Hi,

Title says it all :

Considering a relo to Billerica MA (area); was hoping for some insights into this area.

Lived most of my life in the NY metro area, currently in Southern, Ohio.

Seems to me that it is near Boston, which should be great.

Thanks...

Hi,

Title says it all :

Considering a relo to Billerica MA (area); was hoping for some insights into this area.

Lived most of my life in the NY metro area, currently in Southern, Ohio.

Seems to me that it is near Boston, which should be great.

Thanks...

A word of caution. Many place names in Massachusetts are not pronounced as they are written. Listen to others before you attempt Billerica, Worcester or Haverhill.

I lived in a half dozen places in Mass, but it's been too long to give good advice about where's good to live. Just make sure you are a fan of the Red Sox and liberal politics and you'll be ok.

Hi,

Title says it all :

Considering a relo to Billerica MA (area); was hoping for some insights into this area.

Lived most of my life in the NY metro area, currently in Southern, Ohio.

Seems to me that it is near Boston, which should be great.

Thanks...
Congratulations!!! I live perhaps 10 miles from Billerica pronounced (Bill ricka)
It is close to Boston, and you can actually use 2 airports, Logan and Manchester, NH. You would only be a few miles from the New Hampshire border. This area is unique in that you live 1 hr from the Ocean and good beaches, 1 1/2 hrs to Maine and many seacoast towns, 2 hours to good skiing in New Hampshire or to the lakes country. 3 hours to Norther Vermont for great skiing. PM me if you would like more discussion.
bb

Zut alors, I have been a happy resident of Billerica for >10 years.

Billerica's location is ideal: 25 minutes to downtown Boston except in the morning peak, 5 minutes more to Logan. Because it is outside the Rt 128 belt and because the town doesn't have the cachet of a Bedford or Carlisle, house prices are lower in Billerica than in many other nearby towns.

I live perhaps 10 miles from Billerica pronounced (Bill ricka)


or pronounced (Bill rick-er) ;)

or pronounced (Bill rick-er) ;)
Growing up in Newton, we used to pronounce it Sick-a-rick-a.

It's not all that near Boston or anywhere else for that matter imo. It's just another suburb.

It's not all that near Boston or anywhere else for that matter imo. It's just another suburb.

That's sort of like saying that Redwood City "isn't near SF or anywhere else."

Billerica (and the correct pronunciation is brick-uh) is near the high-paying tech jobs on the 128/3/495 corridors -- that's what it's convenient to. And that's why the price of new houses in most neighborhoods is >$450k.

Thanks for all of the replys ! Looks like there is a very good chance this will happen, and from everything I hear... seems like a great area.

We are a winter sports family, skiing and snowboarding, so I think the location should be ideal for our winter interests.

Since I am locationally impaired, after reviewing a few things, noticed that it might NOT be that unreasonable to live in New Hampshire; was thinking specifically of the Nashua, NH area. Is this an unreasonable daily commute to Billerica ?

Housing prices in the area seem in line with our expectations, though, no where near as low as the Cincinnati area (which we expected).

Just realized that Southwest has daily non-stop service to LAS from MHT; which is pretty cool... though, I am NOT much of a fan of Southwest.

Are the nearest "real" casinos in driving distance Foxwood etc. in CT ?

Thanks for all of the replys ! Looks like there is a very good chance this will happen, and from everything I hear... seems like a great area.

We are a winter sports family, skiing and snowboarding, so I think the location should be ideal for our winter interests.

Since I am locationally impaired, after reviewing a few things, noticed that it might NOT be that unreasonable to live in New Hampshire; was thinking specifically of the Nashua, NH area. Is this an unreasonable daily commute to Billerica ?

Housing prices in the area seem in line with our expectations, though, no where near as low as the Cincinnati area (which we expected).

Just realized that Southwest has daily non-stop service to LAS from MHT; which is pretty cool... though, I am NOT much of a fan of Southwest.

Are the nearest "real" casinos in driving distance Foxwood etc. in CT ?

I live in Nashua, NH. Just a quick note, many people think that if you live in NH and work in Mass. you can avoid paying the Mass. income tax this is FALSE. If you have a small family you can probably get a decent house here for $300,000. But if you are looking for more then 2k Sq. feet expect >$350 from what I've seen. Mass. has finished a widening project for Route 3 from Nashua to 128, which makes commuting to Billerica in the morning a lot better. So, that's a doable commute, but if the weather isn't great it can really be a pain, which is common from Nov. to March.

We are a little over an hour from both Waterville Valley and Loon, which are both family friendly ski areas. Some smaller mountains are a little closer.

MHT is about 15min-20min. Yes, daily non-stop out of MHT to LAS on WN (I too try to avoid them though hard because they make up for half the traffic) NW has a number of N/S to DTW and I think one daily to MSP. ( I Noticed you are NW Plat.) I've heard upgrade chances are good out of MHT.

If your kids are high school age we have one brand new high school, and another newly renovated.

The location is unique as mentioned with the relatively painless access to Boston, the sea coast, ski areas and the lakes region. But, the winter is long.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

CT casino are 2 hrs.

Dan6681 (and everyone) thanks for the quick reply !

Was really considering NH, as I am looking for a more "rural-suburban" (for lack of a better term) type of environment. State Income Taxes etc. (while an excellent point) are not really an issue.

We are looking to get the most out of our housing budget of 500K to 600K (of course, closer to 500K would be better !) It "seemed" like that might be very doable in the Nashua area.

Regarding the commute, how long will it take to get from the Nashua area to Billerica in the AM (I know, I am being very broad... and there are a lot of exceptions... and I assume the area is pretty spread out... but some ballpark would be great...)

We are a family with 3 children (4,8 and 11).

Since you brought it up, I was impressed that NW has some mainline service from MHT; and that seems like it is probably a very convenient airport on a number of levels (am I correct about this ?) -- I also figured that as a NW platinum, upgrades on mainline MHT NW flights should be pretty good (though, my overall upgrades on NW are very good anyway); unfortunately, I currently fly out of DAY instead of CVG or IND, quite a bit, and therefore am often taking CRJ's or Saabs to DTW or MSP, which I am NOT so fond of.

Regarding the gaming :D, I am currenly a bit spoiled, since I can be at a Baccarat (or dice) table from my house in under 40 mintues... (double deck BJ in 50 minutes) but, you have to give up some things --- guess I'll be taking even more frequent trips to The Vegas.

I've lived in Lowell, Westford and Chelmsford; worked in Lowell and Billerica plus a home office in Westford.

Because towns here were built up a long time before most of the rest of the country, they tend to be smaller than in many other places. You can live in any of half a dozen towns and still be within a short ride of Billerica. I'd work with a local real estate agent who has info about school systems (they vary a lot) and similar stuff.

Figure about 20 minutes on Rte. 3 from the on-ramp in Nashua to the off-ramp in Billerica - maybe a bit less to exit 28, a bit more to 27. Things have improved a great deal since the third lane opened a few years ago, though old-timers (myself included) still complain about the visual desecration of stripping the old tree-filled median bare. Add to that time to get to the highway, which will depend on where you are in Nashua, and time to get from the exit to your work location, likewise.

Regarding Mass. state taxes for NH residents: you only have to pay them for days you actually work in Massachusetts. You don't owe Mass. tax on pay for holidays, vacation days, sick days, days you work at home or days you're on a business trip to anywhere else. This can easily cut your state income tax bill by 25 to 30 percent, more if you travel a lot. The non-resident tax form, 1-NR, has a place to prorate this. (We get a lot of extra tax money from out-of-state residents who don't know this.)

I loved flying out of MHT when I lived in that area. Flying back into it can be problematic, though, since if anything happens to affect your flights the range of Plan B options is much smaller than it would be trying to return to BOS. So don't put all your eggs in that basket flight-wise.

Also, if you live in Billerica, you'll have to dig up and learn the words to Jess Cain's "I Lost My Hat in Billerica," describing a wind-filled ride down Route 3 and sung to the tune of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

Efrem,

I didn't know that about mass income tax for non-residents, I have never worked there. That is very beneficial to know if you travel a lot on business. :cool:

Baccarat,

MHT is a very easy airport to deal with, but like Efrem mentions if for example you have weather issues in DTW arriving into BOS as opposed to MHT will afford you more alternatives. However as long as weather for your connection is ok you are probably better off coming into MHT if Boston area weather is bad. Being delayed due to traffic back-ups is very rare at MHT but fairly common at BOS. Which is better overall is usually a hot topic among locals, there tends to be an anti-new Hampshire attitude in MA and vice-versa. The same type of deal when I lived in the DC metro, though it didn’t seem to be as intense there and I’m sure it goes on in many other areas of the country. But population and demographics wise the two states are more different then I think a lot of locals realize. You’ll see if you end up moving to the region.

Sounds like Hollis, NH might be what you are looking for. Almost all neighborhoods in Nashua are suburban. Hollis has minimum lot size restrictions, which make it feel more rural suburban to rural. From Hollis compared to Nashua it will take you an extra 10 min or so to get to route 3.

A little further out is Amherst, NH, similar lot restrictions and a better High School, but looks like that's not quite an issue yet.

Westford, MA is also a nice town, more of a rural suburban look.

Best thing to do is get in contact with a good local agent. Then come out for the weekend and take a look around. I'm only able to give you general info about the area. But I am happy to do so if you have any more questions.

Just an update.

We have finally narrowed our search to 3 towns.

Andover and North Andover, MA and Windham, NH.

"Hopefully" well be able to come to a final decision in the next 2 weeks, so we can bid on a house.

These locations seem to work well, since I will be going to Haverhill, MA in the AM and my wife will be working out of Billerica.

A word of caution. Many place names in Massachusetts are not pronounced as they are written. Listen to others before you attempt Billerica, Worcester or Haverhill.

I lived in a half dozen places in Mass, but it's been too long to give good advice about where's good to live. Just make sure you are a fan of the Red Sox and liberal politics and you'll be ok.and don't forget the town of "athol" ;)

Growing up in Newton, we used to pronounce it Sick-a-rick-aso did i :eek:

A word of caution. Many place names in Massachusetts are not pronounced as they are written. Listen to others before you attempt Billerica, Worcester or Haverhill.

And here is a cheat sheet to help you. http://www.worcestermass.com/pronounce/index.shtml

btw, I have relatives in Annndova and it is a very nice town. I would think either of the MA towns would give you a much easier commute compared to Windham.

Just an update.

We have finally narrowed our search to 3 towns.

Andover and North Andover, MA and Windham, NH.

"Hopefully" well be able to come to a final decision in the next 2 weeks, so we can bid on a house.

These locations seem to work well, since I will be going to Haverhill, MA in the AM and my wife will be working out of Billerica.

Sounds good

What are your general perceptions of the area so far?

Sounds good

What are your general perceptions of the area so far?

GREAT... really happy w/ the geographic --- seems like a really great place to live --- and an absolute paradise for day trips that are within 1-2 hours by car.

Andover seems a "bit" stuffier; but... I don't think I have enough knowledge at this point to really draw any educated conclusions.

I think that North Andover may actually be a bit "stuffier" than Andover, if that is a concern for you. (I could be wrong, though.)

Whatever town you end up in, I hope your move goes well!