Regional Talk > New England > Having moving orders... (Fall River, MA area)

Having moving orders... (Fall River, MA area)

Fall River isn't quite a "YIKES!" area, but there are some areas to avoid. $1,000+ a month will/should get a nice 2-3 bedroom place.
Personally, I'd try for a few miles from downtown, but that's just me. Providence is a nice place to visit but I didn't much like living there. Commute traffic happens but it's not insane.

Local newspaper: »www.heraldnews.com/
Local TV: »ww.abc6.com/ »www2.turnto10.com/ »www.wpri.com/

What towns within a 30min MAX drive from Fall River can you recommend as a place to live?

Thanks for the links

reply to ebgbjo
Fall River is pretty much just a set of signs I pass on 195.
Dying/dead mill town, low wages, nothing for me to see anymore. Some little towns nearby seem nice. Avoid the little cities (Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, Providence, etc... If you have kids, look into the best school system possible.

I thought Providence, RI was a bigger city? Great... I am starting to run out of places that I should live

We are hoping to get our kid into a private school. He is in preschool now and will be when we move but haven't found a private preschool in that area yet

if you will be employed in Fall River, don't take up residence in Rhode Island. your taxes between both States will be a nightmare to prepare.
i'd choose to live up route 24 or out I-195 a bit. Fall River isn't a place you really want to live.
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I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and i'm all outta bubblegum.

reply to ebgbjo
If you don't need to live downtown Taunton then you might want to check out

Easton
Mansfield
North Attleboro
Foxboro
Wrenthem

Actually, Easton has been on one of those "Top Places to Live" lists for a few years now »money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag···100.html Since you will be renting the property tax rates are not as big of worry and you can focus on the rental prices and location. With the economy and housing prices dropping rental prices have dropped as well. I haven't actually lived in Easton though.

I also have a co-worker who lives in Middleboro. It is a bit more rural where he is at but he has 4 school-aged girls at home.
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Mission Accomplished

aren't those a little outta the way of Fall River? i mean down 495, then 24, then back up 195 or use 79?

look at the Taunton area for apartments/homes to rent as well.
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I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and i'm all outta bubblegum.

True, they are a drive and outside of the OPs "30 min Max'. To Fall River and according to google

Middleboro is 31 min
Easton is 34 min
North Attleboro is 34 min
Mansfield is 39 min
Foxboro is 41 min
Wrenthem is 43 min

A little closer:

Rehoboth (more rural) - 22 minutes
Acushnet (nice places near the golf course) -21 min
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Mission Accomplished

and god forbid if he has to take 195 into Providence then 95 north to get home.
traffic going into Providence starting at 3:30pm - 6:00pm, Monday - Friday, then 95 north... fugedaboudit.
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I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and i'm all outta bubblegum.

Her royal highness works in Fall River, commutes from Warwick. Has managed to do a little flex time bargaining, so leaves a little before 6:30 and is at her desk by 7. Leaves around 3:45 and pulls up in the driveway by 4:30 usually. When traffic cams show 195/95 problems, there's the EZ-Pass over the Newport bridge. Adds maybe 15 minutes, more in summertime, but is generally manageable.

OP's got kids in the picture, so I'm sure a flex schedule won't work quite so easily. And it's outside of the 30-minute window.

Then again, Rocky Hill School nearby is an asset.

reply to Harddrive

Originally from Fall River...i have friends and family in Somerset and Swansea. Good places to live and raise a family. Westport is also nice.
Good luck.

What streets and how much of them are considered "the highlands" and what other areas of Fall River are good places to live?

Getting really confused on drive times to smaller towns/cities outside of Fall River as I am getting conflicting answers from various sources. We may end up moving to the area a lot sooner, but definitely need to schedule a weekend trip out there to look at towns

i would stay away from RI...as i mentioned before, Westport, Somerset, Swansea and Dartmouth/No. Dartmouth are great with no real "bad" areas. Westport has the ocean beaches, country and a 10 -20 minute commute to FR depending on where you want to live. These surrounding towns I mentioned are very rural communities with nice subdivisions quiet neighborhoods. I grew up in Fall River spending 20 yrs there but i would not move back. I don't like the city life anymore and Fall River is city compared to the other communities.

well, I don't want to be too far from RI as I am applying for some government jobs in Newport and hoping I land one of them

We have contacted several places in the towns you listed CATV for rentals, but are finding out a lot of the people we contact arent even paying attention to our biggest requirement which is a space with at LEAST 1200sq foot. Several places have emailed me back trying to get me to rent places with 800-900 sq feet and also go on to say about rent "The prices do change every day" WTF! Since when do apartment rental prices change every day that they can't quote me a monthly rate? In all the states I have ever lived, I have NEVER seen this. I just wish they would at least read my comments when inquiring about spaces and how I our requirements we wont compromise on is min. sq footage of 1200.

reply to ebgbjo
If Fall River is a requirement, only the Highlands. But Westport, Swansea, Dartmouth, Tiverton would be better choices. Tiverton school system is recommended by someone who knows the area better than I. She says, "Why pay for private school, Tiverton is as good."

My direct experience with Tiverton is with the owner of the company where she works has a nice place on the water with two kids in the public school. He's very sharp and I don't think he'd short-change his kids, knowing him.

Driving through Tiverton, I never passed a place that made me think, "Eww, I'm in the wrong neighborhood." Can't say anything about rental prices, but it seems you might be better off hooking up with a rental agent to help screen out the places that won't meet your needs.