Located 30 minutes north of Boston, North Reading is a Massachusetts town where locals have plenty of elbow room. Long, winding streets are lined with large homes on spacious lots. The shady and secluded rural residential areas are a deceptively short drive from nearby amenities that vary from the neighborhood Walmart to the coziest cafes. Sought after for its impressive school system, North Reading’s students enjoy small class sizes and a high graduation rate. “The biggest draw in North Reading first and foremost is the educational system. It’s ranked very high in the state,” says local Realtor Geralyn Farrelly of the Farrelly Realty Group who has 17 years of experience. Once a simple farming community, North Reading has grown significantly since first becoming an independent town in 1853. The community’s roots peek through in a small collection of former farmhouses from the 1700s.
Tranquil parks and water recreation
The two largest parks in North Reading are Eisenhaures Pond Park and Ipswich River Park. Eisenhaures Pond Park is known more for the relaxed experience it offers, complete with lily pads. The space has been intended as a tranquil retreat since its purchase in 2003, when the town administrator made clear there were no plans to develop the 50 acres that would be used primarily for passive recreation and preservation of open space. Ipswich River Park is a more active spot where residents enjoy everything from athletic fields and a street hockey rink to walking trails and kayak floats on the river. The park is especially popular in June and July when residents flock to the North Reading Parks & Recreation department’s Wednesday-night barbecue and concert series. Smaller park options include Rita Mullin Field and the Town Common, which sits right in the middle of the action. The expansive Harold Parker State Forest is also just north of the town, with some heavily wooded sections stretching into the North Reading boundaries. Golf lovers can practice their swing at Hillview Golf Course or Thomson Country Club.
Main Street retail and eateries
Main Street is the primary commercial thoroughfare in North Reading. According to Farrelly, Kitty's Restaurant & Lounge is probably the most popular eatery in town. “They’re known for their large portions,” Farrelly says. Another Main Street hotspot is Horseshoe Grill, a barbecue restaurant that dates back to the 1920s. Their cornbread is a North Reading staple. There are multiple shopping options along Main Street, from the Dollar General to the North Reading Plaza which has department stores, fast food chains and a Walmart. Further north is the Atlantic Plaza Shopping Center, a small, strip mall-style retail area. There are additional local eateries gathered around Town Common on Park Street.
Spacious homes on spacious lots
Farrelly describes the town’s residential areas as “extremely suburban, very quiet.” North Reading home buyers can find condos starting at $300,000 and single-family homes starting at $700,000. With homes as large as 7,000 square feet, price tags go well over $1,000,000. “The majority of the town’s housing inventory has colonial styling,” Farrelly says, “but there are also plenty of midcentury ranch-style and Cape Cod examples.” There are about 6,000 total homes in North Reading and most sit on lots at least 1 acre in size. This spacious layout is one of the biggest draws for North Reading buyers and results in a very competitive market. The average number of days on the market for the town is less than half the national average. “We put homes on the market in North Reading and generally they’re sold within the weekend,” Farrelly says. The average home value for North Reading is slightly higher than Middlesex County and significantly higher than the national average. There are still new single-family homes and condominiums being built in North Reading but only in small batches, with the latest cluster of roughly half a dozen homes completed in 2023.
Easy access to Interstate 93 and 95
North Reading sits between Interstate 93 and Interstate 95, which can take residents south toward downtown Boston or east toward the Massachusetts Bay coast, which are both about 30 minutes away. The closest airport is Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) which residents can reach by way of a roughly 20-mile drive down Interstate 95.
A rated school district
The North Reading Public School District is highly rated and a major draw for potential homebuyers. The district scores an A rating with Niche and is ranked especially high, among the top 10, for athletes. North Reading schools outpace state averages in a range of categories, including graduation rate, which is routinely well over 90%. “The educational tract that the kids are on is phenomenal,” Farrelly says. “The colleges that the kids get accepted to are exceptional.” North Reading regularly sends more than 80% of its graduates off to college. The investment starts young, too — the district has three elementary schools, where the “class sizes are very small,” Farrelly says. The list includes L.D. Batchelder, J. Turner Hood and E. Ethel Little. The district also includes North Reading High School and North Reading Middle School, which share a 275,000-square-foot complex that was completed in 2015.
Low crime rating
North Reading has a CAP Index Crime score of two out of 10, which falls below the national average of four. The North Reading Police Department has a community impact team that focuses on outreach, including drug awareness seminars. The department also maintains an active blog on its website, in which it gives residents tips and department news.
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