am already living in Concord. It takes between one hour and one hour twenty minutes to get to work. I'm renting now and even that is prohibitive in this town. I think I can probably handle another twenty minutes or so to the commute as I really need the tax write off.

I think as long as I can get onto Rte 2 pretty quickly it can't be much worse than were I am now.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Dave,

Groton is good. I got my ALP Class A in 6 days. Nice town, good schools, and there's a great place to shoot that is real close (as you know).

 

[News Shooter]

Thanks J

That's one of the first places I looked into. I'm limited pretty much to a condo situation (no kids) and it's pretty steep out there. But I really like the area
so I may just find a realtor to keep an eye out for me. Thanks for the input.
See ya at the range

 

[matt]

I guess I should have included that I am already living in Concord. It takes between one hour and one hour twenty minutes to get to work. I'm renting now and even that is prohibitive in this town. I think I can probably handle another twenty minutes or so to the commute as I really need the tax write off.

I think as long as I can get onto Rte 2 pretty quickly it can't be much worse than were I am now.

It's a pretty reliable 30 minutes from Rt2 in Gardner to Concord Rotory. Plan on another 5-10 minutes to get to route 2.

 

[KMaurer]

I hate having to drive and distance to work, given the weather and the drivers. I worked in Boston for about 9 years, and was lucky enough to be near North Station, so I can count the number of times I drive into town over that time without having to take my shoes off. The Lowell line is much better (faster, and fewer stops) than the one that runs out through Concord to Fitchburg and Gardner. Relatively cheap parking at the station, and a chance to have a cup of coffee and read the paper (or just doze a few minutes more). Route 3 traffic is much better than it was a few years back, at least that's what my wife tells me. Westford, Chelmsford and Tyngsborough are all good about giving ALP, and within 15-20 minutes of the Lowell station. Not that cheap, but cheaper than Concord; there are some condos in both Tyngsborough and Chelmsford and a couple of Townhouses down the street from me in Westford.

Ken

 

[News Shooter]

Great Info

This is great, I really appreciate the suggestions. I'm kind of isolated and don't know much about other areas for commuting.

I do like Westford/Chelmsford. I think if I could just limit the nightmare commute to less than 90 minutes I can handle it.

This is probably more than I should divulge, but who cares? My limit for housing is around $225K.

I'm the victim of a middle-age, got taken big time, divorce.

So, it is what it is at this point in my life. Shooting is about my only interest these days so I don't want that to be taken away too.

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Contact Howie here for more info on Tyngsboro. His Dad is "Tiny" Givens of Frank & Tiny's Gun Shop next door to Tyngsboro Sportsmen's Club. Tiny is a retired Tyngsboro PD Sgt who is still a Special PO and works a few days a week for the PD. Between them, if anything is available in the area you can count on them to know about it!

Good luck!

 

[matt]

Do you have kids? If not maybe Fitchburg/Leominster. I think Leominster is no problem with ALP. Some bad areas (ask TeleMark).

 

[drgrant]

Fitchburg and Leominster are OK, both ALP towns. The former requires
2 reference letters, but is otherwise ALP by default.

Both towns have "bad areas" but they're pretty easy to
avoid. As a general rule, the more multi-family stuff there is
the worse the neighborhood is. Leominster is generally "safer" than
Fitchburg is, by an order of magnitude. The southern section of
Leominster is pretty benign. Many parts of Fitchburg are pretty safe
as well, it's just that they're more sprinkled about. Leominster you could
almost divide into like 3 or 4 chunks and your done.

One upside is the single family housing market out here is starting to
see a bit of a depression of sorts. There are houses on my street that
have had for sale signs on them for like a year. This seems to me that
either all these people are asking too much, or simply nobody is biting.

Frankly though if "move" is the word I'd move to NH... problem is if you
work in Boston, the north / south commute is far worse than east/west
is, or so it seems. I work in cambridge and this is one of the only
reasons I haven't moved to NH yet myself.... because the traffic
arteries north/south get very clogged during commute hours. Rt 2 is a
cake walk in comparison, even though it can suck badly as well.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

NOT Winchendon. No ALP here. [cry]

If you're driving to Boston during "normal" hours, I'd think twice about coming out here. The commute through Concord sucks. very slow with stop and go.

Commuting really stinks. Believe me.

When you consider the costs associated it may be cheaper in town. For example, you'll be driving 55 miles each way. That's 110 miles/day or 550miles/week or 28,600 miles/year.

It does suck but there are worse commutes. I'm glad I don't go north > south.
I do fitchburg > cambridge and back every day. Avg about 90 miles roundrip, 1:15 minutes or
so. The way back (westbound) is usually worse cause of the lack of flow
through at crosbys corner or whatever that place is in lincoln.

My guess is that the OP is like me, and probably doesn't have much of a
choice, or wants to stay the hell out of the 495 or 128 loops.

I agree that commuting does suck though.... I'm going to buy a s*tbox
car that has a good seat and gets good gas mileage, at least thatll take
some of the edge off.

Another option if one lives in fitcburg or leominster is the commuter
rail. I was using the CR but it stops in cambridge about 15 minute
walk from where I work. Even with my car I can still -beat- the
train and win back another hour of my life back every day. Nice thing
about the train though is one can read, nap, etc... one big downside
of it, is it's basically a big disease incubator. Ever since I stopped riding
the damned train I stopped getting colds and the like.

-Mike

 

[MarkM]

Frankly though if "move" is the word I'd move to NH... problem is if you
work in Boston, the north / south commute is far worse than east/west
is, or so it seems. I work in cambridge and this is one of the only
reasons I haven't moved to NH yet myself.... because the traffic
arteries north/south get very clogged during commute hours. Rt 2 is a
cake walk in comparison, even though it can suck badly as well.

-Mike

A lot of the commute depends on the time of day you are travelling: my wife commutes daily from Windham (Exit 3 of 93 in NH) down 93 and around 128 all the way to Needham, on a good day the commute is 50 mins, but from 6.30am to 9am and 4pm to 6.30pm it can be as much as 1.5 to 2 hours.

 

[Coyote33]

If you're going as far as Gardner, then consider heading South down I-190 as well. Same time driving, and more choices.

 

[matt]

If you're going as far as Gardner, then consider heading South down I-190 as well. Same time driving, and more choices.

Good point. You cover a few more towns that way. It's 15 minutes from 190 to the 140 exit in Gardner. That same amount of time will put you ~15 minutes outside Worcester and closer to services/entertainment/etc.

 

[Admin]

I live right off of RTE 2 in Fitchburg. Brand new townhouse complex. I like it a lot. Fitchburg does have some bad areas, but not near me.

 

[Coyote33]

Good point. You cover a few more towns that way. It's 15 minutes from 190 to the 140 exit in Gardner. That same amount of time will put you ~15 minutes outside Worcester and closer to services/entertainment/etc.

For that matter, up Route 13 and you're in Lunenburg or even Brookline, NH!

 

[Admin]

For that matter, up Route 13 and you're in Lunenburg or even Brookline, NH!

WINNER!!!!!!

 

[daceman63]

I'm thinking of moving further out West on Rt 2. Probably no further than Gardner because I work in Boston. I have to go further out because it's just too expensive otherwise.

I want to make sure I'm in a gun-friendly community so can you warn me off any bad towns or recommend some good ones? I don't trust packing.org

Thanks much.

PS And no, I can't move out of this miserable state at the moment. I looked across the stateline in New Hampshire but they are getting Boston prices these days

Maynard is a nice town. They have their own gun club and I never had a problem with my renewals there. They have a great police department as well as fire and paramedic crews.

IMO it's truly a hidden jewel....

Rt 117 is the easiest way to get there off 128. It's local to the Acton, West Concord and Lincoln commuter rail stops and can be accessed by Rt 2 as well....

I didn't rent while I was there but I would imagine the rents were affordable as well as the houses. You would be surrounded by Acton, Sudbury, Concord and Stow and not pay near what they are paying to be in that area.

Might be worth a look....

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

If you are moving, MOVE OUT OF THIS STATE while you are at it.

If and when I have to go through another move, its going to be out of Massachusetts.....and I'll never set foot back here again.

 

[calsdad]

I have been living in Chelmsford for the last 7 years and it is very accessible to just about anywhere. Route 3 and Route 495 pass right thru town so you can be on a highway that takes you north, south, east or west in pretty short order. It is about 10 minutes to the NH border once you hit the highway - and it is about 15 minutes down Rte 3 to 128 once you hit the highway. Rush hour in the morning going South on Rte 3 does still get somewhat backed up. You can get over to Concord and get on the T - or go down Rte 3 and get on the T some where in the 128 belt in pretty quick time.

If you are looking in the $225,000 range there is stuff available but you might have to look around a bit. That should buy you a Condo - some of the other towns like Maynard, Leominster etc. are probably cheaper than Chelmsford in general for real estate prices. Towns in the same area like Westford and Groton are more expensive in general than Chelmsford.

Don't know yet how Chelmsford is for permits - I just applied for my Class A and have yet to hear back. I know a couple of people who have gotten theirs so I believe they are ok.