Anonymous
07/23/2024 13:53
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
My Aunt and Uncle from NJ retired to the Chatham where they have owned a summer home for decades. They have a good circle of friends and family who also have houses there. It’s a pretty old school WASPy vibe, ie they dress up and meet their friends at “the club” and start drinking around 4 pm. Rinse and repeat daily. Historically they were conservative politically and now their whole group is aligned with Trump/MAGA.
Anonymous
07/23/2024 13:19
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Lifestyle will depend on the town you live in. Falmouth and Mashpee have very active year round populations so businesses are all open as usual year round.
Winter is not as mild as DC but maybe a little milder than other parts of New England because of the ocean. But it’s definitely a long winter season. Spring can be gloomy until late May. September and October are glorious. Summer is better with less humidity than dC.
Boston is only 1.5 hour drive and manageable for the occasional night out or a day of shopping.
If you don’t mind long winter I think it’s a nice place to live.
I know many retired people who live there 5 months and the other months in Florida. Best of both worlds.
It's 7 months of cold winter weather?
It gets chilly by October and will stay that way thru MAy. But most people spend 6 or 7 months in Florida to get the ability to claimit as their tax home. No income tax.
Anonymous
07/23/2024 12:58
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:Late November through early April can be bleak. But that’s not to say you don’t have beautiful sunny days and some milder days. December through March can be pretty cold. You just get mild days interspersed with not so nice weather. Some people are ok with that and some people aren’t. It’s a personal preference I guess.
Agree with this. The biggest challenge in November to March is the time change and the fact that it gets dark at around 4:15/4:30. I am here often in the off season and like it for a week or two, but not sure at this point in my life I want to be here year round. Some of this may be my neighborhood, which is mostly seasonal so it is very quiet in the off season, and the houses are dark. I'd want to be in town (Chatham) if I were here year round. The winter part doesn't bother me at all - I like cold.
Anonymous
07/23/2024 12:50
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Late November through early April can be bleak. But that’s not to say you don’t have beautiful sunny days and some milder days. December through March can be pretty cold. You just get mild days interspersed with not so nice weather. Some people are ok with that and some people aren’t. It’s a personal preference I guess.
Anonymous
07/23/2024 12:43
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:Lifestyle will depend on the town you live in. Falmouth and Mashpee have very active year round populations so businesses are all open as usual year round.
Winter is not as mild as DC but maybe a little milder than other parts of New England because of the ocean. But it’s definitely a long winter season. Spring can be gloomy until late May. September and October are glorious. Summer is better with less humidity than dC.
Boston is only 1.5 hour drive and manageable for the occasional night out or a day of shopping.
If you don’t mind long winter I think it’s a nice place to live.
I know many retired people who live there 5 months and the other months in Florida. Best of both worlds.
It's 7 months of cold winter weather?
Anonymous
07/22/2024 08:01
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Providence is also like 75 minutes from various places on the Cape.
Anonymous
07/21/2024 13:37
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Lifestyle will depend on the town you live in. Falmouth and Mashpee have very active year round populations so businesses are all open as usual year round.
Winter is not as mild as DC but maybe a little milder than other parts of New England because of the ocean. But it’s definitely a long winter season. Spring can be gloomy until late May. September and October are glorious. Summer is better with less humidity than dC.
Boston is only 1.5 hour drive and manageable for the occasional night out or a day of shopping.
If you don’t mind long winter I think it’s a nice place to live.
I know many retired people who live there 5 months and the other months in Florida. Best of both worlds.
Winter is not as mild as DC but maybe a little milder than other parts of New England because of the ocean. But it’s definitely a long winter season. Spring can be gloomy until late May. September and October are glorious. Summer is better with less humidity than dC.
Boston is only 1.5 hour drive and manageable for the occasional night out or a day of shopping.
If you don’t mind long winter I think it’s a nice place to live.
I know many retired people who live there 5 months and the other months in Florida. Best of both worlds.
Anonymous
07/21/2024 13:15
Subject: Re:Living on Cape Cod
My relatives live in Mashpee year round, in the Southport community for 55 and older. They're happy there. Easy to make friends and join in activities, shops close by. Only problem is few doctors and dentists on the Cape.
Anonymous
07/20/2024 12:12
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprized there are no year arounders on this website!
Why? It's a DC based website where Jeff has said the next highest user base is New Yorkers. Not surprising at all the relatively small population of Cape year rounders isn't hanging out here.
Anonymous
07/20/2024 08:51
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
I'm really surprized there are no year arounders on this website!
Anonymous
07/19/2024 13:41
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:I would say that being a "year-rounder" is tough. My folks have spent a few winters here (after being summer people), and the Cape is pretty bleak in the winter. Freezing cold (esp. compared to DC) and not a lot going on. They now spend winters someplace warmer. As someone who grew up on the South Shore, there is definitely a little stigma for folks who live on the Cape year-round. Lots of shops and restaurants close, so consider that. If you DO move, I'd stay close in Falmouth/Sandwich. But honestly, I might consider living somewhere nearby and over the bridge, like Westport/Marion/Little Compton/Duxbury/Hingham, etc. especially if you have kids that are school-age.
This says it all:
https://www.tiktok.com/@dhtoomey/video/7316994085514923307
Not sure anyone can trust someone who uses a tiktok for a reference.
Anonymous
07/19/2024 13:39
Subject: Re:Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:Can someone give a lowdown on different neighborhoods?
+1 please, also how is the traffic usually up to boston?
Anonymous
07/19/2024 12:21
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
I would say that being a "year-rounder" is tough. My folks have spent a few winters here (after being summer people), and the Cape is pretty bleak in the winter. Freezing cold (esp. compared to DC) and not a lot going on. They now spend winters someplace warmer. As someone who grew up on the South Shore, there is definitely a little stigma for folks who live on the Cape year-round. Lots of shops and restaurants close, so consider that. If you DO move, I'd stay close in Falmouth/Sandwich. But honestly, I might consider living somewhere nearby and over the bridge, like Westport/Marion/Little Compton/Duxbury/Hingham, etc. especially if you have kids that are school-age.
This says it all:
https://www.tiktok.com/@dhtoomey/video/7316994085514923307
This says it all:
https://www.tiktok.com/@dhtoomey/video/7316994085514923307
Anonymous
07/19/2024 09:28
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My grandparents spent 30 years living on the Cape full time.
There is plenty of shopping, decent healthcare with world class healthcare an hour or so away and lots of amazing culture in Boston and Providence in winter when there is less on Cape.
Phenomenal hiking, birding etc. available year round.
Traffic in summer is a nightmare, no way around that drawback.
There is a mix of working class D and working class R and lots of wealthy retired R on Cape. There are issues with drugs as in any rural area with an economy dependent on seasonal traffic but overall crime is low. It isn’t true that the schools are bad; Massachusetts has the #1 ranked schools in the country (as it has had for decades), and while Cape schools aren’t the very best in the state they are quite good.
I would live on Cape if I could afford to - granted I have great memories from summers and holidays with my grandparents, but I also live 45 minutes from the Cape now and visit whenever I can which is mostly in the off season as I can’t abide the summer traffic.
Where do the wealthy Ds live? MV?
On the cape? There are no wealthy Ds or at least very few. The cape in of offseasons is quite working class.
where are they working?
Maintenance of hotels and second homes
Most middle class people that live there work in the construction trades, own landscaping services, work in the local government in EMS, etc. H's family lives there and yes, they never go over the bridge. It's a bit insular among the locals. If you move there, you'll likely find friends among the "wash-a-shores" (people not originally from the Cape)
It's hard to make friends in many parts of New England, and the Cape is no exception. And OP's total cluelessness and lack of own research would not be well received.
FYI, I've never heard of anyone talking about 'neighborhoods' on the Cape. They are incorporated towns.
Anonymous
07/19/2024 09:24
Subject: Living on Cape Cod
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My grandparents spent 30 years living on the Cape full time.
There is plenty of shopping, decent healthcare with world class healthcare an hour or so away and lots of amazing culture in Boston and Providence in winter when there is less on Cape.
Phenomenal hiking, birding etc. available year round.
Traffic in summer is a nightmare, no way around that drawback.
There is a mix of working class D and working class R and lots of wealthy retired R on Cape. There are issues with drugs as in any rural area with an economy dependent on seasonal traffic but overall crime is low. It isn’t true that the schools are bad; Massachusetts has the #1 ranked schools in the country (as it has had for decades), and while Cape schools aren’t the very best in the state they are quite good.
I would live on Cape if I could afford to - granted I have great memories from summers and holidays with my grandparents, but I also live 45 minutes from the Cape now and visit whenever I can which is mostly in the off season as I can’t abide the summer traffic.
Where do the wealthy Ds live? MV?
On the cape? There are no wealthy Ds or at least very few. The cape in of offseasons is quite working class.
where are they working?
Maintenance of hotels and second homes
Most middle class people that live there work in the construction trades, own landscaping services, work in the local government in EMS, etc. H's family lives there and yes, they never go over the bridge. It's a bit insular among the locals. If you move there, you'll likely find friends among the "wash-a-shores" (people not originally from the Cape)