I see the downtown in the past two or three years just beginning to flourish. Buildings are being sold that were empty for eons. Lopes said an owner of a large restaurant is buying a former bank for a new venue, and may add a culinary school. As new wine flows in these old vintage bottles, so do new opportunities for employment. Lopes said the city offers choices for people looking to relocate their work, or even commute to Boston.
Housing is still affordable.
On the far side of mansion-lined County Street, Buttonwood Park and Zoo sits on the border with Dartmouth. There are housing starts all over the city, according to Lopes, who noted activity in the Sassaquin section on the northern border with Dartmouth and Freetown. The full spectrum of housing is available. Properties are not flying off the market lists, but neither are they camping there. Commercial property stayed on sale an average of 188 days, and land 198 days.