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Living well in Fairhaven

Email|Link|Comments (2) Posted by Rona Fischman February 20, 2009 02:52 PM

The “Living well is the best revenge” series depends on readers who can tell me why their town is a “living well” town. I fear that the nay-sayers have scared you all alway. Are there no nice places to live for $350,000 or less anywhere near Boston? Are Maynard, South Lawrence and Dedham all there is?

My best friend Amy moved to Fairhaven. She and her husband bought a 3 bedroom, 2 bath Colonial in the historic district. I thought she moved to the end of the earth. Since then, the place has grown on me. There is a bus to South Station. It’s a 45-minute commute to Providence.

I enjoyed the New Bedford folk festival on Labor Day weekend, I have walked the beaches and in the historic neighborhoods. Fairhaven Village, the retail area near the water, has a small but good cluster of shops and restaurants. Margaret’s is a favorite of mine. There are also shops there where boating supplies, clothes and gifts can be bought.

In Amy’s neighborhood is a young family with two children. The grandparents live nearby and see the grandchildren every day. One aunt lives there, too. This, apparently, is not uncommon. Fairhaven seems to be a town where people stay put.

I am an old house junkie; there is good house-peeping in Fairhaven. Along the waterfront are old whaling captain’s houses. Later, the town was gentrified by a Standard Oil baron named Henry Huttleston Rogers. Nice houses. Nicer churches. There’s a Unitarian Universalist church which reminds me of a Catholic Cathedral, gargoyles and all.

Fairhaven is a little gem tucked in among more expensive, scenic towns. It is on the “South Coast” of Massachusetts, which has the charm of the Cape without the Sagamore Bridge. Fairhaven gets boat people, but no ferry traffic! I have gone wine-tasting with Amy and her husband in nearby Westport.

There were 22 homes that sold under $350,000 in Fairhaven in the past six months. There at 28 for sale right now. (My criteria is 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms and a bath and a half, or bigger.)

Is it worth leaving metro-Boston for metro-Providence in order to live well?

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2 comments so far...

I think it depends on what you consider living well.
1st disclosure: on reading this article, I had to look at a map to find Fairhaven, and I grew up in Boston. 2nd disclosure: I live in Metrowest.
Having revealed possible bias in pov: RI is suffering the worst unemployment of the 50 states, last I noted. The RI economy is severely depressed and there is much talk of lack of range in the state's economic base contributing to unemployment. I'm not sure a move to metro-Providence makes sense unless you are judging by affordability of housing alone. The economic climate in Southern MA and RI is not good, perhaps worsening, and doesn't signal to me that I would live well.

Posted by portiaperu February 24, 09 06:13 PM

I live in the metro-Providence area of Massachusetts and commute to Boston. Aside from the fact both my wife and I are from the area and our extended family all live within 20 minutes of us, the cost of living in Southeastern Mass is considerably lower than Boston/128, MetroWest, or North Shore. At the end of the day, I trade long commutes and occasional telecommuting for more affordable living. My co-workers who all live within 15 miles of Boston think I'm crazy, but they are always broke and our bank accounts are flush...

My wife is from Fairhaven and I'm from Westport. We're considering both communities, as well as Dartmouth when we finally buy an SFH. In the meantime, we own a multi... rent three apartments and live in one. Best way I could think of to ride out the housing and financial storm we're going through now. My renters pay the mortgage, giving us more flexibility in saving or improving the property without taking on debt.

Posted by Cash Flow February 24, 09 11:47 PM