Essex County, MA area? Salem area? Need advice!?

I am going to be relcating to the Salem, MA area. I don't know ANYTHING about the area too much. I have vacationed in Salem several times and love it but there isn't a ton of things available except condos. l'd like to buy a nice single family home with a small yard. Can everyone please tell me some places to look that are SAFE and family friendly! I have been looking in a 20 miles radius from Salem (since I will need to commute into Boston) and have seen towns such as Salem, Peabody, Revere, Danvers, Lynn, Saugus, Beverly, Melrose, Malden, Everett, Winthrop, Reading, Stoneham, Woburn, Wilmington, Ipswich, etc etc. Can anyone tell me if any of these or others are good and vice versa!? Thanks!

Can anyone tell me some more towns to look in and others to stay away from so I don't end up someplace like LYNN!

Do you have kids?
Salem doesnt have the best school system,unfortuantly..
but next door Peabody has a great school systems,its low key..(no trouble) close to highways and shopping malls....(I live here..but lived in Salem for most my life)..housing is affordable too..I think West Peabody may be ideal for you..And Salem is ten minutes away..need any info let me know..

no problem!..anything I can do to help..as I can imagine it will be tough..but anything you need to ask ,I will do my best to help....GO PATS! Report It

First of all-you're going to pay too much-that's just the market there. Don't go to Lynn {"Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin - the girls say no but they always give in"} - and the insurance companies know that there's no such thing as "a nice part of Lynn." The "historic district" of Salem is really pricey and a lot of rules and restrictions. Big scandal in public schools there now; former head of budget for schools was cooking the books, so they are scrambling for millions and laying off teachers. If your kids are going to private school, then no problemo. Use commuter rail if you can to Boston, but the further you move away from town, the longer the commute by train{1/2 hr from Salem} and even longer by car; parking in Boston requires a bank loan! LOL
"Witchcraft Heights" has a lot of single family homes, built in the late 60's early 70's with yards; other parts of city will be alot older.

Dont bother mowving to essex county, the people there are unhappy and rude. I use to work in the Salem area and I swear everyone there is on some narcotic. Plus everyone hates each other.

Try Rockport, Gloucester, Essex, Magnolia...all on the coast and near Salem.

Ipswich is a great little town, very scenic.
Lynn is not as bad as people say--because it's one of the few affordable cities in the area, it's going through a redevelopment/gentrification phase, so in terms of investment, it might be a good bet for you.
Malden is decent, too. It's more urban than some of the outlying towns, and much closer to Boston. You don't say if you'll be commuting to Boston or not, so I don't know if this is a concern.
You might also check Rowley--it's the next town up from Ipswich. We lived there for a couple years, and my in-laws live there. There's not much there as a town, but a short drive will get you most places you need to go. Also served by commuter rail.
Avoid Hamilton-Wenham (just south of Ipswich). It's very hoity-toity.
Danvers and Beverly are OK--kinda middling, but more affordable than Salem.
I don't know as much about Glouchester (I think I spelled that wrong), Rockport, etc., but it's worth looking that direction.
Good luck--houses up that way are expensive, especially if you're moving from somewhere in the midwest, where costs are reasonable. You might end up having to compromise more than you expect.

Beverly is good because there is a variety of housing possibilities and there are 3 train stations in different parts of the town, so the commute would be pretty easy.

Essex county is tough as if you look away from Boston all the North shore cities and towns your going to be paying for the ocean and the closer you get to Boston the nicer parts of those cities are expensive to keep the rif raf out. Rent in the North shore area is going to be a minimum of $1,000.00 a month and that on the low end.