Pps - practice saying " north shore" without pronouncing the"r"s. Its tough. Sounds like no-ith sho-ya.

PS my dad works at a place that sells snowblowers and they are sold out for the first time ever.

I'm from Beverly and my mom is a teacher there. The cove and farms neighborhoods are good, others not so much. Manchester is nicer.

When we considered relocating there we thought Winchester was a better fit.

Winchester! It is right next to Stoneham. It has a quick train into the city. Good schools, cute little downtown area. Nice homes. Boston is expensive but a great place to live. You will be close to the mountains, ocean, and a great city. Take me with you! Look at Boston Magazine online for school ratings.

Anonymous wrote:
http://www.greaterbostonsuburbs.com/

This made me laugh as it was obviously written by someone from the north shore (which is fine for OP b/c that is where she is looking), but for anyone else, please know that the entire south shore was not include in this list of suburbs. No Milton, Braintree, Quincy, Hingham, Cohasset, Westwood, Norwood, etc. Just pull up a map and you will see that a great swath of the area isn't discussed, including suburbs that actually abut Boston.

As to your question, if I were to move back and head for the North Shore, I would live in Lexington or Andover. Beautiful and great schools.

(Advice - buy your snow blower once you move there this summer. You do not want to shovel you way through an entire winter and there is not one shovel, snow blower or ice scraper to be found in all of New England right now.)

OP, here's a start, and the city-data forums are great for this--post the location of the job, housing budget/desire, and other criteria (schools, what kind of feel, how much commute time, etc) and you will get good recommendations. . We've been looking at various places in Mass, so its been really helpful.

Beverly is a nice in between Stoneham and swampscott/marblehead (which is gorgeous). Upper middle class, good schools, not terribly urban. If you want to go west, you might want to consider lexington--one of the top school systems.

http://www.greaterbostonsuburbs.com/

OP: What about Beverly? Is that a nice seaside town or is it one of those industrial/fishing towns?

My sister lives in Haverhill, NOT pronounced like... Haver-Hill, it's all one word. Nice place to live.

Andover? Lexington? Winchester?

Anonymous wrote:Where are you from OP? An easy way to tell if you would like it or not. Gernerally, it is very different than the D.C. area, so if you like it here, you may not like it there.

What is your budget? What type of environment do you seek, besides "living near the water". No matter what, you will be closer to usable (i.e.: swimming) water than here. Do you like salt water? If so, you might appreciate that area.

We are both originally from Chicago. Love the ocean, just worried about the commute. Budget would cap out around $900. Most important aspect of a new house and neighborhood would be finding friendly neighbors with kids (ours are in elementary). I like older brick homes, no need for more than 3000 sq feet. Walking access to parks would be nice.

Public transportation and schools are going to be closed for 30 more days!!! You sure you want to do this?

Swampscott to Stoneham is about 40 min. Swampscott is adorable.

Where are you from OP? An easy way to tell if you would like it or not. Gernerally, it is very different than the D.C. area, so if you like it here, you may not like it there.

What is your budget? What type of environment do you seek, besides "living near the water". No matter what, you will be closer to usable (i.e.: swimming) water than here. Do you like salt water? If so, you might appreciate that area.

My family will be relocating to the Boston area this summer. Job is in Stoneham. We currently live in NoVA and love it, no experience in Boston. Can anyone recommend a few towns or areas that have good schools, decent home prices (pref the older-looking neighborhoods), and a reasonable commute to Stoneham? I would love to live by the water, but it looks like that commute might be a nightmare.